Migrating Mozilla Thunderbird to a New Machine

Mozilla Thunderbird is an email client alternate to the Microsoft's client called Outlook. 

Scenario:

If you are a person that has to deal with users that use outlook on a daily basis, and years of email is stored within their outlook profile and the time has come where a data transfer need's to be done (from an old machine to a new machine for example), then you would know that outlook could absolutely be a pain! 

But now you are working on a machine that needs data transfer to a new area (like a new machine for example), and you notice that the user on the machine is a heavy Mozilla Thunderbird user. How the heck do we transfer the data for that???

A Brief Explanation:

Migrating a Thunderbird profile to a new machine is rather easy. In fact, it's easier than migrating outlook data/profiles all together. All you have to do is copy and paste the Thunderbird data from the old location on the old machine to the new location on the new machine (you have to open and close Thunderbird on the new machine first), and edit the profiles.ini to the name of the profile folder. That easy right?

A More Detailed Explanation:

1. Install the latest version of Mozilla Thunderbird onto your new machine. Link: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/
2. Open Thunderbird on your new machine, but DO NOT setup any accounts. Simply close it after opening. The purpose of this step is to allow Thunderbird to create its folder structure (that we will need in later steps).
3. Go to your old machine and make sure that Thunderbird is not running.
4. On your old machine, locate the profile. For Windows XP users, you can typically find it here: C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles. For Windows Vista and 7 users, you can typically find it here: C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles.
5. You should see something named "XXXXXXX.default", copy the one that contains the correct data you need (if there is only one profile folder there, then copy it). Any media to copy it on if fine, as long as you can access it on the new machine.
6. Go back to the new machine and make sure that Thunderbird is completely closed. After that, go to the profile folder located on your new machine. Refer to step 4 for the correct (default) folder paths.
7. When you are in the profile folder on the new machine, you will notice that another folder that looks like "XXXXXXX.default" already exists; Delete it, and paste your folder from the old machine there.

The data is now transferred and we are almost done. All we have to do it edit Thunderbird's "profile.ini" so that Thunderbird will see your data. Easy, here is how to do it:

1. Profile.ini is located in the root of the Thunderbird folder in your application data folder. Here are the paths to find it: For Windows XP users: C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Thunderbird. For Windows Vista and 7 users: C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird.
2. Locate and open "profiles.ini" in any text editor (Notepad or Wordpad works).
3. Once opened, look for a line that says "Path=Profiles/XXXXXXX.default". You need to change the name XXXXXXX.default to the name of the profile that you copied and pasted over from the old machine to the new machine. (Essentially, your just replacing the X's).
4. Save, and exit your text editor. Your Done! 

Open Mozilla Thunderbird and verify that it works correctly. Enjoy!

If you get an error stating that Thunderbird is already running in another window, this is most likely because the name of the profile in "profiles.ini" does not match the name of the actual profile. I would verify that if this occurs.

Fun Solitaire Trick in Windows XP

This is for those Windows XP users out there that absolutely LOVE to play solitaire.

Did you know that there is a way you can win a game.. without even playing?

Here is how it is done:

1. In Windows XP, your Solitaire game.
2. When Solitaire is open, press the key combo Alt+Shift+2.
3. Enjoy watching the cards bounce around :)

It is a funny little trick, but unfortunately it only applies entirely to Windows XP. I have tried it on a Windows Vista, 7, and 8 machine and it does not work.

Hamachi Network Adapter Conflicts

As stated in this forum:

http://community.logmein.com/t5/Hamachi/Hamachi-conflicts-with-internet-network-adapter-conflict/td-p/60088

Hamachi Logmein 'sometimes' conflicts with the network adapter on your local machine.

Symptom:

• You cannot access the Internet but everyone else around you (on the same network) can.
• Your internet icon in the bottom right has a small yellow exclamation on it.

Common Occurrences:

I myself have come across this issue on my own personal machine, However, i have only experienced this happen when on a "Public" network (for me, i was at school when it happened).

