Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

When receiving email, Thunderbird freezes and displays "Not Responding" in screen header. Adds popstate folder to account.

  • 1 reply
  • 4 have this problem
  • 16 views
  • Last reply by LPerkins

more options

I'm running Thunderbird 31.6.0 on Windows 8.1 with BitDefender 2013.

PROBLEM: When getting email, Thunderbird freezes and displays "Not Responding" in screen header.

When TB is closed then reopened, a popstate folder (popstate-1.dat) is added to account. A new popstate folder appears with each crash/freeze, and as long as they are not deleted, they pile up with unique numbers (popstate-1.dat, popstate-2.dat, etc.).

(see attached screenshot)

NOTE: I've included troubleshooting details below for all the fixes I tried, thinking it might be helpful to anyone who has a similar problem and is thinking about going down those paths. Ultimately, it seems that FIX ATTEMPT 5 is the winner.

======================

FIX ATTEMPT 1:

Following the suggestion in this archived mozilla support post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1026288, I restarted Thunderbird in Safe Mode (Help > Restart with Add-Ons disabled...), checking the "Disable all add-ons" and "Reset toolbars and controls" and clicking "Make Changes and Restart" button.

In Add-Ons Manager, BitDefender Toolbar now appears to be disabled.

(see attached screenshot)

But the problem persists.

______________________________________________________

FIX ATTEMPT 2:

Following the suggestion in this archived mozilla support post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1016811, I clicked Help > Troubleshooting Information > Show Folder button. This opens a File Explorer window for 3I58b9dq.default (this is the "profile" folder) which contains panacea.dat and folderTree.json files.

I changed file names to panacea-changed.dat and folderTree-changed.json (rather than deleting them, in case I need to restore them), and I reopened Thunderbird.

This did not solve the problem -- and, furthermore, the profile folder seems to have automatically generated new panacea.dat and folderTree.json files to replace those for which I changed the filenames. ­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________

FIX ATTEMPT 3:

Following the suggestion in this mozilla support post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1044774, I restarted Windows 8.1 in safe mode with networking enabled (using these instructions: http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/.)

TB does not crash when Windows runs in safe mode, but the aspect ratio of my display is distorted; everything's really big and stretched horizontally, and my two displays are mirrored rather than extended. Running Windows perpetually in safe mode is not the ideal fix.

QUESTION 1: I understand that troubleshooting is supposedly done best in safe mode — What might I do in safe mode to diagnose the Thunderbird problem?

­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________

FIX ATTEMPT 4:

This article https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Antivirus_Related_Performance_Issues#Symptoms, suggests that problems with Thunderbird associated with BitDefender can be solved by uninstalling and re-installing BitDefender.

Not really comfortable uninstalling and re-installing, I disabled Bitdefender (Settings button > Antivirus button > Shield tab > On-Access Scanning toggle Off) to see if that would work. It did not fix the problem.

QUESTION 2: Would uninstalling BitDefender be any different than disabling it?

­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________

FIX ATTEMPT 5:

Create a Bitdefender Exclusion for the Thunderbird folder:

Settings button > Antivirus button > Exclusions tab > Excluded files and folders link > Add button > navigate to Thunderbird folder (c:\users\username\appdata\roaming\thunderbird) > Both radio button > Add button > OK button

THIS FIX DID THE TRICK! YAY!

I'm running Thunderbird 31.6.0 on Windows 8.1 with BitDefender 2013. PROBLEM: When getting email, Thunderbird freezes and displays "Not Responding" in screen header. When TB is closed then reopened, a popstate folder (popstate-1.dat) is added to account. A new popstate folder appears with each crash/freeze, and as long as they are not deleted, they pile up with unique numbers (popstate-1.dat, popstate-2.dat, etc.). (see attached screenshot) NOTE: I've included troubleshooting details below for all the fixes I tried, thinking it might be helpful to anyone who has a similar problem and is thinking about going down those paths. Ultimately, it seems that FIX ATTEMPT 5 is the winner. ================================== FIX ATTEMPT 1: Following the suggestion in this archived mozilla support post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1026288, I restarted Thunderbird in Safe Mode (Help > Restart with Add-Ons disabled...), checking the "Disable all add-ons" and "Reset toolbars and controls" and clicking "Make Changes and Restart" button. In Add-Ons Manager, BitDefender Toolbar now appears to be disabled. (see attached screenshot) But the problem persists. ______________________________________________________ FIX ATTEMPT 2: Following the suggestion in this archived mozilla support post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1016811, I clicked Help > Troubleshooting Information > Show Folder button. This opens a File Explorer window for 3I58b9dq.default (this is the "profile" folder) which contains panacea.dat and folderTree.json files. I changed file names to panacea-changed.dat and folderTree-changed.json (rather than deleting them, in case I need to restore them), and I reopened Thunderbird. This did not solve the problem -- and, furthermore, the profile folder seems to have automatically generated new panacea.dat and folderTree.json files to replace those for which I changed the filenames. ­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________ FIX ATTEMPT 3: Following the suggestion in this mozilla support post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1044774, I restarted Windows 8.1 in safe mode with networking enabled (using these instructions: http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/.) TB does not crash when Windows runs in safe mode, but the aspect ratio of my display is distorted; everything's really big and stretched horizontally, and my two displays are mirrored rather than extended. Running Windows perpetually in safe mode is not the ideal fix. QUESTION 1: I understand that troubleshooting is supposedly done best in safe mode — What might I do in safe mode to diagnose the Thunderbird problem? ­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________ FIX ATTEMPT 4: This article https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Antivirus_Related_Performance_Issues#Symptoms, suggests that problems with Thunderbird associated with BitDefender can be solved by uninstalling and re-installing BitDefender. Not really comfortable uninstalling and re-installing, I disabled Bitdefender (Settings button > Antivirus button > Shield tab > On-Access Scanning toggle Off) to see if that would work. It did not fix the problem. QUESTION 2: Would uninstalling BitDefender be any different than disabling it? ­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________ FIX ATTEMPT 5: Create a Bitdefender Exclusion for the Thunderbird folder: Settings button > Antivirus button > Exclusions tab > Excluded files and folders link > Add button > navigate to Thunderbird folder (c:\users\username\appdata\roaming\thunderbird) > Both radio button > Add button > OK button THIS FIX DID THE TRICK! YAY!
Attached screenshots

Modified by LPerkins

Chosen solution

FIX ATTEMPT #5 above did the trick, and now I see that it was the chosen solution for a similar post of the same problem at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1044774

Read this answer in context 👍 2

All Replies (1)

more options

Chosen Solution

FIX ATTEMPT #5 above did the trick, and now I see that it was the chosen solution for a similar post of the same problem at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1044774

Modified by LPerkins