Is this a POP account? If so, are you leaving messages on the server?

What exactly does 'aol decided to delete all of the old mail in my inbox' mean? Are you talking about Thunderbird?

It's in a format that my computer doesn't recognize

What format are you talking about? A folder doesn't have a particular format. What exactly your computer didn't recognize?

This is a POP account. I did have my mail stored on their server. "aol" is America Online. I have had this account since way back when they were the only game in town. Since the middle of last year, I have been using Outlook and Thunderbird, but I kept my aol account open. Thunderbird is set to save all mail to the hard drive, so it's pretty safe to assume that the folder I found does contain the mail that used to also be on aol's servers. When I try to open it, I get asked to choose the program I want to use to open it, but nothing I tried will work. This is data that Thunderbird stored, so there must be a way to open it in Thunderbird.

lets back up here a little.... What is wrong with viewing the mail in Thunderbird?

If I view my mailboxes in Thunderbird, it's the same as viewing them directly in aol. All of my old mail is gone. There is sent mail going back for many years, but anything that was in the in box is gone.

what happens if you right click the folder and select properties and then repair?

CHUCK4850 said

Suddenly, aol decided to delete all of the old mail in my inbox, without warning. They claim there is nothing they can do to get it back. I have Thunderbird set to save mail to my hard drive, and I found a folder labeled "pop.aol.com". (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\kokahqlk.default\Mail\pop.aol.com) It's in a format that my computer doesn't recognize, but it has 1.36G in it, so I'm hopeful that it contains my lost mail. How do I open it?

This might help:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders#Install_the_ImportExportTools_extension

Matt said

what happens if you right click the folder and select properties and then repair?

I don't see the repair option. This computer is running Windows XP, so that might not be available?

GetFuzzy said

CHUCK4850 said

Suddenly, aol decided to delete all of the old mail in my inbox, without warning. They claim there is nothing they can do to get it back. I have Thunderbird set to save mail to my hard drive, and I found a folder labeled "pop.aol.com". (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\kokahqlk.default\Mail\pop.aol.com) It's in a format that my computer doesn't recognize, but it has 1.36G in it, so I'm hopeful that it contains my lost mail. How do I open it?

This might help:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders#Install_the_ImportExportTools_extension

This sounds like a step in the right direction, but when I tried it, I get the message that this add on is not compatible with Firefox 35.0.1.

I think I should explain a little further. I can open the folder pop.aol.com. Inside it there are 9 files. 2 of them are labeled inbox. One just says inbox, and the other inbox.msf. They are both dated 6/8/2014, around the time I started using Thunderbird, so my hope is that they contain everything that was in my inbox at that time. When I try to open them, I get the box that asks me to choose a program to open it with.

CHUCK4850 said

GetFuzzy said

CHUCK4850 said

Suddenly, aol decided to delete all of the old mail in my inbox, without warning. They claim there is nothing they can do to get it back. I have Thunderbird set to save mail to my hard drive, and I found a folder labeled "pop.aol.com". (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\kokahqlk.default\Mail\pop.aol.com) It's in a format that my computer doesn't recognize, but it has 1.36G in it, so I'm hopeful that it contains my lost mail. How do I open it?

This might help:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders#Install_the_ImportExportTools_extension

This sounds like a step in the right direction, but when I tried it, I get the message that this add on is not compatible with Firefox 35.0.1.

Make sure you are in Thunderbird and not Firefox when you go to Tools -> AddOns -> Extensions to "install add-on from file". I saw that same error message and realized i was in Firefox instead of Thunderbird.

Lets move to the basics, the import export tools might be useful if there are undeleted messages. At this point you see nothing so that is not all that likely.

I edited my original post, did you read the edited form before posting? I think not at this point, even though you quoted it. Otherwise you using a very very old version like 1

I bet he is right clicking the folder in Windows and not the Inbox in Thunderbird where Repair Folder is.

I did tell him to stop doing stuff there Airmail, but what can I say. Your probably right.

GetFuzzy said

CHUCK4850 said

GetFuzzy said

CHUCK4850 said

Suddenly, aol decided to delete all of the old mail in my inbox, without warning. They claim there is nothing they can do to get it back. I have Thunderbird set to save mail to my hard drive, and I found a folder labeled "pop.aol.com". (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\kokahqlk.default\Mail\pop.aol.com) It's in a format that my computer doesn't recognize, but it has 1.36G in it, so I'm hopeful that it contains my lost mail. How do I open it?

This might help:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders#Install_the_ImportExportTools_extension

This sounds like a step in the right direction, but when I tried it, I get the message that this add on is not compatible with Firefox 35.0.1.

Make sure you are in Thunderbird and not Firefox when you go to Tools -> AddOns -> Extensions to "install add-on from file". I saw that same error message and realized i was in Firefox instead of Thunderbird.

That was the answer! I was in Firefox, when I should have been in Thunderbird. I followed the instructions, and I now have a folder under local folders labeled "Inbox". When I open it, it displays all of my old mail that I thought was gone forever. Thanks so much!

CHUCK4850 said

That was the answer! I was in Firefox, when I should have been in Thunderbird. I followed the instructions, and I now have a folder under local folders labeled "Inbox". When I open it, it displays all of my old mail that I thought was gone forever. Thanks so much!

You're welcome.