Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > alt.comp.software.thunderbird > #16707 > unrolled thread

Install problem

Back to article view | Back to alt.comp.software.thunderbird

Contents

  Install problem knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> - 2025-05-20 06:50 -0400
    Re: Install problem "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-05-20 13:06 +0200
      Re: Install problem "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2025-05-20 15:25 +0200
        Re: Install problem John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2025-05-20 20:17 +0100
          Re: Install problem "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2025-05-20 15:57 -0400
    Re: Install problem Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> - 2025-05-20 12:20 +0100
      Re: Install problem "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2025-05-20 15:24 +0200
        Re: Install problem "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-05-20 15:43 +0200
          Re: Install problem "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2025-05-20 10:14 -0400
            Re: Install problem Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> - 2025-05-20 17:39 +0100
            Re: Install problem John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2025-05-20 20:17 +0100
              Re: Install problem Nobody <jock@soccer.com> - 2025-05-20 13:21 -0700
              Re: Install problem Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-05-23 01:40 -0400
            Re: Install problem Dummy me knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> - 2025-05-20 15:31 -0400
          Re: Install problem "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2025-05-20 20:45 +0200
        Re: Install problem Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2025-05-20 16:15 +0100
          Re: Install problem "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-05-20 18:53 +0200
            Re: Install problem Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2025-05-20 17:54 +0100
        Re: Install problem Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-05-23 03:30 -0400
    Re: Install problem "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2025-05-20 07:48 -0400
    Re: Install problem Nil <rednoise9@rednoise9.invalid> - 2025-05-21 21:42 -0400

Page 1 of 2  [1] 2  Next page →

#16707 — Install problem

I bought a new desktop computer.   In the past, I could transfer 
Thunderbird from the old computer to the new. by pasting the contents of 
the old profile to the active fasdkjfa profile on the new computer. 
Every thing worked as expected.   Transferring the contents only, left 
the pointers to the profile name, profile.ini, and install.ini intact.

HOWEVER, this time on the new computer, TB does not recognize the data 
from the old profile, and wants to start at the beginning by 
establishing new accounts, etc. The last attempt, I transfer both the 
complete old profile folder, the profile.ini, and the install.ini. 
Still the same results.

What have I overlooked.

[toc] | [next] | [standalone]

#16708

On 2025-05-20 12:50, knuttle wrote:
> I bought a new desktop computer.   In the past, I could transfer 
> Thunderbird from the old computer to the new. by pasting the contents of 
> the old profile to the active fasdkjfa profile on the new computer. 
> Every thing worked as expected.   Transferring the contents only, left 
> the pointers to the profile name, profile.ini, and install.ini intact.
> 
> HOWEVER, this time on the new computer, TB does not recognize the data 
> from the old profile, and wants to start at the beginning by 
> establishing new accounts, etc. The last attempt, I transfer both the 
> complete old profile folder, the profile.ini, and the install.ini. Still 
> the same results.
> 
> What have I overlooked.

What operating system?

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16712

On Tue, 20 May 2025 13:06:05 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:

> What operating system?

Which TB versions (old/new) ?

-- 
s|b

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16728

On Tue, 20 May 2025 15:25:06 +0200, "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:

>On Tue, 20 May 2025 13:06:05 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>
>> What operating system?
>
>Which TB versions (old/new) ?

 Yes, that *is* an important question. I just found out that I'm still
using V 24.0 and V 138.xx is available. I suspect that my version has
a lot of things missing. :) 

                                                      J. 
                

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16731

On 5/20/25 03:17 PM, John wrote:
> On Tue, 20 May 2025 15:25:06 +0200, "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 13:06:05 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>
>>> What operating system?
>>
>> Which TB versions (old/new) ?
> 
>   Yes, that *is* an important question. I just found out that I'm still
> using V 24.0 and V 138.xx is available. I suspect that my version has
> a lot of things missing. :)
> 
>                                                        J.
>                  
Or the other way around.   I hear complaints that TB keeps dropping things as the version 
#'s go higher.

-- 
Linux Mint 22.1, Cinnamon 6.4.8,  Kernel 6.8.0-60-generic
Thunderbird 128.10.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 138.0.3
     Alan K.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16709

knuttle wrote:
> I bought a new desktop computer.   In the past, I could transfer 
> Thunderbird from the old computer to the new. by pasting the contents of 
> the old profile to the active fasdkjfa profile on the new computer. 
> Every thing worked as expected.   Transferring the contents only, left 
> the pointers to the profile name, profile.ini, and install.ini intact.
> 
> HOWEVER, this time on the new computer, TB does not recognize the data 
> from the old profile, and wants to start at the beginning by 
> establishing new accounts, etc. The last attempt, I transfer both the 
> complete old profile folder, the profile.ini, and the install.ini. Still 
> the same results.
> 
> What have I overlooked.

Why not use the Export accounts function?

Ed

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16711

On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:

> Why not use the Export accounts function?

The what?

-- 
s|b

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16713

On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
> 
>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
> 
> The what?

