Yeah that default name has to be the same as the old one. So you remove the contents of the existing one and replace them with the ones from windows.

In this case you might try renaming the .default to the same as what was there before.

Hi Matt

OK - but my problem now is that every time I try to open Thunderbird I am told that my profile "cannot be loaded, it may be missing or inaccessible" and Thunderbird shits down. I have tried uninstalling and downloading the latest version which I assume does not have a profile until I set up an account, but I still get the same message, so I have not beein able to load the profile from my Win7 PC at all into the Mac version.

I have this issue also.

and copied over the Windows Profile.

Please explain in detail what steps you did. Include exact folder names and absolute path information.

Also, please post the contents of your profiles.ini file.

I have tried uninstalling and downloading the latest version which I assume does not have a profile until I set up an account

If no profile exists, Thunderbird creates one the first time it starts. You did have a profile already, which presumably is still listed in your profiles.ini file. When you 'copied over the Windows Profile' you apparently did that in a way, that it does not match the information stored in profiles.ini. And you deleted the existing profile folder, hence the error message.

You can try re-installing Thunderbird as many times as you want, it won't change a thing. Profile files are stored separately from the Thunderbird program files. The program files are static and do not change (except when you upgrade the Thunderbird application version). Because we store profile and program files separately, you can uninstall Thunderbird without losing your messages and settings, and if something goes wrong with a Thunderbird update your information will still be available. It also means that you don't have to reinstall Thunderbird in order to delete your information or troubleshoot a problem. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data

I have the same problem. Thunderbird knows where the profile is and displays it correctly under the troubleshooting information. It also complains if I remove the profile and won't open at all. I can apparently search the emails but Thunderbird won't display any of them otherwise. It seems to have become quite difficult to move a profile from one machine to another.

YellowOars said

I have the same problem. Thunderbird knows where the profile is and displays it correctly under the troubleshooting information. It also complains if I remove the profile and won't open at all. I can apparently search the emails but Thunderbird won't display any of them otherwise. It seems to have become quite difficult to move a profile from one machine to another.

Is you problem on a mac? If not you do not have the same issue at all, only the same symptoms. Like two people at the doctors. both with a runny nose. One has the flue and one has an allergic reaction. But both would say they had the same problem. Runny nose.

That is why we ask people to ask their own questions, because just because you think it is the same, usually it is not.

Matt.

Thanks so much for coming back.

Yes, my problem was on a Mac - I was trying to transfer from an old Mac to a brand new one. I didn't think that would be an issue as I have been using Thunderbird for over 10 years and previously transferred without difficulty between Macs, PCs and Linux. The new Mac could see the profile I had transferred, and could search it, but would not open or display it.

But I have just this minute cracked it. I think the latest Mac 64-bit TB has a difficulty (?bug) setting up accounts. I was trying to set up about 10 accounts and was told every time that they had "failed" because the username or password were wrong, and I just ignored that and went ahead anyway and all was well and they work.

As soon as I had managed to get the accounts set up, I could open the local folders by frigging the filing system. TB had set up a new "Local Folders-1" folder instead of opening the old "Local Folders" folder (I don't know what the point of that would be). So I pointed it to the old Local Folders folder and deleted the new one. This means I have finally managed to get everything working on the new machine.

I think a better way (at some stage) would be to have the wizard ask whether there is an old profile to use and, possibly in the meantime, vary some of the defaults. For instance, setting up a new local Folders folder when there is a perfectly good one sitting there seems to me to be rather odd.