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merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 28th 19, 03:31 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 603
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

Two friends have suffered hardware failures, and in both cases have
started anew, with the same software.

Eudora user: hard drive fail; managed to restore OS etc. from image (to
new drive), and get her going again with Eudora. Will be same version
(development stopped years ago). I have subsequently managed to recover
_I think_ most of Eudora folder from the old drive.

Thunderbird user: complete computer fail (dead behaviour). I don't think
it's the HD, so anticipate being able to recover TB
folders/profiles/whatever from it (I haven't visited her yet). Have got
her going (remotely!) on replacement (W7) computer; latest TB
downloaded, but I _think_ it's not very different (I think she had it
set to autoupdate; failure was recent).

Want to restore old emails from before their failures:
o without losing any new emails (i. e. "merge" old and new)
o with access to files only - can't _run_ anything on them I think): i.
e. it _isn't_ like exporting from a running machine to a new one.

Any pointers for either software?

Thanks.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"He who will not reason is a bigot;
he who cannot is a fool;
he who dares not is a slave."
- Sir William Drummond

Above all things, use your mind.
Don't be that bigot, fool, or slave.
  #2  
Old December 28th 19, 09:27 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Stan Brown
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Posts: 2,904
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

On Sat, 28 Dec 2019 02:31:12 +0000, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Thunderbird user: complete computer fail (dead behaviour). I don't
think it's the HD, so anticipate being able to recover TB
folders/profiles/whatever from it (I haven't visited her yet).

Any pointers for either software?


I can't speak to Eudora. But for Thunderbird, once a week I back up
my profile from my Windows 7 workhorse and restore it (as files,
using Robocopy /MIR /XJ) to my Windows 8 laptop, so I know that
works. I have some mails stored locally and some stored on the
server, and both types are accessible on the laptop exactly as on the
workhorse. My options, identities, server info, and address book all
come across without a problem.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://BrownMath.com/
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
Shikata ga nai...
  #3  
Old December 29th 19, 09:55 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 603
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

In message , Stan Brown
writes:
On Sat, 28 Dec 2019 02:31:12 +0000, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Thunderbird user: complete computer fail (dead behaviour). I don't
think it's the HD, so anticipate being able to recover TB
folders/profiles/whatever from it (I haven't visited her yet).

Any pointers for either software?


I can't speak to Eudora. But for Thunderbird, once a week I back up


Eudora turned out not to be a problem! I gave her the files I'd managed
to get off the failing disc, and she merged them fine, getting back all
her old emails and not losing any new ones! Puts me to shame - she's
blind and in her late 60s!

my profile from my Windows 7 workhorse and restore it (as files,
using Robocopy /MIR /XJ) to my Windows 8 laptop, so I know that
works. I have some mails stored locally and some stored on the
server, and both types are accessible on the laptop exactly as on the
workhorse. My options, identities, server info, and address book all
come across without a problem.

I should have said I'm talking POP not IMAP, with the failed PC as the
one set to delete from server. But see next posts.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Everyone learns from science. It all depends how you use the knowledge. - "Gil
Grissom" (CSI).
  #4  
Old December 28th 19, 10:53 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Paul[_32_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11,873
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Two friends have suffered hardware failures, and in both cases have
started anew, with the same software.

Eudora user: hard drive fail; managed to restore OS etc. from image (to
new drive), and get her going again with Eudora. Will be same version
(development stopped years ago). I have subsequently managed to recover
_I think_ most of Eudora folder from the old drive.

Thunderbird user: complete computer fail (dead behaviour). I don't think
it's the HD, so anticipate being able to recover TB
folders/profiles/whatever from it (I haven't visited her yet). Have got
her going (remotely!) on replacement (W7) computer; latest TB
downloaded, but I _think_ it's not very different (I think she had it
set to autoupdate; failure was recent).

Want to restore old emails from before their failures:
o without losing any new emails (i. e. "merge" old and new)
o with access to files only - can't _run_ anything on them I think): i.
e. it _isn't_ like exporting from a running machine to a new one.

Any pointers for either software?

Thanks.


I don't know a thing about this, whether it'll work or not. I
would suggest backing up all materials before attempting anything fancy.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US...xporttools-ng/

*******

For the Eudora, that's probably the old one, not the EudoraOSE which
is Thunderbird in disguise. I find this discouraging statement.

http://qwerky.50webs.com/eudorarescue/

"Eudora maintains its message database in mailbox (*.mbx)
files which are not quite standard mbox files."