Temporary Solution:

After doing some research, i have concluded that there is in fact no "official fix" for this yet. However, after more research, i have found some temporary solutions that work well (like ColdPetRat's post in the link above on page 1). Here is how ColdPetRat explained his temporary fix:

1. You need to run CMD with administrator privileges. Click the start menu > navigate to "all programs" > click on the Accessories Folder > Right click on "command prompt" and click 'run as administrator'
2. In the cmd window, type the command "route print" and find the "interface list" (in the first section). The number you want is going to be the left most number that corresponds with "Hamachi Network Interface". For both ColdPetRat and Me, this number was 20.
3. Now, type in the command "route delete 0.0.0.0 IF # (replace # with your interface number). For example, here is what it would be for me: "route delete 0.0.0.0 IF 20"
4. Your done :) assuming that the command worked. (when my command worked, it simply said "OK!")

This is a very useful solution, but what if your a person like me who doesn't want to do this over and over again from time to time? Unfortunately, Logmein has not addressed this issue. However, i myself created two simple Batch scripts that will automatically run these commands every time you log in to your machine. Its a simple/dirty solution, but after some testing, i haven't had this adapter conflict since.

My Script Solution:

My batch scripts are simple and easy to use, however before you can actually use them, you need to edit in your OWN information into the scripts. Here is the info you will need:

• The interface number for 'Hamachi Network Interface' from ColdPetRat's step 2 above.
• An administrator accounts Username (this user must be enabled, cannot be a disabled account).
• Path to your "startup" folder (XP, Vista, 7 is easy: start menu>all programs>find the startup folder>right click it and click 'browse'. Windows 8 is trickier because there is no start button, the pathway to it will be something like this: C:\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup).

OK, lets go ahead and download my two scripts...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39264764/hamachibats.zip

Once downloaded, unzip them from the folder and place them in your "startup" folder. The startup folder is located here on XP, Vista, and 7: Start Menu>All Programs>Startup. On Windows 8, since there is no start button, you will need to manually fish through the folders until you find it; On my windows 8 machine, it was this path: C:\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.

Once placed in the startup folder, right click on 'route.bat' and click 'edit', you should see the script in a text format. In this script (route.bat), you will need to replace "(active administrator)" with the username of an active administrator on your personal machine. You will also need to replace "(Path to execute.bat)" with the windows path to "execute.bat". For example: C:\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\execute.bat, where %user% should be replaced with the folder name for that active administrator (C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup for example).

Execute.bat is easier to configure. Simply right click on it, and click edit. Once you see the script in text format, look for where i have written "(place interface number)" and replace that with the number you got from ColdPetRat's step 2 (above).

Save the changes you have made to both scripts and close the scripts. You will need to run 'route.bat' once; simply double click on it. It is going to prompt you for the password of you user you provided in the script (if that user you provided doesn't have a password, give the user a password, or use a different administrative account with a password). You will only need to type in the password once, because the /savecred switch will save the password for later user (when the script is ran).

Viola! You are now done. :)

Hope this helps....

iTunes library sharing over a VPN?

Virtual Private Networking is a cool thing. with VPN, you can literally connect to your home/business network as see other devices and shared folders as if you were physically at the hosts location.. cool huh? Most of the smaller businesses that use it use the standard Microsoft Windows VPN solution to achieve this which for their purposes is more than enough; but what about for a home user who wants more out of a VPN than just file sharing and swapping? For example, sharing an itunes library from one geographical location to another? Well the bad new is, the standard Windows VPN isn't going to do that (sorry, i tested this and failed). Your going to need to use a third-party VPN solution for this.

The reason why the standard Windows VPN will not support sharing your itunes library is because the library sharing service requires apple's Bonjour service to broadcast the library. Unfortunately, Windows VPN does not support the broadcast of this Bonjour service.

I am going to explain how to do this with the software i used, i'm sure there is other vpn host/client tools out there that can do the same thing.

