Corrupted Mail preferences file

Dear all,
My com.apple.mail.plist file got corrupted somehow. My Home/Library/Mail folder looks fine though. What do I have to do to restore everything back to normal? Bear that I don't have a preference file backup. I would <never> think a simple, tiny file could ruin all my e-mail capabilities... For one moment it reminded me of my Windows days...
Anyway, I'd appreciate your help in this matter.
Cheers,
Leonardo

The Mail.app preference file stores all account information and general Mail.app preferences.
With the Mail.app quit and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail. Copy the Mail folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.mail.plist. Delete the com.apple.mail.plist file and empty the Trash.
Note: Moving or deleting the com.apple.mail.plist from the Preferences folder will require re-entering all email account information when re-launching Mail.
The only exception to this is if you have a .Mac account which will be recreated automatically.
Launch Mail and decline any prompt to import mailboxes. After re-entering all email account information the same as before, the Mail.app should rediscover the existing account named folders and mailboxes at Home > Library > Mail.
After confirming all mailboxes were successfully rediscovered, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder from the Desktop.

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    Please follow these directions to delete the Mail "sandbox" folder.
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  • Corrupt preference files

    I recently had a problem with Mail that BDAqua helped me with here over the weekend.
    It was as though my Mail preference file was trashed. Well, I just now opened up Adobe Illustrator and the application informed me that the preference file was corrupt for that too, and was being trashed.
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    Ho,
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  • The preferences file is corrupt: adobe illustrator cs4

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    Message was edited by: Shenzi

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    Monika
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    Tel: 250 545 2192
    Cell: 250 540 3713
    [email protected]
    www.assuredesign.com

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