(That tool can be used as part of preparing Eudora datafill
for use in Thunderbird somehow.)

So then the question becomes, is there a way to say, set up
a second copy of Eudora (a "portable" one), and then do a COM
import or something ? [Outlook Express used to pull emails
one at a time using COM, and it was one form of email
importation on Windows computers. I suppose discrete .eml
files would be the closest equivalent today.]

Tools which use *******ized file formats for stuff,
aren't going to make merging all that easy.

It would have been better, to stop pulling mail when
things broke, setting up a new setup with the old
files loaded, and *then* pulling new mail. For example,
disconnecting the network cable while commissioning the
replacement setup, would prevent any overly aggressive
mail tools from contacting anyone.

Paul
  #5  
Old December 28th 19, 05:18 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,226
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

Paul wrote:
[...]

I don't know a thing about this, whether it'll work or not. I
would suggest backing up all materials before attempting anything fancy.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US...xporttools-ng/


FWIW, I've used (an earlier version of) this software to import my
(exported) email from Windows Mail into Thunderbird. Worked fine.

By importing the exported mail from the new profile into the
(recovered) old profile, the new mail should be merged with the old
mail.

An even safer method would be to export mail from both the old and
new profiles and then import them into a third - even newer - profile.

That way, if you keep backup of the old and 'new' profiles, you can
always go back in case anything goes wrong.

[...]
  #6  
Old December 29th 19, 10:33 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 603
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

In message , Frank Slootweg
writes:
Paul wrote:
[...]

I don't know a thing about this, whether it'll work or not. I
would suggest backing up all materials before attempting anything fancy.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US...xporttools-ng/


FWIW, I've used (an earlier version of) this software to import my
(exported) email from Windows Mail into Thunderbird. Worked fine.


For that, I'd need the old system to be running, so I could tell it to
do the export.

[It's a pity - IMO - that email softwares don't store emails as
(individual) real files in real folders. I realise that, in the early
days (of PCs at least), considerations of size (such as cluster size
when most emails were under 1K) and just plain speed made using single
mailbox files, and so on, necessary, but we passed the point where that
mattered, some time ago; but by then things were well established, and
nobody ever started over, there always being more interesting things to
do.]

By importing the exported mail from the new profile into the
(recovered) old profile, the new mail should be merged with the old
mail.

An even safer method would be to export mail from both the old and
new profiles and then import them into a third - even newer - profile.

That way, if you keep backup of the old and 'new' profiles, you can
always go back in case anything goes wrong.

[...]

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Everyone learns from science. It all depends how you use the knowledge. - "Gil
Grissom" (CSI).
  #7  
Old December 30th 19, 05:25 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Stan Brown
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,904
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

On Sun, 29 Dec 2019 21:33:49 +0000, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[It's a pity - IMO - that email softwares don't store emails as
(individual) real files in real folders.


I agree. FWIW, I read a Thunderbird post not long ago in which they
claimed they were moving in that direction.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://BrownMath.com/
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
Shikata ga nai...
  #8  
Old December 30th 19, 08:10 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,226
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:
In message , Frank Slootweg
writes:
Paul wrote:
[...]

I don't know a thing about this, whether it'll work or not. I
would suggest backing up all materials before attempting anything fancy.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US...xporttools-ng/


FWIW, I've used (an earlier version of) this software to import my
(exported) email from Windows Mail into Thunderbird. Worked fine.


For that, I'd need the old system to be running, so I could tell it to
do the export.


Not neccessarily. You export from a Thunderbird profile. If you can
recover the profile - i.e. a set of folders/files - from the old disk,
you can restore that profile to another system - any system, i.e. also
the 'new' system - and do the export there.

[...]
  #9  
Old January 3rd 20, 05:53 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 603
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

In message , Frank Slootweg
writes:
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:
In message , Frank Slootweg
writes:
Paul wrote:
[...]

I don't know a thing about this, whether it'll work or not. I
would suggest backing up all materials before attempting anything fancy.




https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US...xporttools-ng/

FWIW, I've used (an earlier version of) this software to import my
(exported) email from Windows Mail into Thunderbird. Worked fine.


For that, I'd need the old system to be running, so I could tell it to
do the export.


