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Why did Thunderbird v. 45 installed on new laptop stopped downloading messages right after installation two days ago.

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  • Last reply by Matt

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Running Windows 10. Messages download fine on adjacent desktop computer (Windows 7).

Disabled anti-virus software to avoid possibility of blocking. Checked account settings with Comcast. Uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird twice. (Thunderbird reloads AFTER with emails and settings intact. How do I remove it COMPLETELY?)

Many of the messages that initially came through lacked any content. All existing messages were addressed "To: Me*. Messages identified as SPAM do come through.

As suggested, Troubleshooting Information copied and pasted below:


 Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 45.0
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:45.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/45.0
   Profile Folder: Show Folder
             (Local drive)
   Application Build ID: 20160407161913
   Enabled Plugins: about:plugins
   Build Configuration: about:buildconfig
   Memory Use: about:memory
 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (imap) imap.comcast.net:993, SSL, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: , smtp.comcast.net:587, SSL, passwordCleartext, true
   account2:
     INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext
 Crash Reports
 Extensions
   Lightning, 4.7, true, {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}
 Important Modified Preferences
   Name: Value
     accessibility.lastLoadDate: 1460663596
     browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
     dom.apps.reset-permissions: true
     extensions.lastAppVersion: 45.0
     font.name.monospace.el: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas
     font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Calibri
     font.name.serif.el: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria
     font.size.fixed.el: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-cyrillic: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-unicode: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-western: 14
     font.size.variable.el: 17
     font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17
     font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17
     font.size.variable.x-western: 17
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.appVersion: 45.0
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.deviceID: 0x1916
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.driverVersion: 20.19.15.4300
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.direct3d11-angle: true
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle: true
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-d3d11: false
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-warp: false
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-try-d3d11: true
     gfx.crash-guard.status.glcontext: 2
     mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1
     mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true
     mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 9d84ac03-e9d0-4a48-ae5d-745c70e06e6
     network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
     network.predictor.cleaned-up: true
     places.database.lastMaintenance: 1460128517
     places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858
     plugin.importedState: true
 Graphics
     Adapter Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
     Vendor ID: 0x8086
     Device ID: 0x1916
     Adapter RAM: Unknown
     Adapter Drivers: igdumdim64 igd10iumd64 igd10iumd64 igd12umd64 igdumdim32 igd10iumd32 igd10iumd32 igd12umd32
     Driver Version: 20.19.15.4300
     Driver Date: 10-1-2015
     Direct2D Enabled: false
     DirectWrite Enabled: false (10.0.10240.16430)
     ClearType Parameters: ClearType parameters not found
     WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0) -- OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 2.1.0.316930d51ea9)
     GPU Accelerated Windows: 0
     AzureCanvasBackend: skia
     AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0
     AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo
     AzureContentBackend: cairo
 JavaScript
 Incremental GC: 1
 Accessibility
   Activated: 1
   Prevent Accessibility: 0
 Library Versions
     Expected minimum version
     Version in use
     NSPR
     4.12
     4.12
     NSS
     3.21.1 Basic ECC
     3.21.1 Basic ECC
     NSS Util
     3.21.1
     3.21.1
     NSS SSL
     3.21.1 Basic ECC
     3.21.1 Basic ECC
     NSS S/MIME
     3.21.1 Basic ECC
     3.21.1 Basic ECC

Assistance will be gratefully accepted.

