For migration, it is better to install the same version on different OS.
In my case, I migrate Thunderbird from OSX to Windows.
OSX Thunderbird 17.02
~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/vvzvylel.default
Windows Thunderbird 17.02
C:\Documents and Settings\xxxx\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\9h5wne3d.default
I install a new Thunderbird on Windows XP.
Copy vvzvylel.default to C:\Documents and Settings\xxxx\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\
Rename 9h5wne3d.default
Rename vvzvylel.default to 9h5wne3d.default
Reopen Thunderbird and I find the mail accounts, mails, contacts are migrated successfully.
It is obviously that when we want to backup Thunderbird, we could just backup this folder and it is better if we also backup the installation file of the corresponding Thunderbird version.