use easeus todo backup everyday and need to restore my data files to an earlier date.
I'll try to keep this as concise as possible, but I'm still using Win 7 and TB 91.11.0. I've been using TB for more years than I can remember and my TB data folder is 24 Gig. For simplicity, I have always backed up the entire TB folder with EaseUs ToDo Backup on a daily basis. My service provider has changed hands and all my ISP settings have changed. (For the 3rd or 4th time over the years) As result, I had 3 or 4 accounts with this ISP, and to cover any stray email addresses coming in, had them all set up to accept them, with each one forwarding to my "Local Folder". All has been working fine now for nearly 10 years. When the ISP changed over, it all stopped!
In my effort to change any one of the incoming addresses to accomodate the new setting requirements, I got all tangled up and lost any connection ability at all. To recover, I tried to remove each of the accounts in the settings, and now have lost ALL my mail and mail boxes. Because I have been backing up daily, I thought it would be simple to use my daily backups to restore to the last date that things worked. What I never anticipated, was it taking 20 hours to do the restore. And then the account settings still reflected my latest attempts to "fix" things.
Since there are SO many files and folders on the HD where my data resides, is there a way to isolate the necessary files needed to get me back to what it was when it went down? The only thing that really needed to be changed was my account settings for the ISP. But because of the complexity of the file structure, I'm wary of slicing and dicing some of these files. One good thing about EaseUs ToDo Backup, is I can use my file explorer to open the backed up files and structure.
Any help or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. gshantz
email to either [edited] @uneedspeed.net or [edited] @protonmail.com
/edited emails from public.
Modified by James
Chosen solution
I suppose you could consider this resolved, but not from restoring the pref.js file. The one on the boot disk (C:), was close to 100 Mb, - the one in the backup, was very small, so decided to let things be on that end. However, after restoring the main data folder, (can't remember now just how,) but my data reappeared, and that was my biggest concern.
I found a couple more pref.js files on other drives, but the dates and sizes were old and didn't look anything like the original. I was shocked at how old some of the data was in that file - there were items of change that went way back to the beginning of use of TB. Seems like TB would keep better house than that. I just know it is way to complex for me to mess with.
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Generally all account settings and those that control the "structure of the profile folder data are contained in the pref.js file it is generally less than 100kb. I would suggest you try restoring that first and see how it goes. Be aware Thunderbird reads the setting in that file on startup, and writes it on shutdown. So make sure there is nothing running in the background when you try to restore.
Thanks for the quick reply. This gets even more complicated. Because my Dr. C is a small SSD, I installed the main program on my Dr. E. Although I do remember the importance of the pref.js file, I had forgotten just how important it is. When Looking at the contents of it, I see where nearly every piece of equipment and printer I've had connected to it, is still in it. I also see where sometimes the incoming settings are for IMAP instead of POP.
That being said, perhaps you can help me untangle the mess with the new ISP. I got connected with the very 1st cable network in town, years ago - can't even remember their name - but I accumulated many contacts with an email address, "[edited] @uneedspeed.net". The company changed hands 3 or 4 times, and each time it was a hassle to conform to their new mail suffix. Fortunately, they were always able to come up with some type of account naming and cross linking. In the process, I accumulated 3 more "user names", but they still allowed me to have them redirect to uneedspeed.net. The previous ISP was Suddenlink, and the new one is now Optimum by Altis, which doesn't even support email except only to legacy subscribers. I'm NOT happy.
I spent probably 8 to 10 hours on the phone with a variety of tech support, and only one knew enough to understand my dilema. In fact he did get me functioning on one of the address names, but that stopped abruptly on 8-7-22. Even though I've been told they don't know how I am even able to access my mail with their "web mail", I haven't been able to reconfigure TB to the correct settings to work.
As mentioned in my original post, when I deleted each of those "odd" account names in the TB account settings, I lost all email too. What I didn't do, was restore the pref.js on drive C. However, that drive only gets a full drive image once a week. Maybe I should try to extract just that file from that backup and see what I get. I think I'll wait for your reply 1st though. Then possibly we can attempt to update the IMAP, POP and SMPT settings to what Optimum needs.
My most important task right now is to get all my mail back visible. I'm sure it's there. Thanks again.
Modified by James
Chosen Solution
I suppose you could consider this resolved, but not from restoring the pref.js file. The one on the boot disk (C:), was close to 100 Mb, - the one in the backup, was very small, so decided to let things be on that end. However, after restoring the main data folder, (can't remember now just how,) but my data reappeared, and that was my biggest concern.
I found a couple more pref.js files on other drives, but the dates and sizes were old and didn't look anything like the original. I was shocked at how old some of the data was in that file - there were items of change that went way back to the beginning of use of TB. Seems like TB would keep better house than that. I just know it is way to complex for me to mess with.