Running Windows 10. Messages download fine on adjacent desktop computer (Windows 7). Disabled anti-virus software to avoid possibility of blocking. Checked account settings with Comcast. Uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird twice. (Thunderbird reloads AFTER with emails and settings intact. How do I remove it COMPLETELY?) Many of the messages that initially came through lacked any content. All existing messages were addressed "To: Me*. Messages identified as SPAM do come through. As suggested, Troubleshooting Information copied and pasted below: Application Basics Name: Thunderbird Version: 45.0 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:45.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/45.0 Profile Folder: Show Folder (Local drive) Application Build ID: 20160407161913 Enabled Plugins: about:plugins Build Configuration: about:buildconfig Memory Use: about:memory Mail and News Accounts account1: INCOMING: account1, , (imap) imap.comcast.net:993, SSL, passwordCleartext OUTGOING: , smtp.comcast.net:587, SSL, passwordCleartext, true account2: INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext Crash Reports Extensions Lightning, 4.7, true, {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103} Important Modified Preferences Name: Value accessibility.lastLoadDate: 1460663596 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false dom.apps.reset-permissions: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 45.0 font.name.monospace.el: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Calibri font.name.serif.el: Cambria font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria font.size.fixed.el: 14 font.size.fixed.x-cyrillic: 14 font.size.fixed.x-unicode: 14 font.size.fixed.x-western: 14 font.size.variable.el: 17 font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17 font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17 font.size.variable.x-western: 17 gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.appVersion: 45.0 gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.deviceID: 0x1916 gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.driverVersion: 20.19.15.4300 gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.direct3d11-angle: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-d3d11: false gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-warp: false gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-try-d3d11: true gfx.crash-guard.status.glcontext: 2 mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1 mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 9d84ac03-e9d0-4a48-ae5d-745c70e06e6 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1460128517 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.importedState: true Graphics Adapter Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 Vendor ID: 0x8086 Device ID: 0x1916 Adapter RAM: Unknown Adapter Drivers: igdumdim64 igd10iumd64 igd10iumd64 igd12umd64 igdumdim32 igd10iumd32 igd10iumd32 igd12umd32 Driver Version: 20.19.15.4300 Driver Date: 10-1-2015 Direct2D Enabled: false DirectWrite Enabled: false (10.0.10240.16430) ClearType Parameters: ClearType parameters not found WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0) -- OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 2.1.0.316930d51ea9) GPU Accelerated Windows: 0 AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0 AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureContentBackend: cairo JavaScript Incremental GC: 1 Accessibility Activated: 1 Prevent Accessibility: 0 Library Versions Expected minimum version Version in use NSPR 4.12 4.12 NSS 3.21.1 Basic ECC 3.21.1 Basic ECC NSS Util 3.21.1 3.21.1 NSS SSL 3.21.1 Basic ECC 3.21.1 Basic ECC NSS S/MIME 3.21.1 Basic ECC 3.21.1 Basic ECC Assistance will be gratefully accepted.

All Replies (1)

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By far the most common cause of mail suddenly stopping following an update is your anti virus either not coping with the version change or outright blocking this new unknown version of Thunderbird.

  • First reboot your machine to clear any invisible hangs or whatever with the anti virus. If it is still a problem check the firewall component allows Thunderbird version 45 full access to the internet..
Note the version is important. Some products such as Norton's block on any version number change so 38.0.7 will be allowed but 45 will not. For that matter 38.0.8 would also be blocked.
  • The second step is to disable scanning of email in your anti virus program. Reboot and see if that helps.
Many of the messages that initially came through lacked any content.

That you got messages, or at least message subjects proves your authenticated to the mail server and able to receive email. That what you get is garbled is not a settings issue.

All existing messages were addressed "To: Me*
That has been normal behavior since version 3. BAck in 2010 I wrote a blog post about that http://thunderbirdtweaks.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/remove-you-from-your-mail.html
Disabled anti-virus software to avoid possibility of blocking
unfortunately anti virus programs are not entirely truthful about their status. Experience has taught us that only restarting the operating system in safe mode with networking is a really sure bet it is actually disabled. See here for those instructions http://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10
How do I remove it COMPLETELY?)

While I see no reason to so that in this case, type %appdata% into the start menu search box and press enter. Delete the Thunderbird profile folder that is visible in appdata in the windows explorer window that opens. That removes all account setting, mail data and everything that makes Thunderbird "yours" restarting the application after you do that will see the new account wizard appear as a new install.