moving Thunderbird email

My dad's old computer's motherboard has died. He's mailing me his old hard disk to extract his email and put it somewhere so he can re-import his old mail and address-book. Everything is in Mozilla Thunderbird (not sure which version, probably a fairly old one). Anyone ever done this before? What's involved?

 

Assuming you can access the data, you'll need to access and locate the original email directory files, and this will be determined by:

1. Which OS he was using
2. Which version of Mozilla he was using (either the current stand-alone version or the older Netscape 4-7 version)
3. How many email account profiles he used (I use 3, my Mom uses 4, etc.)

If it's an older version of Netscape Mozilla he was using, you'll find the directory in the Netscape folder under Mail (C:\Program Files\Netscape. There are usually several folders with cryptic alphanumeric sequences, but the way to tell which one is the right one is to go deeper into the folder until you find the actual mail folder designations (inbox, plus all of his named directories - it helps if you have a list of what he used for folder names). Beware of duplicates - check the folder's file size. They should be pretty large if he kept copies on a regular basis like most of us do. A duplicate profile will have folders with little or nothing in them.

For newer systems using XP and Netscape, you'll find the directory in:

(User Profile Name)/Documents and Settings/Applicaton Data/Mozilla/Profiles/default/Profile name

For this instance you want to copy everything from the Profile Name on down.

Thunderbird on current Systems directory locations:
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ProfileName.default\Mail\pop3.mail_account_name

Once you've located the data, copy it and store it somewhere safe.

On your Dad's new system, open T-Bird and click on the account name to bring up the Account Settings options (or go to Tools - Account Settings). Click on View Settings for this Account. When the Account is shown, click on Server Settings, then scroll down until you see the Local Directory field. The directory location in the field is where you need to put the old files. It's actually easier to setup a completely different account and name it Old Files or something rather than try to import old mail. Put the old Profile in the same directory as the other profiles, and in the same folder position. Setup a new account, then point the new account to the directory holding the files you copied over.

This will get you access to the old files - the address book file is also in the Mail directory under that Profile, with an NAB extension. The only thing that likely won't work is if he had any old filter setups. T-Bird won't recognize them, and will pass through any mail having an older filter format. It's easy enough to set them up again.

That's it in a nutshell. The key is knowing where the current account data profiles are stored on the drive, and setting a new account to access the old stuff rather than trying to import it, although you can do that too. It's just easier with a separate account because then you have old and new separated. His choice though.

 

Awesome, thanks Cybervisions! I tried to rep++ you, but the form is broken. Anyways, much appreciated.

 

Well, you don't have to stop TRYING....

On the address book - once you've got the new accounts setup, it's a simple matter to use the import utility in T-Bird to bring in the old AB's.

 

Mad,
Thanks again for the Rep point - it's always good to know when you're able to help at least one person. That's why I and other professionals donate our time to this and other forums.

Here are some T-Bird snips that'll give you and idea of what to look at and what settings to check, and which directories to copy.

Although I have 3 POP accounts that I receive mail into, I actually monitor and receive mail from about a dozen different mail accounts. For this I'm using my Forum_Admin account setup.

Of course if you already use T-Bird, you already know that highlighting the account name brings up the settings window. You would click on View Settings for this Account to bring up the Account Settings window.




This next snip is the menu that appears under the account name when you click on the previous link. The Server Settings link is what you want to select to bring up the settings field for the Local Directory location, which shows the local address on your drive that points to the Mail Profiles T-Bird has setup.



Finding the address and the location of the T-Bird Profile and Mail Directories is the key to moving data and linking to it successfully. There's a cool trick you can do by using this knowledge that I'll cover later on.

This is the Local Directory field under Server Settings (it's toward the bottom of the window) that has the Profile and mail folder locations.

