I do not use mozbackup, but rename one of the backups as ZIP from it's original extension. They are simply zip files.

Open the file and check if the calendar-data folder is included in the file.

Did this, but there do not seem to be any files relevant to the calendar. Thanks for the advice, anyway.

What were you looking for? IIRC, calendar data is stored in a sqlite database file with a non-obvious name.

The only sqlite file which is likely to be relevant is global-messages-db.sqlite. Don't really want to have to install sqlite to read it. Any ideas how to access it, eg using Thunderbird without overwriting current data?

This article:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_folders_in_the_profile_-_Thunderbird

…lists several files used by Lightning:

cache.sqlite Used by the Lightning add-on if the "Cache" option is enabled in the calendar properties, to provide offline support. [ local.sqlite Internal calendar data (in SQLite format) if you use the Lightning extension. permissions.sqlite The permissions.sqlite and content-prefs.sqlite files store the permissions for what remote content can be displayed. Lightning also uses that file. storage.sdb Internal calendar data (in SQLite format) if you use the Lightning extension. Its been replaced by local.sqlite but is still maintained for compatibility in case you switch between different Thunderbird+Lightning versions.

(and where they exist on my computer, they are all in the calendar-data folder mentioned by Matt.)

As far as I am aware, Mozbackup simply preserves the entire profile. It would be dangerous for it to pick and choose between file types and then Mozbackup would need to be updated if the profile structure ever changed.

BTW, you don't need to use Mozbackup. Just copy the profile as you would copy any other set of data.

Oh, and there is a sqlite viewer add-on for firefox here:

https://code.google.com/p/sqlite-manager/

Please note that I'm not a techie, so I'm fumbling in the dark here. Have added the sqlite manager and examined the content of all six sqlite files generated by Mozbackup, but none seem to contain calendar data. I can only assume that the calendar is not backed up.

I found calendar events in cache.sqlite. But probably only because I'd experimented with offline usage.

Is your Lightning totally self-contained, or does it sync with anything such as Google Calendar?

I don't have a cache.sqlite file, and my Lightning does not appear to sync with Google Calendar. However I have just realised that I haven't been checking the 'extensions' option when backing up. When I do this the calendar data is there. Sorry to have wasted your time!

That doesn't arise if you backup by just copying the profile. You blindly copy everything. :-p

And being a Linux user, I don't have MozBackup, so I couldn't have found that option. Thanks for the feedback.

So is syncing better? Will it miss any settings and configurations that i've set (on mozilla products)?