How to import your Thunderbird emails into Thunderbird v3 from another hard disk or location.

Tutorial on how to get your Mozilla Thunderbird e-mails imported from another drive.

Over the years I have often upgraded my system and changed hard disks etc and wanted to keep all of my emails from the previous system, now with Outlook Express this was something I was used to doing.
But then I came to try this using Mozilla Thunderbird and thought I would share my findings on how to do this.

Here is the scenario:
I have had a problem with the main hard disk on my Windows XP machine, namely the dreaded "NTLDR is missing" message at bootup and despite best attempts to get the drive up and running it was not possible fix it. Unfortunately this drive had all my emails on it in Thunderbird v2, so how am I going to retreive them from the old hard disk? I don't have them backed up anywhere! I will explain how to do it here:

I removed the  no longer bootable hard disk, I installed a new blank hard disk and installed Windows XP and put all the software back on (lots of fun!)

I downloaded Thunderbird v3.0.1 :
Mozilla Thunderbird
I installed it, I ran it but at the first screens that showed I clicked cancel and on all other setup screens that followed, then closed Thunderbird.
The reason for running it but not configuring it is so that it creates a folder and profile ready for use.

Now I used Windows Explorer (with it set to "Show hidden and system files") and navigated to the following location :

C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Application Data\Thunderbird\

As you can see there are about 23 files and 7 folders in this folder. This is where you need to place your original files, I will show you that bit next.

So now we need to get them from your original drive. I will assume now that you have either put the original hard disk into your system set as a slave drive OR you have placed the hard disk in a hard disk caddy and plugged it into your USB port.
Either way you will now need to access your original files. So in this example here I have connected my original hard disk to my pc via a caddy so this is showing as Drive E:
Now again using Windows Explorer you need to navigate to the same location but on your original drive so in my example here that would be :

E:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Application Data\Thunderbird\

You should see the same structure of files such as a Profiles folder, Profiles.ini and a registry.dat file.
You now need to copy everything in the Thunderbird directory so press Control A to select the three items then press Control C to copy them to the clipboard.
Now navigate to the Thunderbird folder that is on your Drive C (your new hard disk) and press Control V
It will now say Profiles folder already exists do you want to overwrite it, click YES.
It will now copy all of your emails, address book etc (Note: Depending on how many emails you have and how big the attachements are there may be many hundreds of megabytes of data to copy so may take a few moments).
Once its has finished you can run Thunderbird, you will now see all of your emails that you thought you would never see again along with your address book too!

n.b: If your previous version was 2 then you will need to go into accounts and security tab and remove the tick from the area asking for additional user/password for authentification. If you do not do this then it will fail to send emails.

Of course if your original hard disk is actually faulty (rather than just not booting windows) then you wont be able to read the files from it.

I hope this tutorial helps those people in the same situation as me.
Please leave some nice comments if you found this information worked for you.

Derby (Street by Street), A great book for local history buffs and anyone interested in their street.

Derby (Street by Street) by Maxwell Craven.
ISBN 978-1859834268

I have been using this book for a few years now, its an excellent reference tool for any local historian or if you just want to learn more about your street and how it came about.

This book gives a detailed history of all of the streets in Derby.
It includes over 150 photographs.

And gives information such as the origin and former names of the streets. Dates they were layed out and built up, notable people that lived there.


Even though this book came out in 2005 its still available to buy today, I often use this for finding out about streets that people mention to me that don't seem to be present on todays maps, this in often because the roads have been redeveloped during the 1960s to make way for new things.
Combine this book with some old A-Z maps from ebay and your able to find most things out.

Funny video : Nickelback Matlock Rocks, you MUST watch this great video.

If you have never seen this before then your missing a treat. I'm always keen to promote local stuff and this is wicked:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBa4AKWNlZM
It features Nickelback's hit Rockstar with an assortment of local people from Matlock and nearby miming to the band's lyrics.

See if you can spot the many local scenes such as..
Matlock town viewed from the Heights of Abraham
Belper River Gardens
Riber Castle
Driving up Bank Road
The Gate Hotel, corner of Bank Road amd E Smedley Street
Thorn Tree Inn, Jackson Rd
Black Hippo bar, Bakewell Road
The crown round-a-bout before the bypass came to Matlock.

Video of Sledging at Allestree Park, Derby, Derbyshire, U.K.

Here is my latest video of Sledging in Derby, this time at Allestree Park.
The sledging hill at this park is much longer than the one at Darley Park so if you are up for a challenge then take your sledge here next time it snows.
Check out my new feature : Where to go sledging in Derby, Derbyshire.



