Thunderbird - Copies of Emails No Longer Stored on Mail Server?
Hello, Thunderbirders -
Much prefer Thunderbird bird to Outlook, but now dealing with an significant issue and hoping for help!
Our domain & mail server (HostGator) was recently subjected to an offshore cyber attack that hamstrung more of their clients than just ourselves. During the resolution, the HostGator tech was obliged (so he says) to wipe all our previous messages and essentially start the account all over again, so when I logged in to Thunderbird with the new password, eight (8) years' worth of e-mails were gone; they no longer exist on HostGator, and they themselves don't have any of them backed up :(
However, I have Thunderbird also running on a second computer on which I have not yet logged in with the new password; all the e-mails (at least the message titles) are still showing, and I am not attempting to open any of them while online. So my question is, does Thunderbird have any folder, perhaps not readily apparent, where copies of these messages still exist and may be recovered, absent pinging the host server? None of them were archived; they're all in my Inbox.
If no such duplicates exist anywhere off the server, can I create a secondary Thunderbird account to run on both my primary and secondary computers to send/receive along side the previous account, which can in some way be prevented to communicating with the host? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
All Replies (4)
DO NOT log on with that other computer. IMAP syncs to the server and if that pc goes online, the first thing thunderbird will do is DELETE the downloaded messages. Instead, I suggest using windows file explorer to copy the account's message folders (such as inbox, sent, others) and copy to the Mail\Local Folders folder of a different thunderbird setup to ensure no possibility of logging to the account. I don't know if those message folders just have headers or full content, but you will find out after the move. To be specific:
- on second computer, with Thunderbird not running
- access the profile, probably at c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird\profiles. if there are more than one profile in that profiles folder, the profiles.ini file at c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird\ will identify the right one.
- in profile, look for the imapmail\accountname folder for the message folders
- copy them and place in a Mail\Local Folders folder of a profie in a DIFFERENT thunderbird setup
- start that thunderbird and verify that the messages are there.
You may wish to upload the messages now to the online account. That can be problematic, since IMAP wasn't designed for large-volume uploads. If necessary, do in small batches and check periodically to ensure you're uploading headers and content. Another possibility is to create a manual filter to do the upload, as that slows the process a bit. Regardless, check results after doing this.
I wrote this quickly and hope I got the basics down. Very upsetting that Hostgator has no backup. That's inexcusable and the reason people use such services. I know people with Hostgator accounts and will advise them of your disappointing experience.
David,
You wrote that quickly? It's an excellent & highly knowledgeable reply; I will attempt tomorrow (Monday 10/07/2024) and will update this post if successful.
Thank you so very much!
- Arthur
You're most welcome. Hostgator offers a daily backup, probably at extra cost, but it may be good insurance. If they've been attacked once, they could be hacked again.
Could be? They're practically asking for it. Want my management to choose another, less cringe-worthy host, but oh well.
Thanks again, David!
- Arthur
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