Thunderbird foul-up.

[Duggeh]

I asked my thunderbird to sync up to folders already on the webmail server (just started using it for uni email addy). And the sub folders which I had already created inside the thunderbird inbox vanished, replaced by the server synced folders. (I had assumed they would be added on to, not supercede).

The emails in those previous folders were not returned to the main inbox, although everything in the main inbox remains the same. Nor were they moved to the deleted items bin. They've simply vanished. They're not on the main server via the website either so I can't redownload them. Obviously putting them in folders in thunderbird killed them on the server which fucks my whole idea of the website being a backup of everything.

Can I unfuck this? Some of those emails were important.

[deepak]

Are the emails in one of the folders in:

C:\Documents and Settings\(your name)\Application Data\Mozilla\Thunderbird (after setting show all files and folders)

Or maybe the file is saved where you installed Thunderbird. I remember backing up TB emails a while ago and they were saved in one of those locations.

[Duggeh]

I've looked at what I've done and what changes I did mean, and I think theres no rescue. I'll have to get the department to resend everything if they can. But some other stuff is defo lost for good which is a fucking pita.

Error was in my not realising that the mail server didn't support the remote creation of folders for sub storage. So those folders only existed in thunderbird in the inbox, but not in local storage. So when I synced with the folders on the server, those synced folders superceded the ones I'd already made offline, but which thunderbird thinks are connected to folders on the server which don't actually exist. So the proper syncing deletes them because they're not actually on the server (inbox subfolders instead of local subfolders). And the messages in them aren't on the server either because the remote folder creation doesn't work.

I've run an undelete scan and the files which would have represented those now missing folders haven't appeared. So because of a culmination of ineptitudes, they're gone with no hope of getting them back.

[diebenkorn]

[tkam]

fyi if your not already i highly recommend using the latest thunderbird 3 beta.

[Spiug31]

this is the most hopeful page I've found so far

Undelete Thunderbird messages

with a similar approach recommended here, maybe duplicate your folders and give it a try.

It may be worth posting your query to Thunderbird Support ; mozillaZine Forums

oh and next time doug backup the mbox files

reading the title of this thread gave me an instant flashback of thunderbird 2 lifting off from tracy island, a well spent youth

[Grahame]