Moving Thunderbird from one PC to another.

richardm · 19th June 2006, 08:11 AM

I have a new PC and want to move my Mozilla Thunderbird mail stuff onto it. I've copied the contents of my Thunderbird profile directory from one PC to another, but when I start Thunderbird it doesn't seem to pick up the changes, prompting me to enter new account details and so on.

I got a bunch of "Do you want to replace file x" messages when copying, so I'm fairly confident I'm in the right place with the profile. Anything else I need to do, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

vbloke · 19th June 2006, 08:18 AM

Your mail files are inside your profile, in the Mail and (if you use IMAP) ImapMail folders. Each mail folder (Inbox, Sent, etc.) is stored as two files — one with no extension (e.g. INBOX), which is the mail file itself (in "mbox" format), and one with an .msf extension (e.g. INBOX.msf), which is the index (Mail Summary File) to the mail file. Tell the other program to import mail from the file with no extension.

If you want to transfer a mail file to another Mozilla profile or another installation of Mozilla, simply put the mail file into the other installation's Mail folder.

richardm · 19th June 2006, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by vbloke

If you want to transfer a mail file to another Mozilla profile or another installation of Mozilla, simply put the mail file into the other installation's Mail folder.

I thought I'd done that. I'll check to see whether I really have or not. If all else fails I'll try importing it. Thanks!

Mongrel · 20th June 2006, 07:49 PM

You also have to pull your Profile folder across (C:\Documents and Settings\xxUserNamexx\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles) to the same location on the new computer and then edit the Profiles.ini to the Profile name.

From my system. My profile folder name is lxfinf0z.default and my .ini file reads;
[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/zian4gb0.default

Obviously the bolded bit is the one to match up with your folder name

Mongrel · 21st June 2006, 05:56 AM

Damn, that'll teach me to post late at night

Corrected version below

Originally Posted by Mongrel

From my system. My profile folder name is lxfinf0z.default and my .ini file reads;
[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/lxfinf0z.default

Obviously the bolded bit is the one to match up with your folder name

19th June 2006, 08:11 AM	#1
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	Moving Thunderbird from one PC to another. I have a new PC and want to move my Mozilla Thunderbird mail stuff onto it. I've copied the contents of my Thunderbird profile directory from one PC to another, but when I start Thunderbird it doesn't seem to pick up the changes, prompting me to enter new account details and so on. I got a bunch of "Do you want to replace file x" messages when copying, so I'm fairly confident I'm in the right place with the profile. Anything else I need to do, or am I barking up the wrong tree?
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	__________________ Rimmer: Look at her! Magnificent woman! Very prim, very proper, almost austere. Some people took her for cold, thought she was aloof. Not a bit of it. She just despised fools. Quite tragic, really, because otherwise I think we'd have got on famously.

19th June 2006, 08:18 AM	#2
vbloke Disturbing shirts Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 722	Your mail files are inside your profile, in the Mail and (if you use IMAP) ImapMail folders. Each mail folder (Inbox, Sent, etc.) is stored as two files — one with no extension (e.g. INBOX), which is the mail file itself (in "mbox" format), and one with an .msf extension (e.g. INBOX.msf), which is the index (Mail Summary File) to the mail file. Tell the other program to import mail from the file with no extension. If you want to transfer a mail file to another Mozilla profile or another installation of Mozilla, simply put the mail file into the other installation's Mail folder.
	__________________ http://intelligentdesignr.org.uk Who Is The intelligent designr? http://www.ukskeptics.com Skepticism in the UK

19th June 2006, 08:32 AM	#3
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	Originally Posted by vbloke If you want to transfer a mail file to another Mozilla profile or another installation of Mozilla, simply put the mail file into the other installation's Mail folder. I thought I'd done that. I'll check to see whether I really have or not. If all else fails I'll try importing it. Thanks!
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	__________________ Rimmer: Look at her! Magnificent woman! Very prim, very proper, almost austere. Some people took her for cold, thought she was aloof. Not a bit of it. She just despised fools. Quite tragic, really, because otherwise I think we'd have got on famously.

20th June 2006, 07:49 PM	#4
Mongrel Begging for Scraps Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 20 minutes in the future Posts: 1,640	You also have to pull your Profile folder across (C:\Documents and Settings\xxUserNamexx\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles) to the same location on the new computer and then edit the Profiles.ini to the Profile name. From my system. My profile folder name is lxfinf0z.default and my .ini file reads; [General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/zian4gb0.default Obviously the bolded bit is the one to match up with your folder name
	__________________ “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” - Charles Darwin ...like so many contemporary philosophers he especially enjoyed giving helpful advice to people who were happier than he was. - Tom Lehrer

21st June 2006, 05:56 AM	#5
Mongrel Begging for Scraps Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 20 minutes in the future Posts: 1,640	Damn, that'll teach me to post late at night Corrected version below Originally Posted by Mongrel From my system. My profile folder name is lxfinf0z.default and my .ini file reads; [General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/lxfinf0z.default Obviously the bolded bit is the one to match up with your folder name
	__________________ “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” - Charles Darwin ...like so many contemporary philosophers he especially enjoyed giving helpful advice to people who were happier than he was. - Tom Lehrer