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Roaming profile huge

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

matthew.broadhead
matthew.broadhead
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Hi,

We are using Windows 7 with roaming profiles. The AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles directory keep swelling until it is takes a really long time to log in or log out.

The Thunderbird profiles were deleted and new local profiles were created in the AppData/Local/Thunderbird directory. However it has recently been discovered that these have somehow made their way back into the Roaming profile.

The installation of Thunderbird is done by Wpkg. It runs a script on setup which sets Thunderbird to not download messages onto the local and not to download large attachments. But this behaviour no longer works in recent versions. Also it is overwritten by new releases of Thunderbird. The script originally tried to suppress Thunderbird from updating but this behaviour has also ceased to function.

Hi, We are using Windows 7 with roaming profiles. The AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles directory keep swelling until it is takes a really long time to log in or log out. The Thunderbird profiles were deleted and new local profiles were created in the AppData/Local/Thunderbird directory. However it has recently been discovered that these have somehow made their way back into the Roaming profile. The installation of Thunderbird is done by Wpkg. It runs a script on setup which sets Thunderbird to not download messages onto the local and not to download large attachments. But this behaviour no longer works in recent versions. Also it is overwritten by new releases of Thunderbird. The script originally tried to suppress Thunderbird from updating but this behaviour has also ceased to function.

All Replies (4)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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The Thunderbird profiles were deleted and new local profiles were created in the AppData/Local/Thunderbird directory.

By default Thunderbird is always looking for and creating new profiles underneath C:\Users\<user_id>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles. Profiles can be moved, then the file profiles.ini needs to point TB to the alternative profile location.

There is no profile data underneath C:\Users\<user_id>\AppData\Local\Thunderbird. Typically TB put's only data there which doesn't need to be backed up along with the actual profile, e.g. the cache directory.

I can't comment on your scripts.

matthew.broadhead
matthew.broadhead Question owner
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Thanks christ1,

I haven't had a chance to look at it yet. But I will check profiles.ini to see if that is causing the profiles to be created on roaming

matthew.broadhead
matthew.broadhead Question owner
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How can I stop Thunderbird trying to move the profile to the Roaming folder?

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
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This is where all default profiles are created : C:\Users\<user_id>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\'profile name' folder

If you wanted to move a 'profile name' folder to another location eg: from above location You would manually create something like this eg: E:/Program Files/TBird/Profiles/ On : Drive create a folder called 'Program files', then create the 'TBird' folder, then create a folder called 'Profiles'. Then put the 'profile name' folder into the new 'Profiles' folder. This keeps a logical structure and if you need more 'profile name' folder you can put them into same location.

Then start up 'Profile Manager', create a new Profile and call it eg: 'Default User', click on 'Choose folder' and point it to look at the 'profile name' folder you just moved.

The original AppData\Roaming\'Thunderbird' folder contains the 'profiles.ini' file and it has been updated by 'Profile Manger' to look in a different location for the 'profile name' folder. So do not get rid of the C:\Users\<user_id>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-thunderbird-profiles