Not neccessarily. You export from a Thunderbird profile. If you can
recover the profile - i.e. a set of folders/files - from the old disk,
you can restore that profile to another system - any system, i.e. also
the 'new' system - and do the export there.

[...]


Thanks all; recipient delighted to have old emails back (back to 2008!).
[Any tip how to block-eliminate duplicate emails? (In simple form I
could pass on - I'm unlikely to visit again soon.)]

I found profile switching in TB (which I don't use myself) very
counter-intuitive - in particular the '-p' "profile manager", which to
me was a dead loss (I eventually got the old emails back by '-profile
explicit path name').
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Beatrix Potter was a bunny boiler.
- Patricia Routledge, on "Today" 2016-1-26
  #10  
Old December 29th 19, 10:24 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 603
Default merging old and new Eudora and Thunderbird files (Windows 7)

In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Two friends have suffered hardware failures, and in both cases have
started anew, with the same software.
Eudora user: hard drive fail; managed to restore OS etc. from image

[snip]
Thunderbird user: complete computer fail (dead behaviour). I don't

[]
Want to restore old emails from before their failures:
o without losing any new emails (i. e. "merge" old and new)
o with access to files only - can't _run_ anything on them I think): i.
e. it _isn't_ like exporting from a running machine to a new one.
Any pointers for either software?
Thanks.


I don't know a thing about this, whether it'll work or not. I
would suggest backing up all materials before attempting anything fancy.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US...xporttools-ng/

Thanks; I'll look into it. If it involves "exporting" from the failed
system, no can do as it's dead; all I'll have (I hope!) is whatever
files are on the HD.
*******

For the Eudora, that's probably the old one, not the EudoraOSE which
is Thunderbird in disguise.


Yes, I looked at that a few years ago, thinking it may be a way of
weaning my blind friends onto at least something that was being
maintained. However, (a) though it looked similar to a sighted person,
it didn't to a blind one (he got into a pane he couldn't get out of),
(b) it wasn't in the end maintained (I think it was Thunderbird 4 or
something like that!), and (c) real Eudora works fine* on Windows 7, and
I think even 10!
[* on his machines. On her (7) one, because of some oddity about how we
reinstalled it at some point, it comes up with some message about not
being able to set itself as the default email client, presumably not
having some permission somewhere. Easily dismissed, though if anyone
knows the answer, it'd be good to get rid of the popup.]

I find this discouraging statement.

http://qwerky.50webs.com/eudorarescue/

"Eudora maintains its message database in mailbox (*.mbx)
files which are not quite standard mbox files."

(That tool can be used as part of preparing Eudora datafill
for use in Thunderbird somehow.)


Again, will keep in case she ever wants to change.

So then the question becomes, is there a way to say, set up
a second copy of Eudora (a "portable" one), and then do a COM
import or something ? [Outlook Express used to pull emails
one at a time using COM, and it was one form of email
importation on Windows computers. I suppose discrete .eml
files would be the closest equivalent today.]


Would have to do its pulling from rescued files, rather than a working
machine. However, she's done the merge, see previous post!

Tools which use *******ized file formats for stuff,
aren't going to make merging all that easy.


Indeed.

It would have been better, to stop pulling mail when
things broke, setting up a new setup with the old
files loaded, and *then* pulling new mail. For example,


Of course. But both these ladies (6x and blind for Eudora, and 81 and
scatty for TB) are at the opposite end of the country (300 miles) from
me, and wanted to have email back some while before I visited for
Christmas/New Year! [Doing the restore (of her C: and hidden partitions,
i. e. OS and installed software) from a Macrium image, using Skype on
her iPhone so I could see her screen, was fun! Especially as at one
point I couldn't work out the keyboard presses, and had to guide her in
the use of the mouse, which she'd never used before!]

disconnecting the network cable while commissioning the
replacement setup, would prevent any overly aggressive
mail tools from contacting anyone.

Paul


Thunderbird user to be visited later this week; first job obviously to
determine why her old PC died. (Screen wouldn't come on, but some lights
do and fan does. I'm hoping it's at best just PSU failure, second best
faulty power connector. [I've previously seen both of those get enough
power through to light the odd LED but not run the PC.] Yes, I did try
getting her to remove the battery and it isn't that.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Everyone learns from science. It all depends how you use the knowledge. - "Gil
Grissom" (CSI).
 




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