Moving Thunderbird Mail from WindowsXP to Fedora18

[g]

On 08/11/2013 05:54 PM, Jim wrote:
> I have retreved the Thunderbird folder from a crashed WindowsXP and now
> have it on a Fedora 18 /home/user install.
>
> The Fedora install already has Thunderbird installed and New Emails are
> already in Thunderbird, I want import the Emails from the WindowsXP
> Thunderbird in with the existing emails already in Fedora Thunderbird.
>
> How do I do that ??

open your linux thunderbird. under "Local Folders", create a _new_folder_
by right clicking the "Local Folders" icon, select "New Folder", give it
a name like "old-emails", or what ever you wish. close thunderbird.

you do not state how/where/which thunderbird folder you 'retrieved', so i
will _presume_ that you mean your _user_ thunderbird directory from your
oos user path. if you mean you retrieved your profile directory, great.
adapt procedure to allow.

you do not state which desktop you are using. so, i will _presume_ you
using kde desktop. i will also _presume_ you are using konqueror as your
file browser.

other desktops and file browsers will follow similar procedures described.

to follow this procedure, you *must* have your file browser set to show
hidden directories and files.

before preceding, make a copy of your linux thunderbird directory. the
"thunderbird" directory will be

in your "/home/[user name]/ directory, you will find a directory named
".thunderbird".

open file browser in split view mode, top/bottom, left/right, which every
"churns your butter".

locate your oos "thunderbird" email directory path in one view, linux
".thunderbird" email directory path in other view.

in both old and new paths, locate your user _profile_ directory. they will
have a mixture letters and numbers with an extension of ".default". this
is your thunderbird _profile_ directory. in your profile directory, you
will see a directory named "Mail". open "Mail" directory in each view.

in "Mail" directory, you will see directory/ies for your email account/s
and a directory "Local Folders". each of these directories will have
same/similar names that you see in left pane of thunderbird's window.

now comes the questionable part, were you storing emails the folders
under each of your email account folders, or is everything under your
old oos "Local Folders"?

because of this, there are 2 possibilities of how to proceed. if emails
where stored in account directories, use "A". if not, use "B".


A. emails under _account_folders_.

   1. under oos path's "Mail" directory, drag and drop each account
      directory to under "old-emails" folder directory that you created
      above, select _copy_. rename each copied directory by removing "@".

   2. in the copied directory, delete each file that does not have a
      ".msf" file. delete _all_ ".msf" files.

   3. under oos path's "Mail" directory, drag and drop "Local Folders"
      directory to under "old-email", select _copy_. rename "Local Folders"
      to "local-folders".

   4. open a tab for "old-email" directory. press <F4> to open a terminal
      window. at command, type in;

           ]$ rm -fR *.msf
           ]$ rm -fR *.sbd
           press <ctrl+d>

       to leave terminal and return browser.

       open "profile" directory, find file "panacea.dat", delete it.

B. if you do not have emails under _account_folders_.

    1. under oos path's "Mail" directory, drag and drop "Local Folders"
       directory to under "old-email", select _copy_. rename "Local Folders"
       to "local-folders".

    2. open a tab for "old-email" directory. press <F4> to open a terminal
       window. at command, type in;

           ]$ rm -fR *.msf
           ]$ rm -fR *.sbd
           press <ctrl+d>

       to leave terminal and return browser.

       open "profile" directory, find file "panacea.dat", delete it.

open thunderbird. it will take a little time for thunderbird to show
left pane information because it is building new *.msf files and build
a new "panacea.dat" file.

you will now find under the "old-email" folder all your old email
folders from you oos system. you can drag and drop emails to what
ever new folders you have.

depending on how your have your "View > Sort" setup, old emails
may/will/might be out of chronological order. this can be corrected,
but should be discussed under a new "Subject:".


/*NOTE*
if you have any questions, or do not understand any part of this
procedure, post your questions.
/*ETON*

/*NOTE*
i have re-read above 4 times and i believe it is correct with out any
typos or errors.
/*ETON*

/*NOTE*
i make no claims or guaranties to above procedures other than i have
done this many times and given same instructions to other linux users
and they reported no problems. *YMMV*
/*ETON*

/*NOTE*
i have an appointment at 1000 hrs cst. i will be leaving home around
0915 hrs cst and hopefully return 1130 cst to 1200 hrs cst. upon return,
i will check email to see how you did.
/*ETON*


much luck.

hth.

-- 

peace out.

in a world with out fences, who needs gates.

sl6.3 linux

tc.hago.

g
.