Can the same steps for moving T-bird data be used when the program is already installed and configured on another computer?
Since migrating to Outlook from my university server, MozBackup has created all sorts of problems -- I think because my profile now contains information from my old server where all mail prior to the migration originated. So when I try to create a backup to transfer to Thunderbird on my notebook from the desktop (which interfaces perfectly with Outlook) I cannot for the life of me make the same account settings work. And the giveaway is that when I backup my profile -- remember, T-bird/Outlook works with no problems on the desktop -- when I "restore" that profile on the notebook, the settings all revert to the ports and processes from my old university account. Even when I edit all the account settings to match those on the desktop, I am able to send messages through outlook, but not download from the outlook.com server. So I need a new way to copy the proper settings.
The instructions for doing this seem to assume that one is installing Thunderbird on another computer for the first time, and contains quite a few steps that seem redundant to me. Can't one skip all the opening and closing of the program on each computer by going to Run -> %accessdata% and copy the Thunderbird folder with all its subfolders from the source computer, and then do the same thing on the target computer, pasting/replacing the target computer's Thunderbird folder(s)? Or is there something terrible that will happen if this is tried -- which is why I am asking before doing this!
Suggestions would be much appreciated! Steve601
Réiteach roghnaithe
If TB is already installed on the notebook, and you don't need any of the data in the existing profile, because you want to copy the data from the desktop computer, just delete the Thunderbird folder in C:\Users\windowsusername\AppData\Roaming (hidden by default) and replace it with the Thunderbird folder copied from the same location on the desktop (all while TB is closed). I hope I understand what you're trying to do.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer
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Réiteach Roghnaithe
If TB is already installed on the notebook, and you don't need any of the data in the existing profile, because you want to copy the data from the desktop computer, just delete the Thunderbird folder in C:\Users\windowsusername\AppData\Roaming (hidden by default) and replace it with the Thunderbird folder copied from the same location on the desktop (all while TB is closed). I hope I understand what you're trying to do.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer
This does seem the intuitive solution. Many thanks!
MozBackup is very easy to use but it hasn't been updated for a while. It clearly runs into profiling problems if some emails (and folders) were created when the account connected to an earlier server.
This solution requires a couple more steps on the user's part, but should be extremely straightforward. Thanks again.