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is it safe to compress folders in linux with windows folders

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by kenpile

kenpile
kenpile
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I have Thunderbird running in Ubuntu sharing the mail folders on a WIndoze partition. Frequently the Thunderbird in Linux asks if I want to compress folders, even though I have recently done this from WIndoze.

I am dubious to run compress from Linux as I have corrupted mail files before. Is it generally considered safe to compress folders from Linux when the folders are on a Windoze ( NTFS ) partition?

I have Thunderbird running in Ubuntu sharing the mail folders on a WIndoze partition. Frequently the Thunderbird in Linux asks if I want to compress folders, even though I have recently done this from WIndoze. I am dubious to run compress from Linux as I have corrupted mail files before. Is it generally considered safe to compress folders from Linux when the folders are on a Windoze ( NTFS ) partition?

All Replies (4)

Zenos
Zenos
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Compress or compact?

kenpile
kenpile Question owner
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My bad, compact :-)

Zenos
Zenos
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Compacting is an internal process within Thunderbird; it means actually removing deleted messages. When you delete a message it is simply tagged and not displayed.

As such, it shouldn't care about or be affected by the underlying file system.

However, if you have frequently put off compacting, there is a risk that cumulative errors mean that compacting will further damage your mail store. I'd suggest you backup your profile as a guard against data loss.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb

kenpile
kenpile Question owner
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Thanks for the advice.

I compact in Windoze regularly ( whenever prompted ) so I would have thought that Linux would recognise this as both OS's are using the same files/folders.

Based on this I have avoided compacting from Linux but the prompt ( in Linux ) keeps coming up which is annoying.

None the less you think it should be safe to compact from Linux. If the file system is irrelevant. Hopefully if I do that Linux will leave me alone