A menu entry under Tools.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16715

On 5/20/25 09:43 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>
>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>
>> The what?
> 
> A menu entry under Tools.
> 
Tools->Export  Its exports to a file 'Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip'
It seems to backup a very large group of folders and files.  Mine was 433 MB.  I've got 5 
rss feeds, 5 emails and 8 local folders.

-- 
Linux Mint 22.1, Cinnamon 6.4.8,  Kernel 6.8.0-60-generic
Thunderbird 128.10.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 138.0.3
     Alan K.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16718

Alan K. wrote:
> On 5/20/25 09:43 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
>>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>>
>>> The what?
>>
>> A menu entry under Tools.
>>
> Tools->Export  Its exports to a file 'Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip'
> It seems to backup a very large group of folders and files.  Mine was 
> 433 MB.  I've got 5 rss feeds, 5 emails and 8 local folders.
> 

It backs up everything; all accounts, all folders all files.
Coincidentally I used it today with Betterbird from one machine to 
another. Perfect result with a backup file almost 1 GB in size.

But when I went on to run that backup into Thunderbird, the result was 
monstrously wrong.
Perhaps it would have worked from Tbird to Tbird.

Ed

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16727

On Tue, 20 May 2025 10:14:02 -0400, "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com>
wrote:

>On 5/20/25 09:43 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
>>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>>
>>> The what?
>> 
>> A menu entry under Tools.
>> 
>Tools->Export  Its exports to a file 'Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip'
>It seems to backup a very large group of folders and files.  Mine was 433 MB.  I've got 5 
>rss feeds, 5 emails and 8 local folders.

 
 Stupid question: does it work when copying TB from a Win-7 box to a
Macbook Pro machine? 

 I've tried to do this and I could never get TB to run under the
MacOSes as it does in the Win-7 environment. It always took hours of
fiddling and still needed poking about with passwords and permissions
and stuff.  

 Okay, I just looked. I don't *have* a "Tools ---> Export" option
though I do have an Import one, which makes no damned sense to me. Can
I take it that my Thunderbird is too elderly for this to be available
to me? 

 Oh. Well. Bugger that. :)

 I'm using V 24.0 and the latest seems to be 138.xx so, yes, my copy
*is* a little elderly. 

 Maybe I should think of an update? 
                                                        J.  

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16732

On Tue, 20 May 2025 20:17:18 +0100, John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:

>On Tue, 20 May 2025 10:14:02 -0400, "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On 5/20/25 09:43 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>> On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>>>
>>>> The what?
>>> 
>>> A menu entry under Tools.
>>> 
>>Tools->Export  Its exports to a file 'Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip'
>>It seems to backup a very large group of folders and files.  Mine was 433 MB.  I've got 5 
>>rss feeds, 5 emails and 8 local folders.
>
> 

<missed out>

>
> I'm using V 24.0 and the latest seems to be 138.xx so, yes, my copy
>*is* a little elderly. 
>
> Maybe I should think of an update? 
>                                                        J.  

Ouch.  Truly 24?  TB has gone through several major iterations in the
meantime.  I can't turn up a list of named versions... but the likes
of something in the 50's and circa 78, 115 as 'SuperNova', and
currently 138 as 'Nebula'.

You'll live in interesting times progressing...

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16741

On Tue, 5/20/2025 3:17 PM, John wrote:
> On Tue, 20 May 2025 10:14:02 -0400, "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> On 5/20/25 09:43 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>> On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>>>
>>>> The what?
>>>
>>> A menu entry under Tools.
>>>
>> Tools->Export  Its exports to a file 'Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip'
>> It seems to backup a very large group of folders and files.  Mine was 433 MB.  I've got 5 
>> rss feeds, 5 emails and 8 local folders.
> 
>  
>  Stupid question: does it work when copying TB from a Win-7 box to a
> Macbook Pro machine? 
> 
>  I've tried to do this and I could never get TB to run under the
> MacOSes as it does in the Win-7 environment. It always took hours of
> fiddling and still needed poking about with passwords and permissions
> and stuff.  
> 
>  Okay, I just looked. I don't *have* a "Tools ---> Export" option
> though I do have an Import one, which makes no damned sense to me. Can
> I take it that my Thunderbird is too elderly for this to be available
> to me? 
> 
>  Oh. Well. Bugger that. :)
> 
>  I'm using V 24.0 and the latest seems to be 138.xx so, yes, my copy
> *is* a little elderly. 
> 
>  Maybe I should think of an update? 

When you are moving from one Thunderbird to another, how
are the version numbers arranged ?

Is Windows 7 at TB version 115, while MacOS is 24 ?

That's bound to cause problems. If Windows 7 was 24 and MacOS was 24,
I would think that would work a little bit better. As they're in the
same temporal epoch. Your email provider would have to be "pretty crusty"
and "not particularly secure", for an older version to work.

If there were such a thing as a "Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip",
I would look inside it for a "compatibility.ini" file, as that
contains a stamp as to what level the Profile is at. A TB 24 having
quietly maintained its own profiles, would stamp the "compatibility.ini"
with the 24 number.

