<blockquote> also you keep alerting me..thank you ,,of emails being quaratined ..great. </blockquote> Thunderbird doesn't do anything like that. This may come from your email provider, or your anti-virus software. <blockquote> Is it possible these quarantined mails are helping cuase the slow down load problem </blockquote> Quite possible. Here are some generic recommended steps to avoid problem with anti-virus software. Create an exception in your anti-virus software for the Thunderbird profile folder, so that the anti-virus real-time scanner will not scan it. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird Don't let your anti-virus software scan incoming and outgoing messages. Don't let your anti-virus software scan attachments. Don't let your anti-virus software intercept your secure connection to the server. Remove any add-ons your anti-virus software may have installed in Thunderbird. Keep it working. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Keep_it_working_-_Thunderbird And last but not least, backup your Thunderbird profile on a regular basis. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile