Missing Folders in Netscape 4.7

[jamworks]

I am using Netscape Communicator 4.7 on my Blueberry iMac with O.S. 9.1. I have literally thousands of precious personal e-mails that I want to preserve.

I use two different profiles (a different Earthlink e-mail address for each.) In one of my profiles, new folders disappear upon creation. (Or the next time I load the program? I don't remember.) I had placed these new folders in a folder called Correspondence when I created them.

I can see the missing folders when I go to the System Folder and then Netscape Users, etc. The missing folders have ".snm" after them, and they are inside a folder called Correspondence with a ".sbd" after it. (Possibly, I accidentally created a folder called Correspondence more than once.)

I am clueless. How do I get my lost folders (and the e-mails I put inside of them) back into my Netscape e-mail program?

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC)

[Fulvio]

.sbd indicates that you have a subfolder of the Inbox. the files with the .snm are header files. Such files can be deleted if something go wrong.
I don't know how you got the mail into the subfolder, but if you have POP (protocol) account, you should have a pair of files. Like you should have an Inbox and Inbox.snm, you should have a file with no .snm. That file contains your mail. If you have an IMAP account, you will have only .msf files.
The .msf file can be deleted, but Netscape must be closed when you do that.
So, it depends on the type of account, and what you did.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.2) Gecko/20040803

[jamworks]

I don't know what an IMAP account is. However, I've always used Netscape Communicator 4.7 with my Earthlink dial-up account. I assume that means I have a POP account, not IMAP. Right?

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC)

[jamworks]

Anyway, if I created subfolders in the Inbox, it was by accident. So how do I get them out? I cannot see them when I open the Inbox in Netscape Messenger.

When I go to the System Folder: Netscape Users, then to a folder with the profile name, and then to a folder called Mail, this is the basics of what I find:

Correspondence
Correspondence.sbd
Correspondence.snm
Drafts
Drafts.snm
Inbox
Inbox.sbd
Inbox.snm
Sent
Sent.snm
Templates
Templates.snm
Trash
Trash.snm
Unsent Messages
Unsent Messages.sbd
Unsent Messages.snm

The missing folders I had created with e-mail correspondence are nested under Correspondence.sbd. (Note: I go to this without Netscape Communicator running.) Can I do editing here?

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC)

[jamworks]

Is someone interested in helping? I should I blow the money calling Netscape support?

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC)

[goGecko]

Netscape support wouldn't know much about such an old version. They would suggest that you download Netscape 7 first. It is available here:
http://ftp9.netscape.com/pub/netscape7/ ... c-full.bin

If you reallly want to keep playing with Communicator, try some of this (I don't even know if these steps work/exist in such an antiquated version!):

1. Select the e-mail account in question.
2. Choose File...Subscribe
3. Put check boxes next to all of the folders.
4. Click Okay

Did your folders re-appear?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.2) Gecko/20040804 Netscape/7.2 (ax)

[jamworks]

Netscape Communicator 4.7 doesn't have boxes to check next to the folders (in Netscape Users: Mail in the System Folder).

For years, I have been scared to upgrade because several Mac people said later Mac versions cause problems and advised against it! I must admit, I've been living under this impression for years, and maybe it is no longer true. But I've been leary ever since.

I called Netscape support, and they were able to help. Actually, I called them about a different problem (not discussed on this forum). The support person was only willing to go so far helping me with the problem discussed here in this posting, because he decided it should be considered a different case (which would require another payment.)

Here's what he told me to do. This has successfully made the missing folders (and all the e-mails inside) reappear in Communicator's Netscape Messenger:

1.) Go to System Folder: Preferences: Netscape Users: Mail, etc.

2.) Drag the missing e-mail file (which represents a folder) from Netscape Users: Mail to the desktop.

3.) Open Netscape Communicator. Create a new folder with a unique name in Netscape Messenger.

4.) Quit Netscape Communicator. Rename the e-mail file on the desktop the same name as the newly created folder. Drag it to the Netscape Users: Mail folder. Message: "Do you want to replace?" appears; answer okay.

I did this one at a time, for each missing folder. Doing this has brought the missing folders into Netscape Messenger.

However, if I try to create a new subfolder within my Correspondence folder, the same problem will happen all over again -- it will disappear inside correspondence.sbd. I haven't solved that problem. I created the new folders under "Local Mail", not my Correspondence folder.

P.S. It is definitely difficult to use this forum with Netscape Communicator 4.7! It asks me to log in again and again, though I checked the box for remembering my log in information.

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC)

[Fulvio]

Sorry for losing your e-mails, and probably your use of Netscape. I am surprised that no one else stopped by to help, but the reason may be that you are using a Mac.
Once you create a subfolder, you will want to leave there, unless you want to move into a more visible place. If you have a + next to the Inbox, click on it, and your subfolder will appear. You will be all right.
And, don't bother about any later Netscape, until you get your signals straight.
But, it is dangerous to have a lot of e-mail which is not backed up. I get antsy when I have more than 50 e-mail in one account. Consider Archiving your mail on a Cd. And, whenever in doubt delete the .snm files (header files), with Netscape closed.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.2) Gecko/20040804 Netscape/7.2 (ax)

[jamworks]

I am living VERY dangerously, because I have thousands of e-mail correspondence -- my whole "virtual office" -- stored in Netscape Communicator 4.7. What can I do to get out of this?

I have two different profiles. The profile with most of the e-mail correspondence takes forever to load. I need some way to save all the e-mails on my desktop, and not have to load all of them everytime I open that Netscape profile. Netscape Communicator 4.7 doesn't seem to be designed to do that very easily.

