How do I move Thunderbird message data to separate hard drive location? 2nd request
Here is what I wrote in first request. In order to maintain consistent file structure I want all Thunderbird data(messages, settings, etc) to be located on my data drive, which is a separate logical driver from applications. When I open Thunderbird folder properties I can see where the program is sending the folder input, but for some reason I cannot highlight and edit the address to point to where I want it to go. I have been searching within Thunderbird to find a data field that I can edit, but so far I cannot find one.
I was referred to a discussion of "profiles, " and I tried to use the instructions for "Moving a profile." When I edited the ini file adding the hard disk drive and additional path folder for that drive, saving all, I tried to open Thunderbird and it would not open because it could not find the path. Just to add additional narrative before I did anything in the profiles instructions, I had already copied and pasted the "Crash Reports" and "Profiles" folders found in the Thunderbird application to the new location I wanted the data to go in anticipation that I could perhaps find an option field in the setup to redirect. Now I know that is not available. So I need more hands on help to get this done, because, either I am misreading the profile moving instructions ore misinterpreting them.
All Replies (6)
I did this: Start profile-manager by using "Thunderbird.exe -P" Create a new profile on your data-drive (G:\tbird) In explorer open that directory (G:\tbird) and delete everything within it. Copy everything from your old profile into this.
You should have two entries in %appdata%\thunderbird\profiles.ini Like mine:
[General] StartWithLastProfile=1
[Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/ewoxjhii.default
[Profile1] Name=Second IsRelative=0 Path=G:\Tbird Default=1 Ones again start profile-manager. Choose to always open last profile Open and see if it works as it should.
Your first request got an answer. You did not like that one or just did not read it?
to Airmail, my 2nd request indicated that I had read the answer and the answer was not helpful. "an answer" does not mean it is a correctly working answer.
To Gnospen you answer was partially correct in that I finally got a 2nd profile set up. However, you left out an awful lot of information such as exactly where to find the exe file. You also did not include the fact that Thunderbird will ask to set up the email information again which I did not have time for. I would have thought that when I copied all the files from the original set up into the new drive location, Thunderbird would have immediately used that setup. So in the end your answer has not yet worked. While I am somewhat proficient with this stuff I am not an expert. In the end I am back to the original set up for a while. I should have been more explicit in my needing specific instructions.
You haven't copied your profile properly then. If the copied profile was in the right place, Thunderbird would have found it.
Your OP alluded to changing destinations for data and I can only interpret this as changing the "Local directory" setting in Account Settings. Unless you have a very good reason for using this particular method, I'd say it is always better to keep your profile intact and all in one place. Changing "Local directory" detaches a mail store from the profile and makes it near impossible for anyone else to help you. Despite this setting being on show in the GUI, I'd classify it as one for advanced users only.
No-one can tell you for sure where your .exe file is since you haven't thought to mention what Operating System you are using. Probably Windows, but it's surprising how often Mac users come here expecting us to know instinctively that it's a Mac being talked about.
Right-click the program's entry in the Start Menu, or its shortcut, and look for Properties and that will tell you where a program is located. In Windows, right-click might even give you options such as run with profile manager or run in safe mode.
To find your profile, Thunderbird needs to be able to see its profiles.ini file. So this particular file must be left in its original location.
You can either hand-edit it to give the location of your data files, or you can use the profile manager -P switch to open a profile manager and set up the re-located profile as a new profile.
Normally profiles.ini is located alongside or above the data folders, so they can be referred to using a "relative" pathname. If you move these data folders to another disk or partition, you need to use an "absolute" pathname in profiles.ini. And in Windows, this will mean entering the entire pathname, using \ in place of / (other OSes are more rational and use / throughout) and changing the IsRelative from "1" to "0".
If your on Windows there is no need to know the exact location of the exe-file as it depends on you using a 32- or 64-bit system. Just use your start-button and run or window-button + R.
You did say you copied your old profile, that indicates you know where to find it. Setting up a new profile, you don't have to enter anything as you would delete all content anyway.
You could just as well edit the profile.ini and enter a second profile or edit a first. (I thought it would be easier to create a new and copy than explain.)
Do NOT move profile.ini
I have a hunch you copied profiles or profiles\######.default (###### being a unique number-letter combo) In either case your path must reflect this.
Startwithlastprofile should be on (1) [Profile0] Could be [Profile1] Name= is whats you name it in Profile-manager. (or default) It only affects what you see when you want to use Profile-manager. IsRelative= must be 0 when its not relative to profile.ini Path= full path including your profile. Default=1 must be under the right profile
like:
StartWithLastProfile=1
[Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=0 Path=G:\Tbird\Profiles\########.default Default=1
Modified by Gnospen