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Transferred profile contains some folders but no saved mail

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 19 views
  • Last reply by UP_Dan

UP_Dan
UP_Dan
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My laptop video hardware failed, and it won't work with an external monitor either. I removed my drives and transferred all my files to folders on a new PC. Using the instructions on this site, I copied my profile (from the Roaming folder) to the new Tbird install, overlaying the existing files (with TBird closed). I made sure I'm pointing to the correct profile, and now I can see some (most?) of my folder names in the Local Mail, but every folder is empty. I know I have the right Profile, it shows as 3.5 Gb of data, none of the other Profiles were over a few Mb. Since my laptop is dead, I can't use MozBackup like I did years ago. I need to access some of my older emails - how can I get them back?

My laptop video hardware failed, and it won't work with an external monitor either. I removed my drives and transferred all my files to folders on a new PC. Using the instructions on this site, I copied my profile (from the Roaming folder) to the new Tbird install, overlaying the existing files (with TBird closed). I made sure I'm pointing to the correct profile, and now I can see some (most?) of my folder names in the Local Mail, but every folder is empty. I know I have the right Profile, it shows as 3.5 Gb of data, none of the other Profiles were over a few Mb. Since my laptop is dead, I can't use MozBackup like I did years ago. I need to access some of my older emails - how can I get them back?

All Replies (2)

John_77
John_77
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See How do I restore some lost Folders and sub-folders at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1227404

UP_Dan
UP_Dan Question owner
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Thanks for the reply, I copied it for future reference. I finally found my own workaround: Windows 10 is much more tolerant of dropping a drive into an alternate computer. With older versions, that was a big no-no, but I installed my Boot drive into an older laptop (originally came with Vista) and Windows 10 thought about it for 5 minutes and then booted up. I was then able to use MozBackup to make a proper backup of both Thunderbird and Firefox. I was then able to restore both on the new laptop, and even the calendar works! I'm going to use MozBackup more often, this has been a painful week. I'm secretary for several non-profits, and it's been terrible not being able to access my older messages. Thanks again for the suggestion, even though I didn't need to use it - this time!