Current version of Thunderbird -- really OK now

Josey Wales · Sep 7, 2023

Josey Wales said:
I used to have it with the old T-Bird ever since I started using in back in the late 90's. I just kept updating it but it is what it is. Thanks Wiz

I hate to tell you guys this but it works on my Wife's Laptop.

Josey Wales · Sep 7, 2023

I backed up her settings using MozBackup and restored it to my PC and now it works as it should.

Wisewiz · Sep 7, 2023

@Josey Wales

:clap:

Smart move, man!

cbiweb · Sep 7, 2023

Went ahead and installed the new T'bird since my previous post failed to be seen. The first issue I've come across is that I can't change C:\ to D\ in the Local Directory setting. Waiting for word from Mozilla.

Wisewiz · Sep 7, 2023

I’m sure many of us saw your post, but I, for one, had no answers for you. Now, with this post, I’m just puzzled. I don’t know what you mean by “change C:\ to D:\ in the Local Directory setting.” I think that if you state your problem a little more clearly, someone here will try to help.

cbiweb · Sep 7, 2023

Wisewiz said:
I’m sure many of us saw your post, but I, for one, had no answers for you. Now, with this post, I’m just puzzled. I don’t know what you mean by “change C:\ to D:\ in the Local Directory setting.” I think that if you state your problem a little more clearly, someone here will try to help.

In Account Settings > Local Directory. I want change C:\ to D:\. Tried it, could not do it. TB disallows changing it. I need to change it. See screenshot.

trevo · Sep 8, 2023

Does this help, "Moving a profile" section in Tbird support ?

Profiles - Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data | Thunderbird Help

Thunderbird saves personal information such as messages, passwords and user preferences in a set of files called a "profile".

support.mozilla.org

Wisewiz · Sep 8, 2023

@cbiweb

Another possibility to consider:
(On the basis of your question, I am assuming that you want to keep things off the C:\ drive when possible, and you have a D:\ drive where you keep non-OS stuff when possible.)
Use the portable version of Thunderbird. You don't even have to uninstall your current (installed) version first. Just try the portable and see for yourself. I have mine "installed" on my D:\ drive, and all of its supporting files are kept right there. You can open the ThunderbirdPortable folder, then open the Data folder, and then open the Profile folder, and you'll see all of your mail and settings and operating files stored right there.
If you decide to try the portable, post here with any questions you have, and I'll try to handle them for you. I'm a D-drive-portable-apps addict, and I've had a bunch of experience with the portable versions of many software programs.

Mozilla Thunderbird Portable (email) | PortableApps.com

Thunderbird is the safe, fast email client that's easy to use. It has lots of great features including quick message search, customizable views, support for IMAP/POP, RSS support and more. Plus, the portable version leaves no personal information behind on the machine you run it on, so you can...

portableapps.com

If you can get your portables from PortableApps.com, do. There are many purveyors of portables online who are less than scrupulous about what they deliver. Portable Apps is absolutely trustworthy, and their versions are absolutely reliable.

cbiweb · Sep 9, 2023

Wisewiz said:
@cbiweb

Another possibility to consider:
(On the basis of your question, I am assuming that you want to keep things off the C:\ drive when possible, and you have a D:\ drive where you keep non-OS stuff when possible.)
Use the portable version of Thunderbird. You don't even have to uninstall your current (installed) version first. Just try the portable and see for yourself. I have mine "installed" on my D:\ drive, and all of its supporting files are kept right there. You can open the ThunderbirdPortable folder, then open the Data folder, and then open the Profile folder, and you'll see all of your mail and settings and operating files stored right there.
If you decide to try the portable, post here with any questions you have, and I'll try to handle them for you. I'm a D-drive-portable-apps addict, and I've had a bunch of experience with the portable versions of many software programs.

Mozilla Thunderbird Portable (email) | PortableApps.com

Thunderbird is the safe, fast email client that's easy to use. It has lots of great features including quick message search, customizable views, support for IMAP/POP, RSS support and more. Plus, the portable version leaves no personal information behind on the machine you run it on, so you can...

portableapps.com

If you can get your portables from PortableApps.com, do. There are many purveyors of portables online who are less than scrupulous about what they deliver. Portable Apps is absolutely trustworthy, and their versions are absolutely reliable.

@Wisewiz EXCELLENT! Thank you!

Wisewiz · Sep 9, 2023

@cbiweb

I think you'll be surprised by the number of apps and utilities available for portable "installation" in any folder and on any drive. Have a look at these:
PortableApps.com Releases and News | PortableApps.com and Portable App Directory (over 400 free) - PortableApps.com

trevo · Sep 9, 2023

Wisewiz said:
I think you'll be surprised by the number of apps and utilities available for portable "installation" in any folder and on any drive.

