All your data and settings are in the Profile. The profile is separate from the program so uninstalling Thunderbird does not disturb your data. Backups are always a good idea. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_profile_folder_-_Thunderbird

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb

Thanks but exactly where in the profile. Which files or folders hold the actual account information for the email accounts (ports, server names, etc)

What will you do with these files? What is your plan for using the data stored in them? The fact that you're asking these questions suggests to me that you haven't really understood what you're asking for.

The answer to your question is prefs.js, but in truth, account settings are a comparatively small part of the data it holds, and most of the rest of the data stored there may be unusable when out of context.

But I really don't know what you can do with that information. Most of us would be more concerned with protecting valuable data such as messages, address books. Account settings are comparatively trivial to rediscover, whilst messages are irreplaceable.