Hi all !

I've been using Eudora for a very long time (8 years or so). Basically, I've never used a different email client, not even outlook.

However, I've migrated to Firefox a couple of months ago, and since I'm so happy with that upgrade, I'd like to do the same now with my email client.

There is an underlieing reason too : next year I would like to start using Linux, and since both Firefox and Thunderbird exist on windows AND Linux, this would mean that I would be able to use the same software on both OS'es.

First, I'd like to say that I have NO problems setting up accounts and stuff, and getting TB to run properly. That works just fine. I just would like to see some things different, and I'm sure they're changeable, I just can't figure out how myself.

1) I've made a habit of installing all my stuff on my D-drive, never on my C-drive. This is because I reformat and reinstall pretty often (every 3-4 months), and this saves me a lot of time.

With Eudora this was easy : I put it on the d-drive, and I didn't even have to re-install it when I had just formatted my c drive. Making a new shortcut to the .exe was enough. Eudora works just fine and doesn't clutter the registry.
My setup is now like this :
d:\eudora (where all the mail is stored too)
d:\eudora\attach (for all the attachments)
and a couple of other Eudora subdirectories that aren't important here. The idea is that EVERYTHING is in the d:\eudora directory, which make this email stuff very easy to manage.

Now, with TB, things are a bit different. For one, even if I tell it it has to install into d:\thunderbird, it STILL insists on using c:\documents and settings\name\thunderbird\xxxxxx as the directory in which the mail is stored. Strange. Why is that?

1) I've found out that via the TB profiles, I can create a new profile, in which I can tell it where it should store it's mail. (in this case d:\TBmail). However, it still creates a default profile on c:\documents and settings\... . Isn't there a way of telling TB to immediately install onto the d drive, and leave the c drive completely alone ?

2) What's with these profiles anyway ? What are they for ? The first time I ever heard of those was with Firefox, but I never had to use them. What's their purpose ? I assume it's because multiple users would each have "their" own version of the browser/email client. (is this a Linux thing ?)
If I create several profiles, how can I switch from one to the next ? Do I always have to use the thunderbird.exe -p option ?
I've noticed that I can delete that default profile on my c-drive. But even when I delete those there are still 2 files left on my c: (profiles.ini and registry.dat) Can I delete those files safely (and that thunderbird directory too), so that my c drive would become completely "thunderbird-free"?

3) Those "local folders" in TB ? What's with those?? What's their use ??
It seems that TB looks at these as if they were an account too ?? (because they look almost exactly the same as my manually configuered account - settings and lay-out) And it seems that these "local folders" have copied my account settings for their own use too ?
Why is that ? I can 't see the use of that (though I'm sure there is one)

When I made a new profile, and TB started, the account wizard was loaded. After filling in everything, I came to the point where I had to type in my smtp server. Above this field there was a question : "uncheck this option to save email from this account in it's own directory. This will make this account a top-level account (what's this ?). If not, it will become a part of the global INBOX under "local maps".

I unchecked it because I don't want to use those global maps, basically because I don't know what they are for.
Was I correct in doing this ? Could somebody please enlighten me ?

4) Attachments. I would like to have all of my attachments saved in the folder d:\TBmail\attach (or maybe in d:\tbattach - not sure yet). Though this is a simple setting, I've noticed that when I receive emails with attachments, that they are clickable and viewable in TB, but still not saved on my HD. (where are they then ?? I'm using POP3, so I'm sure they MUST be on my HD somewhere, only I can't find them)
I have to say to TB each time to save them. Is this normal ?

That's about all I can think of. Could somebody please enlighten me on those subjects ? I've checked on the net and read several FAQ's but they were not much use. Is there a manual for TB somewhere ?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me !!

Archeon