Fully agree, I have dozens of portable apps and keep them on my D drive.

That said, I've not tried T'bird portable...have you noticed any downsides?

cbiweb · Sep 9, 2023

Wisewiz said:
@cbiweb

I think you'll be surprised by the number of apps and utilities available for portable "installation" in any folder and on any drive. Have a look at these:
PortableApps.com Releases and News | PortableApps.com and Portable App Directory (over 400 free) - PortableApps.com

That's amazing! Kinda makes one wonder why almost all apps in the world aren't portable.

Wisewiz · Sep 9, 2023

@trevo

Me, too: dozens and on D:\.

No downsides at all to the TBird portables. I'm running both the 115.2 and the 118.0b2 currently, and I've had numerous flawless updates through the in-app (Help > About) updater, to several editions. The new files go directly to the appropriate folders on D:\, with no futzing required. Once you "install" the portable, you're all set.

But BTW, there have been gobs of complaints about the update from 102 to 115, and when I tried it, I didn't like what I saw, so I just picked up the portable 115 and dumped the portable 102. Even with a brand new version (115), the installation, setup and configuring is so easy that I can do it all in under ten minutes, and then I can send my whole fully configured ThunderbirdPortable folder over to my other PC, with no adjustments required. I'm not absolutely certain, but I don't think you can just copy the profile from an installed version to the profile folder of the portable. But it's straightforward to copy the contents of your Local Folders from one version to another. Piece o' cake. IMAP takes care of the rest of my mail.

Wisewiz · Sep 9, 2023

cbiweb said:
That's amazing! Kinda makes one wonder why almost all apps aren't portable.

The average user is perfectly happy to let an "installation wizard" select a folder (usually in Program Files or PF(x86)) and spread the junk around wherever it wants to, including making unnecessary entries all over the registry, because the average user isn't concerned, period. The more you know, the more care you take of your machines. PortableApps.com caters to people who care and want to make their own choices.

Edwin · Sep 9, 2023

cbiweb said:
... makes one wonder why almost all apps in the world aren't portable.

Portable programs don't integrate fully with the OS.

cbiweb · Sep 9, 2023

Edwin said:
Portable programs don't integrate fully with the OS.

Correct. But my statement was basically asking why programs/apps are made to integrate with the OS when they don't need to?
I understand that some of them might not be able to made portable, but apparently a large number of them can, yet they're not.
Wisewiz summed it up pretty well. A shame, really.

cbiweb · Sep 9, 2023

Wisewiz said:
The average user is perfectly happy to let an "installation wizard" select a folder (usually in Program Files or PF(x86)) and spread the junk around wherever it wants to, including making unnecessary entries all over the registry, because the average user isn't concerned, period. The more you know, the more care you take of your machines. PortableApps.com caters to people who care and want to make their own choices.

I'm grateful that you told me about PortableApps.com. I've been aware of only a small handful of portable apps in the 25 years I've been online. Somehow it escaped me that so many more exist. Now I know, and I see a ton of installed apps that are about to go portable on my machine. Not to mention a thorough registry cleaning (I do know how to safely do that).

trevo · Sep 9, 2023

Wisewiz said:
but I don't think you can just copy the profile from an installed version to the profile folder of the portable.

Thanks for posting that, it was what I was intending to do If I tried the portable version.

catweazel · Sep 9, 2023

Hallo,
here the link for manually sort folders, for everyone who is looking for it.

https://github.com/protz/Manually-Sort-Folders/files/12089722/Manually-Sort-Folders-v3.2.zip

But it is still beta.

Wisewiz · Sep 9, 2023

trevo said:
Thanks for posting that, it was what I was intending to do If I tried the portable version.

If you look at the contents of the profile folder for an installed version, you'll see that a bunch of things that are present in the portable profile are missing. Still, since it's easy to "install" the portable in your choice of folder and run it alongside the installed version (even both at the same time, so long as you launch the portable first -- the portable won't launch if there's another Thunderbird running), you don't have to uninstall the installed version, and it's worth a try opening the installed and navigating through Help > Troubleshooting information to the active profile folder, then closing TBird and copying the profile folder's contents (not the folder itself) and pasting them to the ThunderbirdPortable\Data\profile folder, after you copy that profile folder to a holding place, so that if the transfer doesn't work, you can delete the contents of profile and replace them with the original contents.

Just a suggestion. I haven't done the transfer from installed profile to portable profile, but I've copied portable profiles to portable profiles several times, and that works perfectly.

Current version of Thunderbird -- really OK now

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Does this help, "Moving a profile" section in Tbird support ?