Running from a USB drive - Thunderbird: Difference between revisions

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Can you run Thunderbird from a USB drive (keychain drive)? The short answer for now is no—at least, not easily. For possible workarounds, [http://forums.mozillazine.org/search.php search] the MozillaZine Thunderbird forums for "USB drive" or "USB stick" (both words, without the quote marks). See [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=498016#498016 this thread] for one such workaround, in this case a batch file.
Beginning with version 0.7, Thunderbird can now be run from a USB memory stick. In order to do this, you need to install Thunderbird (the application itself) on the USB stick, create a profile on the USB stick, and launch Thunderbird using the correct parameters so that it can find the profile on the USB stick. This can be done using a command prompt, a shortcut, a batch file, or a JScript (.js) file. See this [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=87118 MozillaZine forum thread] for some possible ways to get this to work.


Support for USB drives seems to be part of the Thunderbird [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/plans.html development vision] for 2004, however, so stay tuned.
The key difference between setting up and running Thunderbird in this way and doing so in the "normal" way is that Thunderbird normally keeps track of your profile(s) by accessing a file stored on the computer's boot drive (registry.dat and/or profiles.ini). For Thunderbird to be used effectively on a USB stick, in a completely portable mode, it obviously cannot rely upon a file stored on one computer's boot drive in this way. The parameters discussed in the linked thread, above, thus provide Thunderbird with a way to find your profile without relying on information normally stored on the boot drive.

Revision as of 15:05, 4 July 2004

Beginning with version 0.7, Thunderbird can now be run from a USB memory stick. In order to do this, you need to install Thunderbird (the application itself) on the USB stick, create a profile on the USB stick, and launch Thunderbird using the correct parameters so that it can find the profile on the USB stick. This can be done using a command prompt, a shortcut, a batch file, or a JScript (.js) file. See this MozillaZine forum thread for some possible ways to get this to work.

The key difference between setting up and running Thunderbird in this way and doing so in the "normal" way is that Thunderbird normally keeps track of your profile(s) by accessing a file stored on the computer's boot drive (registry.dat and/or profiles.ini). For Thunderbird to be used effectively on a USB stick, in a completely portable mode, it obviously cannot rely upon a file stored on one computer's boot drive in this way. The parameters discussed in the linked thread, above, thus provide Thunderbird with a way to find your profile without relying on information normally stored on the boot drive.

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