Please check your Firewall, which might be part of your Anti-Virus product.

Thunderbird program needs to be allowed else the firewall will block it from accessing internet.

So you need to check this is all working ok first.

Close Thunderbird. Access firewall. Make sure Thunderbird is allowed. Restart Thunderbird.

On one occassion I had to block it, ok it and then access again and set it to allow. Sometimes, the firewall does not seem to recognise that an update is the same program.

I still get the same error, Thunderbird failed to find the settings for you email account. previously it found all the settings very quickly, now it simply fails.

If it's failing to find the settings, that suggests that you are using the automatic account set up wizard? That function tries to look up the settings in a database of common email providers (Gmail, Hotmail and so on). But the database is neither exhaustive nor always up-to-date, and when Thunderbird can't find your provider listed it returns a 'failed to find settings' message. I suggest you go to the email provider's website and check what the account settings should be. Then create the account manually in Thunderbird, copying all the settings exactly.

I'm responding under the impression that you already had mail accounts set up.

Uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird would not have made any difference as it not a problem with the Thunderbird Program itself.

Are you trying to add mail accounts ? When you reinstalled Thunderbird, did it pick up the old profile and display the mail accounts even if they still cannot access server?

Can you see the mail accounts in the left Folder Pane ? If yes, then please post the following information: In Thunderbird Help > Troubleshooting information click on 'Copy text to clipboard' in this forum question, right click in a 'Post a REply' text box and select 'Paste'. You can remove/edit all info on fonts and printers but nothing else.

amanchesterman: I have tried both the automatic and manual configuration methods for both my e-mail accounts using the email providers settings, in every case I get 'Thunderbird failed to find settings' error.

Toad-Hall: before deleting Thunderbird I backed up my Thunderbird profile. After reinstalling the left pane is completely blank. Each time I start it asks me to set up a new e-mail account but will not access the servers for my previous e-mail accounts. I have tried replacing the profile with the backup, in which case I get a 'profile may be missing or misplaced' error.

As I mentioned before. The same settings that fail on Thunderbird will work perfectly well on other e-mail clients. I just don't want to use them!

re :before deleting Thunderbird I backed up my Thunderbird profile. After reinstalling the left pane is completely blank. Each time I start it asks me to set up a new e-mail account

Either you have not backed up the correct folders or you have not installed them correctly.

BTW..uninstalling Thunderbird would not have effected your profile folder, so did you also delete the Roaming Thunderbird Profile folder as well ?

Please tell me what you backed up. Your 'Profile name' folder by default would be called 'xxxxxxxx.default' where the x's are letters and numbers. This would have been the location of it: C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\

Please confirm exactly what you backed up.

I backed up the Profile name folder 'eak4wdp7.default' in this case