I have two identical Win 7 Pro laptops. The destination laptop is
pristine with only the OS on it.

What do I need to do to copy all necessary data from one laptop to the
other?
Say via USB or what better ?

What files etc.
Precise Baby step instructions for me please.

Thunderbird is for eMail only
Seamonkey is for newsgroups only.

Thank you !

"RecentlyOrLately" <RecentlyOrLately@RecentlyOrLately.com> wrote

| What do I need to do to copy all necessary data from one laptop to the
| other?
| Say via USB or what better ?
| | What files etc.
| Precise Baby step instructions for me please.
|

These programs are a pain. What you need is the mail files,
but it's safest to just copy the folders from users\username\
app data and local settings\ app data. You should be able to just
swap those out on a new install, but I can't say for sure. I don't
remember the last time I had to restore such a backup.

On Fri, 22 Jul 2022 06:11:17 -0700, RecentlyOrLately wrote:

> I have two identical Win 7 Pro laptops. The destination laptop is
> pristine with only the OS on it.
>
>
> What do I need to do to copy all necessary data from one laptop to the
> other?
> Say via USB or what better ?
>
> What files etc.
> Precise Baby step instructions for me please.
>
> Thunderbird is for eMail only
> Seamonkey is for newsgroups only.
>
> Thank you !

For Thunderbird, see: "Moving Thunderbird Data to a New Computer"
<https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer>

For SeaMonkey, see: <https://www.seamonkey-project.org/doc/profiles>
especially the part "Moving profiles".

You might need to fix up settings containing directory paths, if these
are different on the new laptop.

--
Kind regards
Ralph

“Ase fele þede, ase fele þewes,” quoþ Hendyng.

On 7/22/2022 9:11 AM, RecentlyOrLately wrote:
>
> I have two identical Win 7 Pro laptops.  The destination laptop is pristine with only the OS on it.
>
>
> What do I need to do to copy all necessary data from one laptop to the other?
> Say via USB or what better ?
>
> What files etc.
> Precise Baby step instructions for me please.
>
> Thunderbird is for eMail only
> Seamonkey is for newsgroups only.
>
> Thank you !

No more baby steps.

My Thunderbird consists of some "new/empty" profile folders,
plus the real place I store my stuff. There are too many variables
in your question, to answer with any authority. This is what worked
for me.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe"

"C:\Users\Bullwinkle\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\profiles.ini"

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=0
Path=C:\Users\Bullwinkle\Downloads\abcd1234.default <=== points to my new profile from dead WinXP
Default=1

"C:\Users\Bullwinkle\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\fknwxki0.default" 7,904,048 bytes
"C:\Users\Bullwinkle\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles\fknwxki0.default" 0 bytes

"C:\Users\Bullwinkle\Downloads\abcd1234.default" imported email folder 1,089,329,244 bytes

The assets consist of "empty new copy of Thunderbird"
And the "very large profile from the previous Thunderbird"

Thunderbird goes to "equal" version or "newer" version.
A 2.0.0.23 can be moved to a 52.2
A 52.2 can be moved to a 52.2
A 52.2 cannot be moved to a 2.0.0.23

1) Start Thunderbird.
2) Set up a News account pointing at AIOE.
Doesn't matter if all details are correct.
Just get the dialog boxes to go away.
3) Quit new Thunderbird.

By making a fake item, you are ensuring the "new/empty" profile
is set up. And has a representative file set inside it. Nothing more.

Now, find the profiles.ini. Make a backup copy if you want,
for future education reasons. This will be the profiles.ini
with the word "fknwxki0" in it. But we're not going to use the
new profile ever again, which is why I just re-write the
profiles.ini with a new pointer.

See how I edited mine and made an absolute pointer ?

The pointer, points to the profile I just put in my
Downloads folder.

Now, the very next time I start Thunderbird, it will do a
"migrate" of the contents of the abcd1234 folder. Once
migrated, at least the content and server names are there.
If the abcd1234 folder was from 2.0.0.23, now it matches
the version of the install (52.2).

If OAUTH doesn't work, if passwords are screwed up, you'll
have to deal with that as time passes.

Password Exporter (eight years old, likely won't work)

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/995646

Things like key3.db and cert8.db , the number indicates
the API version. There can be old files and new files,
and the old ones may not work directly. Unless the migrator
can translate the contents successfully. Whereas an msf
might be in the same Mork format as all versions of Thunderbird.
Some of the small files, the design could be radically different
inside of them.

But that's just a skeleton of an idea. A file that points
to the imported profile.

Someone who visited here, managed to set up Thunderbird with
individual text files for each email. So there are even variations
that no one else here has ever seen.

There was a utility called Mozbackup, but it lost support quite
a while ago. The newest version is from 11 years ago, and not likely
to help. It's the number of variants that drive developers crazy.
Like the mess Mozilla made one day, by moving a 64-bit install into a
32-bit folder or something. They were always doing goofy stuff. What
developer wants to sweep up, after stuff like that ?

https://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

That's why, when you take a 2.0.0.23 to a 101.0.1, there's
no way to guarantee anything good is going to happen.

Paul