Reinstall Thunderbird without Old imported OE Messages?
I installed Thunderbird on a test basis. Unfortunately during the installation process, the program asked if I wanted to import data from another source, which I agreed to without thinking. Now we have numerous unwanted Outlook Express messages in the Thunderbird system.
I would like to remove these messages. I have already tried uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird, but even after the program has been completely uninstalled, when I reinstall it, it always seems to reload all of the unwanted Outlook Express messages. Is there a way I can reinstall Thunderbird in a clean state (like it would have been if I had not imported the OE messages)? Or, would it be easier to delete all of the messages and folders from within Thunderbird? I'd prefer a clean reinstall if possible.
Thanks for any assistance you can offer with this question.
Valgt løsning
Nothing in Outlook Express changes, nothing at all. But remember, you will not have outlook express for ever. It will almost certainly not run on your next computer.
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by far the easiest is simply select the outlook express import folder and press the delete key. however is you type %appdata% at the start menu search prompt and delete the Thunderbird folder in the windows explorer window that opens then next time you run Thunderbird it will be as new. ( don't come back later complaining of lost data. There is no going back unless you have a backup.
Thanks for your response, Matt. In terms of a safety copy of the data, my understanding is that the original messages are still in Outlook Express when an import into Thunderbird has been done. If that is correct, we should have all of the data in OE, even if I delete the OE import folder in Thunderbird. If we have both Thunderbird and Outlook Express on the same machine, we have two copies of the data,correct?
I also have a question about OE identities. We have two of them in the Outlook Express system. It looks like Thunderbird only imports the messages from the default OE identity. Is that the case?
Thanks again for your help.
Yes only the default identity, but you can change the default in OE and run the import wizard again to get the other identity.
See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager for using the profile manager so your identities remain separate.
The profile switcher add-on provides a menu item that allows you to select the profile to be used at the next startup.
Thanks for the references and feedback. I have printed the articles you mention for future use.
Just to confirm, importing messages into Thunderbird from Outlook Express does NOT alter or delete the original messages in OE, correct? We will still have the original OE system (with all of its contents) even after I have removed the OE import folder in Thunderbird. I just want to be sure before I start deleting things!
Valgt løsning
Nothing in Outlook Express changes, nothing at all. But remember, you will not have outlook express for ever. It will almost certainly not run on your next computer.
Thanks for your suggestions and comments. I will be trying them this weekend and will report back early next week.