Things you will need:

• Hamachi Logmein (An account is optional, however, i recommend an account for the host. It's free.)
• Port Forwarding Knowledge (for some home ISP providers).
• Latest version of iTunes helps (if your going to share itunes libraries)

Creating your VPN the Hamachi way

First, your going to need to download the Hamachi Logmein Client. Download the unmanaged version and install it on your machine. Link is provided:

https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/download.aspx

Once completed through the setup process, the Hamachi Logmein interface should appear. At this point, your going to need to click the power button on the interface and let it load up. It will ask you if you want to join an existing network, or create a new one; we are going to create a new network. When creating a new network, you will be prompted to input a Network ID, and Password. The network ID is up to you, you can create a network with your own personalized name (assuming that no one else has taken that name), and simply enter a password for your network id. At this point, your done creating your network. IF you created a Logmein account, you can at anytime link this to your Hamachi Logmein client by going to System > Attach a Logmein account. I myself am hosting a Hamachi network with an account attached, and i find this very useful because having the account allows you to have the flexibility of managing your vpn network via web browser, not to mention more secure ways to protect your network from "random" people joining.

Sharing your Hamachi VPN network

There is two different ways to share your vpn network, it really depends on if you have an account or not. If you do not have a logmein account attached to your vpn network, then you will need to give the person your customized vpn name and the password you set for it. If you do have an account attached to your hamachi vpn, you will need to give the person whom is joining your numeric id for your vpn. To find your numeric id, you will need to login to your account (via https://secure.logmein.com/). When you are logged in, look on the left side menu and click the two side by side box things (Ethernet like symbol more specifically), drop down its menu and click the sub menu for "my network". Once on that page, look for your custom network name and hover your mouse horizontally to the right until you find the edit menu for it and click it. On the next screen is where you will find the numeric id for your network, that is the number you need to give to your clients wanting to join your network.

Configuring iTunes

Probably the most easiest step in the process (if not already done), all you have to do is open itunes, find your preference menu, click on the sharing tab. You will to make sure these boxes are checked:

• Share my library on my local network
• Share my entire library
• Home sharing computers and devices update play counts

That is it. In order to have itunes library sharing work, every client on the network needs to have the settings above checked, and itunes actively running. You can find the shared libraries listed in the sidebar; If you have itunes 11+ and have no sidebar, please refer to one of my earlier blogs, i specifically address this issue of having no sidebar.

Port Forwarding iTunes Share Port

This step isn't always necessary, but sometimes you may run into the case where the library being shared over the VPN isn't working properly. Some of these symptoms may be not loading, or randomly 'disappearing' off of the shared list. I have been aware of this and did some troubleshooting, only to conclude that IF this is happening, you need to log into your router and forward port 3689 tcp/udp to the machine that is sharing the itunes library. This is more and a 50% thing, i personally have seen no consistency to when this step is necessary or not. Originally, i thought it could be tied to the ISP, but that hypothesis was proven wrong since my home and work place both use the same ISP; my home networked needed this port to be forwarded to my machine, but at work, no ports are being forwarded whatsoever. 

IF you do in fact have to (or just want to) forward port 3689 tcp/udp to your machine, i highly recommend reserving a FIXED internal ip address for your machine on the router side before forwarding the port (assuming your router is a DHCP server). This can be done through the LAN settings area of your router, it should be titled something along the lines of "address reservation" or "DHCP Static Lease" (maybe). 

Things you are going to NEED if you have to use this section:

• Your Routers internal IPv4 address to get to its interface
• Router's Username and Password to log in to its interface

You can get the routers IPv4 address by doing the following:

• Start Menu > Run (or use the keyboard shortcut WinKey+R)
• Type in CMD and press enter
• In the dos box, type "ipconfig" and press enter. A list should appear, scroll up until you find your Local Area Connection. The number you are looking for is the "default gateway" a.k.a. the routers IPv4 address

If you reserve an address for your machine, you will need to refresh your network connection by doing the following:

1. Start Menu > Run (or use the keyboard shortcut WinKey+R)
2. Type in CMD and press enter.
3. In the dos box, type these two commands (in order): "ipconfig /release" then "ipconfig /renew"
4. Done

Refer to this article for more info: http://lifehacker.com/5822605/how-to-set-up-dhcp-reservations-so-you-never-have-to-check-an-ip-address-again

To forward the port, you will need to look for a section in your router that says "port forwarding" (every router is different). Go into the Port forwarding section and click whatever your router says about "adding" a port forward (once again, every router is different. mine says "add custom service"). Fill in the blank spots to add the port, here is the basics of what you need:

• service type: tcp/udp
• name: whatever you want (i named mine iTunes Share)
• starting port: 3689
• ending port: 3689
• internal ip address: the IP address of your machine.

