Issues w/ Windows 10 File Backup Restore?
I'm trying to use Windows 10 native file backup utility with version history to backup work station thunderbird profiles.
I cannot seem to successfully restore a backup. I understand that you must use the restore functionality within windows to restore the files correctly - which I'm doing. You cannot simply copy the files from the external drive since file history is enabled.
Steps I use for the test restore:
- Use windows restore to restore the entire profile folder to a new file location on a new pc (replicating a HD crash). - Run "thunderbird -p" on a test computer to create a brand new "test" profile. - Point this new profile to the restored profiles folder. - Run t-bird without success of importing the data from that profile.
Now, if I do the exact process above using a simple copied version of the same t-bird profile, it restores just fine?
Am I missing something specifically tied to windows backup / restore? Thank you in advance.
All Replies (3)
I am not familiar with Windows restore, but I'll share my approach to backup: I copy c:\users\(userID)\appdata\roaming\thunderbird to a separate drive. Then, to do a restore, I first install Thunderbird and then copy the backup back to the same location on new PC. When TB starts, it works immediately with the profile. Starting with the -p option is only needed when the backup is from c:\users\(userID)\appdata\roaming\thunderbird\profiles, which omits key data for Thunderbird identifying the profile. This info may not help you, but then again, it might. My accounts are all IMAP.
Thanks for the reply.
I should have mentioned that I've also tried to replace all of the profile data of a brand new install with the recovered profile data - similar to what you've mentioned without luck.
I believe it's something related to Windows file backup / restore causing this issue since it works with a straight windows folder copy or incremental data backup software.
However, because all work stations are win10, it would be nice to take advantage of their native backup software IF I can get it working.
My only experience where my solution didn't work was when the user attempted the copy while Thunderbird was running. In that case, the copy is incomplete because some files are locked. However, on the steps you listed, the process of starting with the -p should be to identify and use the restored profile, NOT to create a new test profile and then tie to the restored profile.