Note: IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE WHERE YOU PUT THESE DIRECTORIES OR FILES, ONLY THAT T-BIRD KNOWS WHERE THEY ARE ON YOUR DRIVE. The location shown is where T-Bird sets up the Profile directory and subsequent Mail Directories by default. You do not have to initially let T-Bird setup files there if you don't want to - you can tell it to put them wherever you wish. Keep this info in mind for later on.




This is a snip of the Local Directory Address Directory tree shown in the field snip above.

The Profiles directory refers to your overall Windows User Account Profile - that's why there's only 1 Profile directory. The important thing to note about the Mail folders is that T-Bird generates the folder name based on the SERVER NAME that you use in the Server Settings, and not your Account Name or User Name. This is why when you have multiple POP accounts that use the same Server Name (as with CyberVisions, you see folders with cybervisions-1.com, cybervisions.com, pop3.cybervisions.com, etc.), it will use a copy (the -1.com variation) or a variant of the folder name it creates based on the actual Server Name itself.

Each folder in the Mail Directory represents an individual POP Mail Account setup. If you're just moving directories from one system and you've installed T-Bird without having yet setup any accounts, you need to setup your new accounts with same Account and Server Settings you were using on the system where you're moving the data from. After they're setup, you can drop the Mail folders right into the corresponding Mail folder just set up. If you have multiple accounts and think you might have a problem figuring out which folder belongs to which account, either write it down, or create a folder in the new account setups, and put the account name for the folder name. That way when you browse to the actual Mail folders prior to moving the old folders (you want to copy/paste the data right into the folder) you'll see the folder name and know which account it is automatically. You can just delete it later.



OUTGOING SERVER (SMTP) SETTINGS

Outgoing Server (SMTP) settings are set by again opening the Account Settings, then scrolling down the Account settings list until you see it at the very bottom. Click on it, then select Add or Edit depending on whether or not you need to add a new one or edit an existing one. It is important that SSL and user/password fields are not checked or you'll have problems - unless of course your particular ISP requires a login to access their outgoing server, but that's rarely the case.

SMTP SETTING TIP: The default Port setting for outgoing SMTP servers is Port 25. Most people use their ISP's outgoing SMTP server settings as the default, and that's fine if you want to do that. However....

If you're like me and have your own domain and POP Mail accounts, and wish to use your own outgoing SMTP mail server, you will likely have problems when you first try to send mail using your own outgoing server. You will likely get a error response that says something like this:

Error 553... Permission Denied. Relaying not Authorized, blablabla, etc.

The problem is that while you've setup your T-Bird SMTP to use your own mail server to transmit mail, you are still connected to your ISP's internet service. Anytime you transmit mail over port 25, it will automatically use your ISP's mail server. A mail server will produce a "Relaying Denied" error when an unauthorized user attempts to send non-local email through the server. Non-local email is email which is addressed to a different server - in this case, your own domain mail server hosted somewhere else..

Mail servers will not relay mail from just anyone. Otherwise, spammers could flood the mail server, making it do their dirty work. You must be authorized to use a mail server. Unauthorized users will always receive the "Relaying Denied" error.

To get around this, usually all you have to do is select Port 26 as your outgoing port - this bypasses the ISP mail server so you can connect to your own mail server. However, in some cases you may also need to get permission from your hosting service to do so. The will tell you what to do and what settings to use for SMTP outgoing.

What's always been a great feature of T-Bird (and Netscape Mozilla before) is that it allows you to use multiple outgoing mail servers. If one doesn't work or is slow, try another one.

HOW TO USE T-BIRD MAIL ACCOUNTS ON MORE THAN ONE SYSTEM

I do this often, both as a backup, and because I travel as well. I don't like importing mail, or having a mail system on more than one PC - unless you keep your mail on the server and download copies to each, you never have all of your mail in one spot.

To fix this, there's a way to use T-Bird on 2 systems, and use the same data for both so that each system is the same. To do it, you'll need either an SSD or external drive large enough to hold the size of the mail folders you need to copy.