I don't even have a CD drive that I can write back-ups to. This iMac only has a read-only CD drive. Am I always faced with this quandry: should I buy a CD drive, or wait until I get a whole new computer? I guess I'd better do something.

Is there a Mozilla version for Mac O.S. 9.1? A friend didn't find one of their website. If no such version is available, do you think there will be soon? Or, do I have to get a whole damn new computer just to use Mozilla?

When upgrading from Netscape to Mozilla, can you copy all your stored e-mails to Mozilla? I know that is not possible when switching to Outlook Express -- at least without some sort of third party software.

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.17; Mac_PowerPC)

[goGecko]

Is there a Mozilla version for Mac O.S. 9.1? A friend didn't find one of their website. If no such version is available, do you think there will be soon? Or, do I have to get a whole damn new computer just to use Mozilla?

While I'm not sure about the rest of your problems, I do know that the last version of Mozilla available for Mac OS was version 1.2. It is available here:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/ ... 1-full.bin
Note that Mozilla is essentially the same as Netscape 7 so if you had problems with Netscape 7 then you will have even more problems with Mozilla.

Prior to installing Mozilla, you really should make a copy of your profile folder. I believe that the profile is stored in the Mac System Folder. Run a search for your Netscape username and duplicate the resulting folder (Command-D.) Even having a second copy on your hard drive might be helpful if Mozilla corrupts the original.

Good luck and hopefully more people will come along to help!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.2) Gecko/20040804 Netscape/7.2 (ax)

[jamworks]

My e-mail correspondence, over 14,000 e-mails, is still stuck in Netscape Communicator 4.7, inside my iMac with O.S. 9.1, and still not backed up!

I need to import all of this e-mail correspondence into any e-mail program in my new MacBook Pro. I am assuming Thunderbird is the best e-mail program to accomplish this. (Apple's Mail apparently does not have an import feature accommodating Netscape Communicator.)

goGecko wrote, "you really should make a copy of your profile folder. I believe that the profile is stored in the Mac System Folder." ( http://sillydog.org/forum/sdt_7001.php ) My four profiles (which I will refer to as Profiles #1 through #4) are stored in the iMac System Folder, inside Preferences, inside a folder called Netscape Users.

I finally have an external Iomega CD drive attached to the iMac, and have backed up all my other data onto CD's, as well as transfer it to my MacBook Pro via the CD's. But I've done nothing with this Netscape e-mail yet. The thing is, the data comes to over 1 GB, too big for copying onto one CD. (I cannot attach a DVD drive.) So I remain at a loss regarding how to back up the profiles onto multiple CD's.

Inside the iMac System Folder, Preferences, the Netscape Users folder shows the four profiles that I have used. Profile #1 is approximately 1 GB by itself. Profile #2 is approximately 150 MB. Those contain the most important e-mail correspondence. Profiles #3 and #4 are under 10MB each.

When opening Netscape Communicator, Profile #1, and bringing up Messenger, under Local Mail, in addition to Inbox, Sent, etc., almost 200 folders that I created are displayed. They contain e-mails that I manually sorted. One of the folders contains over 100 subfolders, with over 11,000 e-mails. Another folder contains over 200 subfolders with almost 1,000 e-mails. All of this still loads just fine in Messenger.

When opening Netscape Communicator, Profile #2 (I've always had to quit and open again to switch profiles), and bringing up Messenger, under Local Mail, in addition to Inbox, Sent, etc., about 25 folders are displayed. They contain e-mails that I manually sorted. One of those folders, named "Correspondence", contains over 40 subfolders, with over 2500 e-mails. Another folder contains 14 subfolders, with over 200 e-mails. Most of this still loads just fine in Messenger.

In Profile #2, I still have a problem (discussed in http://sillydog.org/forum/sdt_7001.php ) that may have been started by renaming a folder called "Correspondence To & From" that originally had the 40 subfolders to "Correspondence". In the System Folder, the 40 subfolders are inside an icon named "Correspondence" that does not have ".sbd" after it. (All of that e-mail loads okay into the Netscape Messenger, but I cannot create any new subfolders within it.) And in the System Folder, "Correspondence To & From.sbd" remains, but does not have any subfolders. Maybe I should fix this problem prior to importing my e-mail to anywhere. I need to find out how to fix this problem without making things worse.

In summary:

Do you agree that importing to Thunderbird is the best way to go? Will the imported e-mails include all attachments? I posted at http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=519898 as Forum Friend, and received no replies.

Will Mozilla provide technical support over the phone (even if I have to pay for it?) regarding this Netscape issues? If not, who will?

How do you suggest I manage my e-mails going forward, before I end up with 50,000 e-mails in Thunderbird (or whereever)? Can you recommend an e-mail archiving program for archiving e-mail on Mac O.S. 10? Is there a way to archive all of my Netscape mail, including the attachments, as pdf's, without saving each of 14,000 plus e-mails as a pdf one at a time. (Problem is, I'd still need to be able to sort by the original dates and times of the e-mails.) I read http://kb.mozillazine.org/Archiving_your_e-mail ; everything seems to be Windows based. The Apple Store Genius Bar folks say to find something on versiontracker.com, but I am not sure where to start on that website.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/418.9.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/419.3

[jamworks]

This is really interesting. Mozilla Thunderbird Version 1.5.0.5 for Mac O.S. 10, which I've downloaded and installed onto my MacBook Pro, features an Import mail tool, with two options to select:

Communicator 4.x
Eudora

That looks like just what I need, Communicator 4.x. And why no later versions of Netscape Communicator to select from? This suggests I had good reason for not upgrading beyond Netscape Communicator 4.7.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/418.9.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/419.3