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Mail crashed when battery died. All email accounts and saved files gone. How to restore?

Just as I sent out an email message (mass mailing) my battery died on macbook pro using Leopard. When I reopened mail it was brand new and asked to set up an account! I know they're still in there somewhere...how do I restore all my emails/saved files/mailboxes? I do have a time machine backup from the day before this happened. Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Feb 9, 2012 8:19 AM

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20 replies

Feb 12, 2012 10:00 AM in response to BDAqua

Did it. It brought in my Smart Mailboxes and other folders. A nice relief. I did not get all of my inboxes back, however...only one and it is just called "Inbox". Is there a way to get the others back? Also, I had many moons ago added something that made the Mail window split left to right instead of the usual top to bottom. I got used to that setup...any idea what that program is?


And...what do I do with those compressed files on the external flash and with the Mail folders moved to my desktop?


Thanks again...baffles me how you know all this stuff but sure glad you do and are willing to share!

Feb 9, 2012 10:58 AM in response to terramadre

Well, TM may help, but first for safety...


On Mail...


First Quit Mail, then I'd backup these two Mail folders, by right clicking on them in the Finder, then choose Archive/Compress.


Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail


Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail Downloads


(Could be a different folder here if you chose such in Mail Prefs)


Right click on that Mail folder, choose archive, you'll get everything in the folder, and the folder itself in a file called Mail.zip, move it to a safe place, same for the Mail Downloads folder... only the plist is separate.


/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist


And likely it's just this file that needs recovery from TM.


Did you Repair the Disk since the crash?

Feb 10, 2012 6:02 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi. Thanks for your quick response. I have compressed the folders you mention. The plist file says it was created on 2/6/12, which was the morning I opened mail to find everything gone (and so followed the prompts to start mail).


I have not Repaired the Disk since this crashed. What should I do next? Is my desktop a safe place to put those .zip folders of should they go to an external?


Thanks again.

Feb 10, 2012 6:45 PM in response to terramadre

External would be a safer place.


Do Repair or at least Verify the HDD 1st.


"Try Disk Utility


1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.

2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)

*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*

3. Click the First Aid tab.

4. Select your Mac OS X volume.

5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."


http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214


Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.


(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)


If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

Feb 11, 2012 8:34 PM in response to BDAqua

OK. Took a couple days to get to it but I have now finished Repairing the Disk and Permissions. Thanks--my machine seems a bit snappier...must have needed it.


Now, what do I do with the Mail Folders I compressed? I put them onto a flash drive before running Disk Utility. Now, how do I get it all back into the mail program so I have the old folders and such?


Thanks again for all you help.

Feb 11, 2012 8:42 PM in response to terramadre

Mail isn't showing your eMails correctly or what?


Might try this before we restore anything...


Not certain, but this can fix myriad Mail problems...


Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), it will try to repair your Disk Directory while the spinning radian is happening, so let it go, run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, then move this folder & file to the Desktop.


Move this Folder to the Desktop...


/Users/YourUserName/Library/Caches/Mail/


Move this file to the Desktop...


/Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail/Envelope Index


Reboot.


If that doesn't do it and you can afford to redo all your Rules, try these & reboot...


/Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail/MessageRules.plist


/Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail/MessageRules.plist.backup


Note, in 10.5 & up /Users/YourUserName/Library/Caches/Mail/ does not exist.

Feb 11, 2012 10:52 PM in response to BDAqua

Not sure if I was clear on what happened originally. All of my mail went away. I had five email addresses and myriad folders and smart folders. And lots of mail in the inbox. I sent an email right at the very moment my laptop battery died. I plugged it in and came back to it in the morning. When I opened Mail, it started up as if it were a new computer--it gave the prompts to set-up Mail.


It does look as though all or most of the info from before is contained in those two folders you had me compress. At least, it appears so from the bit I have checked on what's in there.


But, what I don't know how to do is get all that back into the Mail program.


As mentioned, I do also have a Time Machine backup from just a day or two before I lost everything in Mail. But, again, it's unclear how to just restore Mail from there.


The instructions in your last message...I am unclear what those actions would do (how would they affect the operation/content of my Mail program? I have done the Repair Permissions with the Safe Boot.


Thanks again for your patience.

Feb 12, 2012 9:19 AM in response to BDAqua

Boy, I am having bad luck with my timing. After I left my last message I went back and did do the things you last suggested. Sorry, not sure what my hold-up was. Anyway, my edited response to you got nuked because I sent just as Apple decided to do some tweaking with discussions.


So...I moved the folders and restarted. Then, when I opened Mail, I got this message..."WELCOME...To take advantage of Mail's great new features, your existing Mail messages need to be imported into the new version the first time you use Mail. This might take a few minutes, and you won't be able to use Mail until the import is finished. Click Continue to import your messages now...."


So, what say you BDAqua? I feel like we're getting somewhere🙂

Feb 12, 2012 10:29 AM in response to BDAqua

Update...I notice another(?) Mail folder is now present in my Library. I can see each of my email addresses...each with a folder. (BTW, on some recommendation, I switched some of my emails to IMAP from POP...now I have both. Should I get rid of POP? Or do you have some other suggestion?)...so many questions...


Just fyi...not sure if I can somehow just move those over (I tried dragging into mail preferences)...I am highly encouraged. Also, not sure how the discussions "Helpful Answer" and "Correct Answer" buttons are used. You have given several helpful answers. Do I mark each of those or wait until we are done and just mark "Correct Answer"? 'Cause I've got a good feeling that's where we're headed. Thanks again.

Feb 12, 2012 11:23 AM in response to BDAqua

Right now, only one email address shows in the Mail program. And it is just called Inbox. Looks to be just my main Gmail account. 742 messages.


Looks like within each of the folders I referred to (there's two IMAP folders and three POP folders) there exists an INBOX.mbox folder (for POP) and an INBOX.imapmbox (for IMAP). Within each of these folders is a folder called "Messages" and an Info.plist. Within "Messages" are several files with a .emix extension.


Oddly, within my main gmail (IMAP) folder, I also see a separate imapmbox for my one yahoo account, which shows up only as a POP email in the first tier list.


BTW, I chanced to open a folder called "Bundles" within the Mail folder. In it is a folder for "WideMail.mailbundle". Then "Contents" within that and "Frameworks", Info.plist, "MacOS" and "Resources" within that. Blah, blah, blah...anyway, this is the side-by-side setup I referred to. Here's the website, in case you are interested. http://www.daneharnett.com/widemail


Hope this all makes sense. I await your response 🙂



Mail crashed when battery died. All email accounts and saved files gone. How to restore?

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