First - you should have identical account setups on both machines using T-Bird. Using the data copy information I explained above, copy the critical folders from the system that has the most current data onto the portable unit. You can figure out the rest - hook it up to the other system and copy the data into the mail folders.

If you're traveling, and don't have a notebook you can take with you, but you need to have access to your mail files, you can copy your mail folders onto a portable drive and take the drive with you. All you need is access to a system with T-Bird on it (even Netscape Mozilla - only the filters aren't transferrable). Add an account on the mail system you have access to using the settings for your account at home. Hook up your portable, then open up the mail program and set the Local Directory target folder to your external drive directory where you put your mail folders you brought with you. POOF! Instant access to all your mail, just as if you were at home. When you get back, just copy the data from the external to your system. I've done this many times prior to getting my HDX.

BACKING UP/COPYING MAIL FILES IN THEIR ORIGINAL FORMAT TO AN EXTERNAL DRIVE USING ADDITIONAL T-BIRD ACCOUNTS

Why would anyone want to do this? Easy - while it's easy to make zip files, archives, etc. they usually don't give you much of a file savings. So if you're not going to gain anything, why bother? Just make a copy of it that you can access real-time if necessary. Sure, you can always save it to one of those online storage services - if you really believe no one will copy your mail data for malicious use. I do not trust public or social sites - period. Keep your own data safe with you.

If you accidentally lose mail files, it's impossible to retrieve it without a specific retrieval program, and even then it's not a slam dunk. I've only come across one that's any good at recovering deleted mail files. That's why it's nice to have a mirror copy of your mail files. Although you can do this on a secondary internal drive, externals have more space and you can always take it with you if you need a copy of your files and need to use it like in the scenario above.

With all the info I've added you should be able to figure this out in a snap. But, if not...

In T-Bird, create duplicate accounts of the mail accounts you want to have copies of, with _external or _Maxtor, etc., to ID it as the account on the external drive. Position these below your active accounts.

Using the copy techniques above, make copies of your Profile directory and all subsequent mail folders beneath it and transfer it to your external drive.

On the accounts you just added to use for copied files, setup your Local Directory target to point to the external data folders you just copied to the external drive. This instantly gives you a mirror copy of the data on your active accounts.

When you have files that you want to save long term, or when your folders start getting full, select them with your cursor, then do a copy/paste from your active folders to to your copy folders on the external drive. If you want to clear space on your local drive, them either select and drag from one folder to the other or do a Select on the files you want to move, right click and click on Move To, then select the folders you want to move data to on your external folder accounts. You get the idea.

Hope the added info and snips help. If anyone has any specific problems or questions, PM me and I'll answer your questions as best I can.

 

Mozbackup is what you need

 

Mozbackup isn't really an option... I've got my Dad's old hard disk (his 'puter died, I suspect the mobo), it would boot into win2k, but I cannot boot from it in any of my computers.

Another problem, it's a really old version of Thunderbird (I can't tell for sure, I'm guessing probably 0.6 or something awful like that -- the thunderbird.exe file is dated june of 2004).

Anyways, I can't seem to find anything that looks remotely like his mail files or address book. He insists he had a huge address book, and quite a lot of email. Anyone know what file .extension to look for?

 

Mad,
Wish you'd have PM'd me about this - I didn't realize you'd asked about the the Address Book as well.

The old version of Thunderbird wasn't called Thunderbird - it was just Mozilla Email Client, and it was an add-on for Netscape 4 originally, then through version 7. It ceased being linked to Netscape after version 8 came out, and since then T-bird has been the designation.

In the older versions, the Address Book file was included inside the Mozilla "Mail" directory, though in the old Netscape 4 version it was under the Netscape/users directory. In T-Bird, it's under the Profile Directory that holds all of the various POP accounts setup in T-bird. It's easy to spot - the file is always called "abook" and the file extension is ".mab", or Mozilla Address Book. Real original...

If you can't find it in the old directories, all you need to is run a search on the file extension. It hasn't changed over the years.