Map of the exact location to take your sledge to:
http://tinyurl.com/ybwbwd2

Sledging at Darley Park, Derby, Derbyshire, U.K.

Following on from my last post about where to go sledging in Derby here is a HD video I made on Friday at Darley Park. As you can see this is a very good park for sledging.

UPDATE : Check out my Derby Sledging Guide for ideas on where to go sledging.

The snow you can see here in my video settled on Tuesday night and is still showing no signs of melting yet. It has snowed a few times since then as well but not as much as last Tuesday.

If you know of any other great locations in Derby to go sledging then please let us know and I will add them to my Derby Sledging Map.

Its snowing again right now and more snow to come Sunday.

Enjoy the snow while you can as it may all be gone soon.
Andy

Where to go sledging in Derby and Derbyshire, Where to buy a sledge.

Here is a photograph I took at Rykneld Recreational Ground showing people on Sledges.

At the moment in Derby (6pm Tuesday) it is snowing very heavy here in Derby. Depending which weather forecast you watch, it looks like there may be more snow to come tomorrow so perhaps you may be going sledging tomorrow. I wonder which are the best places in Derby to take your sledge?

When I was a child we used to goto Rykneld Rec (off Burton Road), this has quite a good hill but with a path going across it part way down, also there are some trees at the bottom so you have to be very careful when you go down the hill.

Want to take your sledge here:
Rykneld Recreational Ground.


UPDATE : Derby Sledging Guide.


A great place to go sledging is Darley Park, I have never been sledging there but this is a large park with lots of hills of differing steepness so you can slide down the hills as fast or as slow as you like.

Want to take your sledge here:
Darley Park Fileds.

In the past I have actually seen people sledging down that hill at the far end of Sainsburys car park at Kingsway Retail park but I would not recommend trying to go down that hill as once you reach the bottom of the hill its the car park so highly likely you will hurt yourself or damage someones car.

As an Adult going sledging you have the option to drive further afield, so your not just limited to walking to local hills. I’m sure there are some great hills to go sledging on in Derbyshire. Do you know of some good places to go sledging?, if so please leave your sledging locations in a comment to this post. Give a detailed location please.
Or contact me via HERE and I will add the location to the Derby Sledging Map here.
I'm also interested in locations throughout Derbyshire too.

Where to Sledge in Derby Interactive Map:

View Best places to Sledge in Derby, the locations mapped. in a larger map

Where do you buy a sledge from these days?
I have seen them in that shop at the Cavendish Discount 2000.
Also ASDA have sledges for sale as do Halfords



If you are a bit of a DIY person then how about making your own sledge, this may be the best option as I'm sure any sledges in Derby will be selling like hot cakes.
Here are detailed instructions on how to build your own sledge.

If you have not got a sledge then a very thick sheet of plastic would always do the job, although you ended up with lots of bruises on your bottom of course.

At times like this it makes you wish you had invested some money in shares of Rock salt and Sledges.

If your a "misery guts" then perhaps the idea of going sledging is not for you then perhaps you would find this of use.
Its a Gritting Route map for Derby showing which roads the council will be gritting.

Interactive Route map for roads being gritted in Derby.


Have fun in the snow but be careful out there. Take a look at the live video feeds from the many webcams in Derby and Derbyshire here:
Snowing in Derby and Derbyshire Webcams.

World Wide Panorama - Derby Cathedral Quarter Wheel

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010.
My first blog entry of the year is about my latest entry on the World Wide Panorama website which has just gone live today. My entry for this event is of the Derby Cathedral Quarter Wheel in Derby Market Place.
I have contributed 18 360 degree panoramic photographs over the years.

Here is my best of 2009 entry:
Derby Cathedral Quarter Wheel.
It is best viewed in Fullscreen Mode.

In case you have never heard of The World Wide Panorama:

The World Wide Panorama began in March 2004 and has become an ongoing series of events. Photography takes place on the solstices (longest and shortest days of the year) and equinoxes (day and night of equal length). There is also a "best of" each year.

A VR panorama (VR for virtual reality) is a specially created computer image that goes all the way around the viewer. It is a revolutionary way to document a particular place and time – the next best thing to being there.
VR panoramas are interactive - Use the mouse to rotate the panorama, use Shift and Control to zoom in and out.

To look at other peoples entries for the best of 2009 you can use this map:
WWP Best of 2009 Map.

If you use Google Earth then you can even download a .kml file which has place markers for every panoramic photograph that has been entered since 2004 :
KML File for Google Earth.

Hope you like this.
Andy