Thunderbird....need help

[Catty1]

Hard to concentrate on this as my partner disappeared two days ago after we argued...no sign of or word from him yet.:(

But anyway, I have a client to help, so here goes(will use Google too):

Backed up client's files before I reinstalled XP. I have the Mozilla Thunderbird files too. Trying to get them back in to the new Thunderbird install is baffling me.

There are some instructions on the TB site, but I need a tad more detail there. Not quite sure what the writer means.

Thanks.

[king2005]

where is the site with the instructions?

[Catty1]

Actually I just found a good article and printed it out. The URL? arg...just copied and pasted to a Word doc.

Here it is - I wish the notes on the Mozilla Thunderbird site itself had been this helpful! :rolleyes:

http://email.about.com/od/mozillathunderbirdtips/qt/et_restore_prof.htm

That's the good one - now compare to this:
http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/profile#move

Move an existing profile or restore a backed up profile

It's possible to move the location of a profile folder. This could be useful if you have a backed up profile folder somewhere on your hard drive and want to tell Thunderbird to use that as your profile. This section explains how to do this.

1. Shut down Thunderbird completely (File > Exit).
2. Move the profile folder to the desired location. For example, on Windows XP, move the profile from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default to D:\Stuff\MyMailProfile. If you are reading these instructions because you want to restore a previously backed up profile, this step isn't necessary. Just note the current location of the profile you want to restore.
3. Open up profiles.ini in a text editor. The file is located in the application data folder for Thunderbird:
* On Windows Vista/XP/2000, the path is %AppData%\Thunderbird\
* On Windows 95/98/Me, the path is usually C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Thunderbird\
* On Linux, the path is ~/.thunderbird/
* On Mac OS X, the path is ~/Library/Thunderbird/
4. In profiles.ini, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location. IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you switch from a relative path to a non-relative one, the direction of the slashes may need to change (e.g. in Windows, non-relative paths use backslashes, whereas relative ones use forward slashes).
5. Change IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0.
6. Save profiles.ini and restart Thunderbird.

[king2005]

wow, that first one is nuts! I didn't even get what on earth he was going on about :S

That 2nd one you found seems simple to follow. Do you understand how to do it now?

[Catty1]

The first one I understood.

[Catty1]

When restoring the backup files, I fixed everything but Thunderbird...spent almost two hours on it.

I backed up what I thought I was supposed to - I researched it before I did anything.

I feel like a complete failure. :(

[Hellow]

Did you backup the entire Thunderbird data directory? If so, you can just replace the current one with the backed up one and be done.

[Catty1]

I don't know, Reggie...I looked on my backup files...and queried Google again...looks like I didn't back up the right files.

I did have the folders backed up - but could not locate the new profile once I created it...

I need a backup and restore tutorial in the worst way. :(

[blue]

Did you just do a back up when you started or did you image the HD to a different HD?

[Catty1]

I just did what I have learned so far...backed up D&Settings, Favourites, Desktop...

I have heard a tiny bit about backup by imaging the drive...I think there is a program called Acronis that can do that.

I have SpinRite.

blue, could you explain that a bit more to me, please?

Thank you.

[blue]

Imaging the hard drive would have been the first thing I did. That way you have an exact copy of the hard drive you are working on, on a seperate hard drive, rather then relying on backups.

Im rebooting my other comp to see what my ultimate boot disc for XP has for imaging a hardrive.

Great tool to have, UBCD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/).

[Catty1]

I have that in my CD tool kit!

How the heck does it work????

Will read the page later to see if there are instructions!

[blue]

I have that in my CD tool kit!

How the heck does it work????

Will read the page later to see if there are instructions!

THe disc I have is newer then the one we used in class so it dosent have the imaging software we used. If you have a version older then mine I think the imaging software is Shawdow Drive, or something like that. Very easy to use. Driveimage XML is what my disc has, Ive used it once with excelent results.

Ild use a seperate hard drive rather then using a partion for safety of the data.

[blue]

Catty if you find an UBCD that has Ghost32 on it get it. Ghost32 is very easy to use for imaging harddrives and restoring.