Once done with this, you should be good to go (phew, that's a lot of work.....).

Enjoy :)

About the new iTunes Update

One of the biggest things that people are talking about other than the huge amounts of change that Microsoft has done with Windows 8 from Windows 7, is iTunes made by Apple.

With the new iTunes 11 update (or later), the interface has seemly changed (heh, typical software writers at work eh?) and some of the essential things that were in iTunes 10 or earlier that you may have used like i did are now seemly gone by default. Well there is some good news, and some bad news; the bad news is, some of these functions ARE gone (like itunes DJ). The good news is, some features are not gone, but rather hidden by default. These hidden features would be the Menu Bar, Status Bar, and the Sidebar. So lets take a few mins to go ahead and (re)show these features so itunes will at least look similar to what you were previously use to.

THIS ONLY APPLIES TO ITUNES 11 OR GREATER.

1. Open iTunes 11(+)
2. click the half-dark half-light box at the top left of the itunes window to drop the main menu down.
3. go down the menu until you find "show menu bar". click that. The menu bar will now show.
4. on the Menu bar, drop down the View tab
5. Scroll down the view tab until you find two items, you will need to repeat steps 4-5 until you have clicked both of these items. These items are "Show Sidebar" and "Show Status Bar"
6. After you have clicked the two items in step 5, Viola, you are now done

So there you have it, this will help you with iTunes 11 (or better).

Have fun.

Windows Performance Sucks (Over Time)

Hopefully this will help you guys: Take note, this article will only apply to Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Windows 8 is the same idea, but the steps differ slightly.

Everyone complains about having a slow machine, either you, or someone you know does. Lets just face it, Windows sucks in various ways, but that is why i am here to help. In this topic, im only going to cover one simple method that could very much help you improve your computers preformance.

Lesson # 1: never trust things on the internet that states 'speed up your PC' this 'optimize your PC' that, or what ever that advertises speeding your PC up. The reasons is solely for two reasons: Windows Clutter, and Hardware. . . Hardware are the physical components on your machine, they have a fixed rate they can preform at and cannot be surpassed (without overclocking for some parts). Windows clutter sucks, its like driving a new car off the lot; once you drive it away from the dealer, the car loses value. Same with computers, once you start using a freshly loaded Windows computer and start installing shit, the machine becomes slower and slower and slower. If you install shit that advertises spedding up your PC, your actually doing more harm than help because your actually contributing to 'cluttering' your machine more (so if you have something like that, get rid of it).

2 Ways to get rid of a fair amount of windows clutter:

1: uninstall ALL programs that are unnecessary. This could include unused programs, toolbars, and any other irrelevant programs (i refer to them as junkware). To uninstall this kind of stuff, you can do this in the programs section in your Control Panel.

2: The most helpful part to helping your PC preform better is to disabling a lot of 'background' processes on your machine that you never even knew is running (damn windows). To do this, we must go into the windows 'system configuration' and uncheck a few boxes.

To get the system configuration, you must  click the start menu > click "Run" (or you can use the keyboard shortcut WinKey+R) and type in this command: msconfig

Once on the configuration window, navigate to the Startup tab.

What you will find is a list with a ton of items with checked boxes. Well i have news for you; anything checked on this list is EVERYTHING that is starting up at the SAME time when you turn your machine on (mind blown).

Ok now with that said, let us give our machine a little bit of preformance TLC (tender, love, and care).

First, keep in mind (make a list if you have to) what you really really want to start up when you start your machine, this could include things like Skype, Yahoo Messenger, any custom scripts (for more advanced users), or any other programs that you use (like DropBox in my case). These programs are ones you will locate on the list and LEAVE checked.

