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Thunderbird migration problem

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by mmoni

mmoni
mmoni
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Hello, I'm trying to recover my Thunderbird data after a reinstall of Windows 10. I backed up my whole AppData folder with Windows FileHistory on an external hard drive (a mistake, which I realized too late). I tried copying the Thunderbird profile folder from the backup to the new folder, creating a new Thunderbird profile and copying the data into it. All with no result - every time I open Thunderbird it's like a clean new install with no data in it. I know the files (4GB of them) are in there, but Thunderbird doesn't seem to detect them. I think it might have something to do with the way FileHistory treats backup files (maybe it compresses them or something), but I don't know how to fix that. Please help me or I'll go crazy.

Hello, I'm trying to recover my Thunderbird data after a reinstall of Windows 10. I backed up my whole AppData folder with Windows FileHistory on an external hard drive (a mistake, which I realized too late). I tried copying the Thunderbird profile folder from the backup to the new folder, creating a new Thunderbird profile and copying the data into it. All with no result - every time I open Thunderbird it's like a clean new install with no data in it. I know the files (4GB of them) are in there, but Thunderbird doesn't seem to detect them. I think it might have something to do with the way FileHistory treats backup files (maybe it compresses them or something), but I don't know how to fix that. Please help me or I'll go crazy.

All Replies (4)

SharkyCA
SharkyCA
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I have had this problem with Windows 10 which caused a BSOD and I had to restore my Thunderbird profile. I have been using Mozbackup Beta Version 1.5.2.1 (Can be downloaded from this link) https://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Browser-Tweak/Mozilla-Backup.shtml Here is a screen shot from my personal laptop that I just ran a backup today. No guarantees, but it has worked for me in the past, I am running Windows 10 ver 10.0.18363 and Thunderbird 68.5.0 32 Bit.

You should find your profiles in "App data Local or App data Roaming" Hope this helps!

Modified by SharkyCA

mmoni
mmoni Question owner
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I know MozBackup and I wish I had used it. But the only backup version of my profile was created with Windows File History, after which I sent my laptop for servicing and the disk was wiped clean. So there's no way I can create a backup of the profile now. The back up files created with File History look like normal profile files, but Thunderbird won't recognize them for some reason.

SharkyCA
SharkyCA
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Just thinking that you may be able to fool Thunderbird into pulling your old info in from your external drive by reading this article and setting up "multiple profiles"? Good luck, Read here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles

mmoni
mmoni Question owner
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Nope, setting up a new profile doesn't help, either. The only half-solution is importing the e-mails using an add-on called ImportExport Tools NG. The result is a mess - a lot of duplicated folders or empty folders - but at least I have access to my e-mails