I need to understand how this is set up. You have an original pc that connects to Internet and your email-provider You use IMAP (?) You have a PC2 (?) which is always offline and is connected to PC1 ???? How and when did pc2 read mail on server?

IMAP is like a "view" of the server folders.

re :4- On both original computer and backup computer, the result search sometimes returns messages but is not able to open them. 5- I decided to rebuild the index database

So you deleted the global-messages-db.sqlite file, which would then rebuild your database based on what was currently in your folders. Just in case the folder index was showing an out of date index you also repaired the folder, but to no avail.

Why was search finding a result but not the actual email? Initially, this could have been due to an indexing situation which had got out of synch. What you did was the correct procedure to get that database and folders to make sure the indexing was showing what was actually in the folders. Having followed those instructions, but results are still not displaying emails, I would say that this is what occurred; the search was able to find old headers, but they are not linking to the actual email because the email may not be there or it has been marked as deleted and hidden from view.

re :10- On another article, i read that I can delete the folder *.msf files 8- but, when I search for something, I get absolutely no result at all !

Deleting the *.msf files would also force a complete reindexing. All files and folders in the Thunderbird profile folder are in 'Appdata' folders (Windows OS) which are 'hidden files and folders' by default - it is normal as the OS dictates this. So, you would have needed to make hidden files and folders visible to see them or if using a search, it would need to include hidden files.

What could have happened? As the indexing was not effected, but the actual email file seems to have been altered, It is possible that your Anti-Virus program may have detected something amiss and quarrantined the file or after scanning tried to identify emails, but messed things up. It would not have known about the .msf indexing file so left it alone.

First you need to find out if you actually have the emails. Do not compact any folders.

Q1: Is this an Imap or Pop mail account? Q2: Is this a gmail account ? Log on to webmail account and see if those emails are still on the server. Q3: Are emails visible on server? Q4: If IMAP, do you synchronise your subscribed folders for Offline use to get a copy into Thunderbird profile folder and then in Offline mode you backup/Copy your entire profile to paste it into the other computer?

Now to see if you can see the emails in Profile folder. Make hidden files and folders visible:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders

In Thunderbird Help > Troubleshooting Information click on 'Show folder' button a new window opens showing the contents of your proile folder.

If POP: click on 'Mail' Folder. If IMAP: click on 'ImapMail' folder.

click on the mail account name. You should now see all your mbox files and indexing files. Mbox files will have same name as the folders you see in the Folder Pane. Mbox files have no extension and they contain emails. Mbox files can be opened using Notepad.

Indexing files will have the .msf extension. If you see folders with a .sbd extension, then that would mean you have subfolders. eg: Inbox.sbd folder will contain more mbox files and indexing files.

If you are trying to locate emails that you expected to see in the Inbox: Open the Inbox mbox file (no extension) using Notepad. Emails are written into the file one after the other, so the newest will be at the bottom. Carefully check through the file. You could use the 'Edit' > 'Find' to help to locate emails if you know something you can search on eg: email address or subject. Q5: Do you see any of those missing emails?

Hello Gnospen & Toad-Hall,

Thanks for your answers. I just had a careful look at them right now.

Answer to Gnospen : 1- For my explanation, let's say that Thunderbird is in two part : -- on-line part (IMAP/POP access), the above part on left panel. -- off-line part (Local folders), the below part on left panel.

2- With this in mind, I answer you the following way : - Yes, On PC1 Thunderbird uses IMAP to access 5 different mailboxes (9 configured but 5 actives - honestly I can delete the 4 non active but did not take the time to do so). - All messages of these 5 mailboxes are moved to "local folders" either manually or based on certain rules. So locally there is plenty of sub-folders for each account. - No, PC2 is not connected to PC1 (and is a pure standalone PC without network connection). - No, PC2 never reads mails on server. As mentioned, PC2 is only used to access the off-line "local folder" of Thunderbird (below part). - The "backup" from PC1 to PC2 has been made with an XCOPY command ("Document and Settings" and "Program Files" part of Thunderbird) with the help of an USB stick. - as PC1 and PC2 have different hard disk partitions, I manually changed 4 entries in "prefs.js" to set the correct path (mail.server2.directory, mail.server2.directory-rel, extensions.xpiState, extensions.boostrappedAddons).

I don't say that I did not mistake in some point during my copy, but please keep in mind that the search problem happens first on the PC1. I am just trying to solve the issue on the PC2 first. :)

Answer to Toad-Hall : Regarding PC1 : A1- IMAP. A2- No gmail account at all. A3- Yes. A4- In the "Synchronisation et espace disque" (sync. and disk space) the radio button is set on "Synchroniser tous les messages localement sans critères d'âge" (Sync. all messages locally without age criteria). No messages are deleted. Most of the time emails are moved manually from the email server to "local folder" (right click on the message and "move to..."). Some other messages are moved with the help of "Awesome auto archive". A5- No and I do believe this is normal as the messages I search for are most of the time old messages that are no more on the server side. They are all on the "local folder" (below part of the left panel).

With your great explanation in mind I looked at my "local folder" folder.

On PC2 : - I opened a specific no extension MBox files (size: 2'368 Ko) and found the needed messages. - But the related *.msf index file has a size of 0 Ko (?) As I deleted all the *.msf files as explained in my initial post, I think Thunderbird miss to re-index the MBox.

On PC1 : - The same *.msf file is 24'879 octet

On PC2 : - After clicking on the button "Réparer le dossier" (repair folder), the *.mst file is 20'754 octet. - Unfortunately, when searching for a term that is contained inside an email inside this MBox, I still have a blank search result.

I don't know if it may be of any use but on PC2, the recreated "global-messages-db.sqlite" is 1'245'184 octets. The same file on PC1 is 78'807'040 octets.

Any idea ?

Thanks in advance.