Lost email

[Tom]

Oh boy, another great performance by my computer!
This morning, all my emails from 3/15/11 up to today are missing!
Fortunately, I have them all through 3/15/14 on my back up computer, but I am still missing a lot of important stuff from March to May 1.
Any ideas how to recover lost mails?

I just can't get over what a friggin time saver computers have been so far! :mad:

[DJofSD]

What service are you using for emails?

Is it POP (POP3) or IMAP?

[098poi]

Yes you need to provide more info. Are these emails only held on the server at your email provider or are they local on your machine either through manual backup or in folders held locally like PST files in Outlook?

[Tom]

POP3, Thunderbird, stored on my computer, in Application Data folder.
If I go to RUN and enter %APPDATA%, I can find the folder. IF I go through C:\Documents and Settings...it is not there. That is the path set in TBird.
I have no idea why a month of 2011 mails are there and everything else is gone.
Tried to rebuild the folder but no luck. Searching for Application Data folder but no luck.

I'm thinking dump TBird and using something else, then try to import mail?
I am done with T Bird no matter what - it has failed before and I never got back the mail.

[DJofSD]

I've used T'bird ever since Mozilla was a pup, never had an issue like that.

See if anything in the following article sheds any light: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Disappearing_mail

P.S. Another article for, perhaps, a different problem -- but I am not yet clear exactly what happened: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_profile_that_suddenly_disappeared

[Tom]

Just went through that whole page.
The App Data file is not where it should be - I can see it from the RUN command, but it is not in the Doc&Setting folder. I'm going to try to copy and past it.

[tupper]

Make sure that your file manager is set to show all files and directories/folders. If there is an option to "show hidden files and folders," enable it.

[Tom]

OK, I did that now I see it.
So back to square one - the files are there, but no mail.
Gee. I love computers.

[tupper]

Thunderbird can use MBOX format (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbox) to store your emails, so all of your messages could be contained in one (or a few) huge file(s).

[Tom]

I can see the huge file, but no way to get the stuff out of it.
My days using email for anything are over. I will never open the GD program again.

[tupper]

If it's an MBOX file, you should be able to read most of the contents with a text reader/editor, and most email readers should be able to parse the file into separate email messages.

On the other hand, your Thunderbird might be set to create/use some other type(s) of database file(s), so a text reader/editor may not work so well.

By the way, do you know if Thunderbird is set to delete emails from the POP3 server when it retrieves messages? If not, your emails might still be intact at the server.

[Tom]

Left on the server only back to May 1.

[JustRalph]

Tom, do a google search for "thunderbird repair" lots of stuff. I know nothing about T-Bird, wish I could help more.......

[Tom]

I've tried a lot of stuff fro the net today. Spent more time on email than betting races. I am done with depending on the net for anything. Time to "de-e" myself.
I wish I hadn't bought a new computer last week. I won't be using it much.

[JimG]

Tom,

If you know when the emails went missing, perhaps a system restore prior to that point would help you recover them?

Jim

[HUSKER55]

just a thought.......

most email allow you like 1 meg (or whatever) of storage. Unless you are doing some seriously heavy emails (volume) I don't think your storage capacity could be maxed out.

I am inclined to think it is still there but for whatever reason the server is not letting you get the access.

Mary gets around 300 a day. (playing on ebay and etc) and she had 8000 in her account and still hadn't maxed out her storage.

I am not computer guru. Like I said.....just a thought.

[DJofSD]

Tom, if you haven't completely given up the ghost, there is still a chance.

First, there's the assumption the emails were in the in box/in basket when they were lost and that means in a file on your PC.

Next, another important criteria before going any further, you have not compacted your email folders.

Now, if all of that is true, there is some hope. Reading a number of different pages on the net, they all point out the same very important fact: more than likely your emails are still in the T'bird folder(s).

The emails have not gone completely away. They're still "hidden" in the file but they've been "marked" so T'bird application ignores them. They're just sitting there, taking up space. So, as long as you do not, repeat, do not compact the mail files there is a chance to recover them.

I'll post a number of links. They all more or less say the same thing and will use the same technique. That technique is to go into the file used by T'bird to hold the emails and to find the emails which are "missing" then to change some "flags" so that T'bird will recognize them again.

Good luck.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-recover-deleted-emails-in-thunderbird/

http://www.piriform.com/recuva/features/recover-deleted-emails

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/thunderbird-deleted-messages.htm

[barn32]

G-Mail

[DJofSD]

G-Mail
Oh, ya, that really helps to solve the problem.

[Tom]

I am sure they are still in the folder - the mail file is huge in there. I will try to salvage what I need - thanks DJ.

My W7 computer is set to arrive Monday, so I will set that one up, and there will not be a mail program on it at all. I am completely done with email.

[KyRacer]

Tom,

I found a program called Mailviewer on a site I read called Lifehacker. I downloaded the file but haven't tried or installed it yet. I did run it threw 3 virus checkers and it seems clean. It might help. Link below.

Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/mailviewer-opens-old-outlook-thunderbird-and-windows-1580688600)

[JustRalph]

Life hacker is a well known site. Been around forever

Good stuff :ThmbUp:

Try it out Tom

[DeltaLover]

Maybe you should try gmail. It gives you 15GB of storage for free.

Its fantastic web browser client makes desktop email clients like Thunderbird useless. You should also try google docs!

[forced89]

Maybe you should try gmail. It gives you 15GB of storage for free.

Seems like a good idea to me. That way if emails get lost, Google lost them, not you. And I think the chances of that are slim.

[DeltaLover]

Dude, from time to time you should take your chances !