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transferring U3 Thunderbird email to Portable Thunderbird

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Anonymous (not verified)
transferring U3 Thunderbird email to Portable Thunderbird

Hello everyone,
I apologize in advance for my stupid question. I recently bought a new flashdrive that is not U3 enabled. I'm currently using a U3 geeksquad flash drive. I would like to transfer my email messages, addresses and settings to my new flashdrive (where I have loaded portable thunderbird).
I have tried the suggestion on the portable apps support page regarding copying files from a local drive. However, I cannot find any of the thunderbird files or folders on my U3 portable drive. I went to mybrainz (developer of the U3 thunderbird) support page and their strategy for transferring files did not work (using the Eudora import feature) nor have they responded to my request for support(sent a week ago). Again, I'm really sorry if this is not the correct place to ask for suggestions but I've exhausted my limited repetoire for transferring data. Here is what I've tried so far:

- I've looked for a place on my U3 drive to view hidden files or folders, in order to locate the "mbox" (I couldn't find this option).
- I tried to open both instances of thunderbird on my computer hoping that I might be able to drag and drop the email folders. But I'm not allowed to open both versions at the same time.
- I copied all my files and folders (documents folder) onto my new flash drive and searched for the "mbox," but alas I still can't find it.
- I also tried the manage progams on my U3 drive hoping to make a back up of my files, but I can't find a way to do this.

I know these were probably really dumb attempts but I'm flash drive challenged:)

Any suggestions will be most appeciated.
Dawn

John T. Haller
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Here ya go

Just follow these steps:

1. Install Portable Thunderbird where you intend to use it
2. Delete the contents of the PortableThunderbird\profile directory
3. Copy your U3 Thunderbird profile into the PortableThunderbird\profile directory. You'll find it located here:
X:\System\Apps\699AACF9-31FB-4dec-A5B7-CE972EE2EFFB\Exec\Stealth\Thunderbird\tbprofile
4. Delete the StealthProfile directory within PortableThunderbird\profile
5. In PortableThunderbird\profile, edit your user.js file. Remove these two lines and then save:
user_pref("messenger.throbber.url", "http://home.stealthsurfer.biz");
user_pref("mailnews.start_page.url", "http://home.yourbrainz.com");
6. Do the same thing with your prefs.js file in the same directory
7. Fire up PortableThunderbird.exe and enjoy.

Regards,
John

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

dawn (not verified)
Thank you...

that worked! I was able to find my profile folder on my U3 drive and simply copied it into portable thunderbird on my other flash drive. I couldn't find a user.js file so I didn't delete the lines that you mention. However, when I open portable thunderbird all my data is there and it appears to be working just fine. So I'm assuming that I don't need to do that. Thanks again! I will be making a donation for all your efforts after I post this message!
Thanks again!
Dawn

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Didn't Work

I tried this and all I get is tb asking to make a new account. Nothing was transfered.

John T. Haller
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New directories

Thunderbird Portable uses a different directory these days. So the directory in those directions that was PortableThunderbird\profile, is now ThunderbirdPortable\Data\profile.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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Thanks

That worked. Thanks. And thanks for all the effort you put into making these apps.

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