87619 - Users installing 6.1 after abandoning 6.x don't realize their 4.7 isn't migrated again.

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Core Graveyard :: Profile: Migration, defect)

Description

[esther]

Installing 6.1 beta, after temporarliy trying 6.x months earlier, it installs
and launches the older, abandoned 6.1 profile.  All of the users I have had to
help expected to see a newer migration of their current 4.7 profile.  This lead
to reports that all of their mail, address books and bookmarks didn't migrate
properly.  After investigating this, I realized that the reports that their
migration didn't work was wrong, it was picking up their old profile.  The users
thought that by de-installing 6.x they were migrating again.  This is a
usability issue.  If, during install, we could find a date last used for the
profile, and then put up a message that the profile date is old,  asking if they
would like to re-migrated we could avoid some of the bad press that the
migration doesn't work.   Bug 87145 would help fix the problem after the
confusion, but this bug might help the user to avoid the confusion.
Unfortunately, some of these people tried to fix the problem by manually copying
their local mail folders from 4.7 over to 6.1, which caused duplicate folders
and a confusion of where the messages are going, when the messages are retrieved
from the server.  If these people had realized all they had to do is re-migrate,
they would have.  Since they have been using these newly merged profiles,
retrieving mail for the last 2 weeks, it will take a lot more help to clean up
their profiles.

Comment 1

[esther]

.

Comment 2

[jglick]

If 6.x is uninstalled, shouldn't profile info associated with the uninstalled 
program also be removed?

During installation, we could inform users that multiple profiles were found 
(joeuser with version X and joeuser with version y) and ask them to select which 
profile to migrate?

Comment 3

[Grace Bush]

The uninstaller removes only files that it installs.  It does not know what 
profile information is stored. 

 Only profiles used in Communicator 4.x are 'migrated'.  Other profiles created 
in earlier versions of 6.x are merely reused. 

I would think the fix needs to be something along the  lines of cleanup that we 
do here to 're-migrate'.  

Comment 4

[timeless]

Ooh, i'm glad this bug was filed. my dad and i ran into this when we tried to 
use mail and couldn't figure out why it was missing a few hundred messages. He 
didn't like 6.0 at all, but he liked 6.1 beta and we were puzzled by this.  
Eventually I realized this was the same reason he 'lost' his nc4 bookmarks.

The thing is, that not everyone cleanly uninstalls 6.0, we chose to install 
over 6.0 and it offered to (demanded, whatever we were glad to let it) delete 
6.0 for us.

> During installation, we could inform users that multiple profiles were found 
> (joeuser with version X and joeuser with version y) and ask them to select
> which profile to migrate?
This sounds better (it turns out the profile lived in a mozilla directory), if 
given a choice of Netscape Communicator's profile or Mozilla's profile, my dad 
would have told it Communicator and he'd have been even happier.

> I would think the fix needs to be something along the lines of cleanup that
> we do here to 're-migrate'.
you can't just do that. it's dataloss. If my dad had actually used n6 for mail 
and we just remigrated his n4 profile, he'd have lost the 6months worth of 
mail.

Comment 5

[Conrad Carlen (not reading bugmail)]

*** Bug 95862 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 6

[Conrad Carlen (not reading bugmail)]

accepting

Comment 7

[Conrad Carlen (not reading bugmail)]

This problem needs some UE attention.

* If the user has a 4.7 profile called "A" and it gets migrated, it won't be
migrated again.
* If they go back to 4.7 and use the original "A" profile, we don't have a way
to import more recent data from the original "A" than is currently in the
migrated "A".
* Re-migrating the whole old profile again, based on modification date, into an
"A-1" would be awkward.

I think this could be handled cleanly if, in addition to profile migration, we
had profile importing. But, since we don't and that would be a lot of work,
futuring.

CC'ing Marlon for UE and Bhuvan for migration and importing.

Comment 8

[timeless]

Would someone please proof this?

relnote text: if you've installed mozilla (or some branded version) on a 
computer, allowed it to migrate your nc4 profile, and later install a newer 
mozilla (...), then when you run this new application, it will not remigrate 
your profile.

symptoms include:
* seeing old bookmarks on your personal toolbar and in bookmarks
* not seeing new mail that you've received since you first ran mozilla

what to do if you want the mail/bookmarks from netscape4:
Easiest solution (assuming you didn't make any substantive changes in your 
mozilla profile):
1. run mozilla (...) -ProfileManager
2. (?) Delete the profile 
3. quit
4. run mozilla (...) -ProfileWizard (??)

Complicated solution (if you did make changes in your mozilla profile):
A. For bookmarks.
This will merge your mozilla profile's bookmarks into your nc4 bookmarks.  
1. find your mozilla profile bookmarks file
 . by default it will be called bookmarks.html in your profile directory
 . <there are some other possibilities, about:config might list a path 
to a bookmarks file>
2. Run Netscape4
3. Go to bookmarks
4. Choose File>Import
5. select your mozilla bookmarks file
Alternatively, you cna use NC4 to import your nc4 bookmarks into your mozilla 
bookmarks file.
1. Same as A1
2. Find your netscape 4 bookmarks
 . by default it will be called (who remembers?) in your profile directory
 . <there are some other possibilities, looking at prefs.js there might be a 
path to a bookmarks file>
3. Same as A3
4. Choose File>Open
5. Same as A5
6. Same as A4
7. select your nc4 bookmarks file
8. Same as B4
9. Same as B7

B. For mail/newsgroups.
in nc4 edit>preferences, mail & newsgroups > mail servers/news servers
the path to the mail folders are listed there
in mozilla edit>mail and news accounts, <server name> server settings (?)
the path to the mail folders are listed there
Mail can either be combined by combining the files+folders or you can create 
new mail accounts and set them to point to the old locations and then manually 
move them.

Comment 9

[Andreas Kunz]

timeless, could you please have a look if this bug does still make sense? You
are the most active cc member and were also involved with this bug.
The given scenario isn't likely to happen often nowadays (one of the few things
less likely is an actual fix for this bug while there are still 4.x users...).
However, of course I accept whatever you decide. :-)

Comment 10

[timeless]

it's still valid. the general concept could apply to other cases too.

i'm still willing to write a relnote if someone proofs my proposal.

Comment 11

[Andreas Kunz]

(In reply to comment #10)
> i'm still willing to write a relnote if someone proofs my proposal.

So maybe request review from somebody for the text...

Comment 12

[[e-mail]]

So if you delete an imported profile, will Mozilla attempt to reimport the profile?

Comment 13

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

We're not planning to fix this, since we have no plans to do such profile migrations much...