Before we go unchecking thing after the list, there ARE other things you will NEED to leave checked as well. This includes Antivirus programs, and windows gadgets or sidebar (in vista). Windows 7 is a little more forgiving on naming the "startup items", however, if you have Vista or XP, you may not have the luxury of a clear name, but rather what will be listed is the name of the exe file (in program files). One thing that could help you identify what the item is is by the manufacture name. For example, Symantec would be for Norton Antivirus, Mcaffe would be for McAffe Antivirus, Apple would be for iTunes.

Ok lets go ahead and click "disable all". now that all the boxes are unchecked, lets Recheck all of the necessary items (like your antivirus). NOTE: UPDATERS ARE NOT NECESSARY, just opening the program will trigger the updater anyways. OK, now lets REcheck all the items YOU want to start (like Skype, messengers, custom scripts, etc...).

After you are done modifying the list, click Apply and OK. You will need to restart your machine to allow this to take effect. When your machine has been restarted, a pop up will appear "your system configuration has been changed....." blah blah blah, all you need to do is check the box labeled "dont show this again" and click ok.

Now you are done... yay

FOR WINDOWS 8 and WINDOWS SERVER 2012 AND ABOVE

Damn Microsoft decided to change the location and method of how to to the above processes, but at least it is easier to get to. To find the above list, all you gotta do is go to task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click on the "startup" tab.

Now just used the methods mentioned above for disabling processes.

And there you have it.... Your done

Hope i Helped.

Windows Virus Cleaning

OK, if you suspect there is any virus activity on your computer what so ever, you can take some approaches i do.

note: never use more than 1 Anti-virus programs/firewalls at the same time. This can cause very potential issues with computer preformance. If you have more than one active firewall, each program is going to "fight" over who is the main program. just dont do it, and if you have more than one, choose the best one out of the progras and get rid of the rest.

Keep in mind as well: viruses are not stupid, so dont underestimate them.

1) download and install MalwareBytes (better than Spybot SnD) and run a full scan. Remove any problems found.

2) I generally recommend reinstalling and updating the Anti-Virus program on your "infected" machine because viruses CAN compromise the program, and if this happens there is no telling if it hijacked it unless there is obvious signs of damage. Otherwise, scan with your antivirus program you use.

note: always scan with two different products minimum (like malwarebytes and what you use for an anti-virus program) because different programs can pick up different viruses.

3) Continue running scans until clean. If the scans continue to come back as not clean, continue to step 4.

4) Boot your machine into SAFE MODE. This can be achieved by pressing F8 on starting the machine up after the splash screen logo, then selecting "safe mode" from the menu. In safe mode, run the scans there. Start with Malwarebytes.

5) If the malware still persists, you are now dealing with a virus that continues to come back (obviously)... Beware of the trojan alureon.a, this is a nasty bitch that could be very bad. Its a stealth virus that steals data. If your machine has viruses that continues to come back, about 90% you will have to take drastic measures to clean it, the worst resulting in a clean reinstall of windows.

Some ways to deal with a reoccuring virus is to goggle the virus itself, you are not the only person who has gotten it. People out there have figured out how to remove the virus and give step by step instructions on doing so. there is too many methods to post here, just go google it.

Sometimes, you can get very nasty viruses off by a program called Combofix, but this method is risky because if the virus has infected essensial windows files, Combofix will remove the files and cripple windows; BACK UP YOUR DATA FIRST!

if worst comes to worst, Do a repair install of windows. This only reinstalls the system files of windows, and leaves your programs and data in tact (so dont get scared if you look like your reinstalling windows).

Windows XP: http://www.ehow.com/how_6403427_repair-xp-service-pack-2.html

Windows 7 repair install: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

A windows fresh install would be the last resort.

Good luck on your Virus cleaning!

Antivirus Programs: Why PAY for a virus program when you can get one thats better for FREE! Here is two programs i recommend:

1) Microsoft Security Essensials (PRIMARY)

2) AVG 2013 FREE (this one is as good as MSE, but has become a little bit intrusive)

There are other free programs out there too like Avast and Kaspersky, but they arent rated as well as the two i just mentioned.

Norton and McAffe are PAY programs and aren't as good as the two free programs i mentioned above.

Good Luck!