If other profiles were floating about the house, like a 115, then
the "compatibility.ini" in that one, should have the higher number.

If you like the performance of a particular one, and if it still
works (OAUTH2 support for GMAIL), then the entire house should
be standardized on that one working version. To run a mix of
versions, some working in the "upgrade" direction on an Export,
others working in the "--downgrade" direction, that's bound to be
a source of major hair loss.

That's a potential problem for MacOS, where the ISA keeps changing,
and the odds of a {68K, PowerPC, Intel, ARM} version being produced
today are slimmer.

One thing that used to piss me off, was visiting the Wireshark site
from my (MacOSX) Mac, and none of the versions of Wireshark were marked
with information as to which MacOS or hardware they would work with.
Testing the files one by one, trying to find the right range
of versions, that really really sucked. If only some idiot could
have marked the items in the web page, as they created and tested them.

   Paul

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16729 — Re: Install problem Dummy me

On 05/20/2025 10:14 AM, Alan K. wrote:
> On 5/20/25 09:43 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 2025-05-20 15:24, s|b wrote:
>>> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>>
>>> The what?
>>
>> A menu entry under Tools.
>>
> Tools->Export  Its exports to a file 'Thunderbird_profile_backup.zip'
> It seems to backup a very large group of folders and files.  Mine was 
> 433 MB.  I've got 5 rss feeds, 5 emails and 8 local folders.
> 
OP: The problem was one of Microsoft security and folder ownership.  I 
took ownership of the fold and straightened out the permissions and all 
worked.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16723

On Tue, 20 May 2025 15:43:54 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:

> A menu entry under Tools.

Found it, but never used it.

-- 
s|b

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16716

s|b wrote:

> Ed Cryer wrote:
> 
>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
> 
> The what?
Tools > Export ...

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16720

On 2025-05-20 17:15, Andy Burns wrote:
> s|b wrote:
> 
>> Ed Cryer wrote:
>>
>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>
>> The what?
> Tools > Export ...
> 
> 

I wonder if it works across operating systems.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16721

On 20/05/2025 17:53, Carlos E. R. wrote:

> On 2025-05-20 17:15, Andy Burns wrote:
>> s|b wrote:
>>
>>> Ed Cryer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
>>>
>>> The what?
>> Tools > Export ...
>>
>>
> 
> I wonder if it works across operating systems.
I think so, if the path to the profiles use relative paths, not absolute.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16742

On Tue, 5/20/2025 9:24 AM, s|b wrote:
> On Tue, 20 May 2025 12:20:20 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:
> 
>> Why not use the Export accounts function?
> 
> The what?
> 

For older versions...

There might be ImportExportTools and ImportExportToolsNG, and the one for
TB 52 would be in here. I gather this adds an export capability. But it
looks like the ZIP library they use, is one with the old 4GB or 2GB limitation
(a 32 bit field in the header). There is some workaround for ZIP, so it can
properly signal quantitles larger than 4GB. And maybe that is missing from the
tool flow. If your profile is too large, and your TB version one of the
older ones, this might not work properly. It would have been more clever
of them, to use another standard like "tar" or something.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-us/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/versions/

The Google to find that was:

    thunderbird.net view all versions importexport

because the "View All Versions" is missing from the current web site.

Moving profile folders around is another alternative. You can use 7ZIP on
extremely large folders if you want to do that before transport (compress
the profile, put it on a USB stick say).

   Paul

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#16710

On 5/20/25 06:50 AM, knuttle wrote:
> I bought a new desktop computer.   In the past, I could transfer Thunderbird from the old 
> computer to the new. by pasting the contents of the old profile to the active fasdkjfa 
> profile on the new computer. Every thing worked as expected.   Transferring the contents 
> only, left the pointers to the profile name, profile.ini, and install.ini intact.
> 
> HOWEVER, this time on the new computer, TB does not recognize the data from the old 
> profile, and wants to start at the beginning by establishing new accounts, etc. The last 
> attempt, I transfer both the complete old profile folder, the profile.ini, and the 
> install.ini. Still the same results.
> 
> What have I overlooked.
How much of the profile?
If appdata/roaming/Thunderbird/profiles/whatever.default ?? then where do you start 
copying from.

I usually copy the Thunderbird folder and everything below.

But I've had times I would let TB install whatever it wants then go in through the profile 
manager and make a new profile the name of my profile on the old computer.   My profile is 
always "tbird.default".  I'm anal retentive I guess but I write scripts and they are coded 
for that path name.

I can then copy from the old computer just the tbird.default profile and overwrite the new 
one created by the profile manager.   Everyone is dumb and happy now.

-- 
Linux Mint 22.1, Cinnamon 6.4.8,  Kernel 6.8.0-60-generic
Thunderbird 128.10.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 138.0.3
     Alan K.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

Page 1 of 2  [1] 2  Next page →

Back to top | Article view | alt.comp.software.thunderbird

csiph-web