HEEELLLLLLLLLLLP Thunderbird just f'd me!!!

[lordhutt]

Ok, I generally never have any 'real' pc issues but Thunderbird just screwed me right up the poop canon!

For the most part I never shut my computer down. I did a re-boot just now. Windows ran a chkdsk on my C drive at bootup. Acted like there was some issues and did whatever it does to correct them. Things were moving to fast so I don't really know what it was doing.

Anyway, at restart I boot up Thunderbird and my entire inbox is GONE!!!
Everything else is there...sent, draft, trash, and the many sub-folders I have all still have there mail.

Anyone have any clue as to what the hell just happened to me!
I don't know what other details I should provide.... running win7.
I sent myself an email and it shows up in the inbox.
Think a system restore will get me back up?

[lordhutt]

Well, I did a system restore and that did not help.

Anyone have any idea what could have caused my inbox to disappear and any thoughts on possible retrieval?

Ironically, I have a windows post it note on my third monitor telling me to back up my firefox and thunderbird... been putting it off for about 4 days now. WTF!!!

[Prot]

A system restore will not restore files that have been deleted.

You might want to try this:

Mozilla Thunderbird - How do I restore corrupted mailboxes?



To restore corrupted mailboxes:

1. Exit Thunderbird.
2. In your profile folder, open the Mail subfolder, and then the subfolder for that mail account.
3. Delete the *.msf file for the folder (mailbox) that is giving you problems-- e.g., if your inbox is the one with problems, delete inbox.msf. Do NOT delete the file named Inbox (with no filename extension), as it contains your messages.
4. Restart Thunderbird. It will analyze your message file and rebuild the index file (table of contents) from your existing messages.

To help keep your system healthy after you get it working again, compact your mail folders regularly, and move messages you want to keep out of your inbox into their own mail folder. Where is my Profile Folder?

• Windows XP/Vista, the path is usually Application Data/Thunderbird/Profilesxxxxxxxx.default, where xxxxxxxx is a random string of 8 characters. Just browse to C:/Documents and Settings/[User Name]/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles and the rest should be obvious.
• On Windows 95/98/Me, the path is usually C:/WINDOWS/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default
• On Linux, the path is usually ~/.thunderbird/xxxxxxxx.default/
• On Mac OS X, the path is usually ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/

[lordhutt]

Unfortunately no go... and this is not comforting. My inbox file is only 7k. Far to small to hold all the emails that were there.

[usually_quiet]

I have no Idea what may have caused your email to vanish. A data recovery program might help, although I don't know if they could work in your case. Most are used to find files that were deleted by mistake, not files that disappeared on their own, but if nobody comes up with a better answer, what do you have to loose?

Recuva was suggested to me once, to get back some files I deleted by accident. It found some of what I accidentally deleted, but not all. Undelete Plus is another program program someone recommended. I can't remember if I tried that one.

The fewer writes to the HDD, the better your chances of recovery will be. If you can, use a different computer to download and research data recovery programs.

[lordhutt]

I have Get Data Back. I've used it before with success... but like you said, not for files that just magically disappeared.
I have been doing some searching and it seems I am not the only person this has ever happened to in Thunderbird. Although like I said the small inbox file size is not reassuring. I post if I have any luck, in the mean time any more advice appreciated!

Thanks guys.

[zoobie]

MiniTool Power Data Recovery saw stuff on an old HDD that, years ago, had been reformatted several times
free and highly recommended

[fritzi93]

Had a look at the Thunderbird site support. On one post 20 days ago a guy said it was Microsoft Security Essentials that zapped his emails. He downloaded Mozbackup, ran it, and saved the backup. Then uninstalled/re-installed Thunderbird.

http://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/lost_emails_and_file_folders?utm_m...illa_messaging

Here's some more:

http://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/searches?query=lost+email&x=8&y=9&style=topics

Good luck.

[Poppa_Meth]

You could have a legitimately damaged HDD. Sometime sectors go bad. Your mail file just happened to be stored in the bad sectors. I'd be doing a full scan on that drive to determine if it needs replacement before you lose more data.

[lordhutt]

Well, I think I am just screwed. I ran Get Data Back and it had a couple inbox files but they were from November.
I talked to my brother and he had something similar happen about 6 months ago... and with all the other stories online of similar occurrences maybe its time to kick T-bird out the door. I was always under the impression that it was one of the better mail programs out there.... what is everyone else using these days?

Unless someone has another suggestion I am about 90% givin up on my inbox

[aedipuss]

i wouldn't blame the victim here. thunderbird didn't lose your files remember? it was widows fixing a hard drive problem. most likely either you have a dying drive or power was cut before the drive wrote the cache back.

[lordhutt]

i wouldn't blame the victim here. thunderbird didn't lose your files remember? it was widows fixing a hard drive problem. most likely either you have a dying drive or power was cut before the drive wrote the cache back.

Well, I didn't say I was definitely going to just abandon the program but its a little scary seeing all the people this has happened to. The drive is only 5 months old so I doubt it has a problem (although I know it could be a possibility... just not likely).

Just frustrated I guess... especially when, like I mentioned above I had been meaning to back up the files for the last 5 days or so. Never had a problem like this before and for some reason just felt like I should back it up. Perhaps I am becoming psychic

Anyway, since I do have many sub-folders where I move emails I want to keep and generally keep up on that I did not lose much....
It will be backed up on a regular basis from now on.

Thanks for the help.

[aedipuss]

oh i hear you. my t-bird profile is over 3gb with emails from at least 12 years ago when i was using outlook express. it gets backed up to a separate drive monthly. is your drive formatted fat32? it really shouldn't have happened if it's formatted ntfs.

[jman98]

This kind of thing can happen in Outlook too. It happened to my step-mother. I just wanted to say that it's not a "Thunderbird is bad" kind of thing.