Last week, my sister bought a new HP computer with Vista. She wanted me to set it up and I said that she could do it herself. Hey! it's supposed to be friendly for everyone and I wanted her to be more independent. I told her to just answer the question that the HP would asked via the many installed software. I did help her, by phone, to download Firefox from this blog(bottom page) and OpenOffice. Note: I only use Vista on the HTPC(mostly for testing my 2 freeware MIS Info Video, Info2MIS) and still use Windows XP Pro on my main computer. So, my knowledge is limited for now. Guest who is coming for supper? Yesterday, she called me on how to transfer the Thunderbird email account from the old to the new computer(XP). She did not want to to do it at that moment but later in the week. I said that I would help her by phone. She however invited my parents and me for small supper last night. So, I took the opportunity to do a quick transfer and I did not want do that all night. To share or not to share I said to myself that I would just create a network share on the old XP computer and be done. The XP was connected to the router but was never shared before. I found the Thunderbird(281MB) folder and shared it. I went to the Vista computer and activated the share on the public folder. One problem, they did to see each other. Ok, I found out that the Workgroup was the same and change it. It did not work so I restarted both computer. Nothing! I knew that sharing was not needed so for the time being and I decided to use her USB key. Let the fun begin Now, the USB key was only 256MB and needed 281MB. Ok, I would just zip it but found it strange it was that big. I open Thunderbird and their were not many emails. I wanted to see how many MB each folder was taking without going into Windows Explorer. Unfortunately, the column for the folder pane only showed the unread messages columns. I went into the options but, for the life of me, could not find that option. It was so long that I activated it on my own computer that I taught it was a second level tab/button. It was in the Advanced tab starring at me all along. I think it was laughing at me. I hate it when that happens. "The supper is ready", she yelled because I was downstairs. Came back from eating and saw that she never compacted the folders. Now, it was only 18MB and she will be able to see the columns from now on. I showed her how to compact folders. Transfer This! Now everything was getting back on track. I got the Thunderbird folder on the USB key and only needed to copy it in the Vista computer. Now, on Vista the folder is not in the same place. It is now in the USER folder but where? I could not see it. Ok, I will create a dummy email account an check where it was created. I saw it in Thunderbird but not in Windows Explorer. In Vista, the application folder is hidden by default. I had to change the setting in Windows Explorer to be able to see it. That folder should not be hidden or Thunderbird should create the accounts where it's more visible(My Documents). Why? Because it would make it easier to backup. I copied the folder and it is now working. I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening. Conclusion Take your time with Vista and don't expect to do thing fast like I did. It's not XP and many things changed that I lost many minutes to figured where it was located in Vista. Eventually, I will move to Vista(SP1) and will be a little more used to Vista on the HTPC. Still, I'm glad I went over there because it would had been a pain to do by phone. Sure, I want my sister to be more comfortable with Vista but to a certain degree. I also want to be invited often with the BBQ season just starting. ;) P.S. The resolution was 1024x768 on 19' HP widescreen LCD(1440x900). She told me it was like that by default. The native resolution was not possible with the HP own drivers and I had to choose 1280x768. One more thing to look at the next time. Sis, I will take 2 hot dogs, please. :D
Keywords: Email, Internet, Software, Technology, Vista