every occasion I have ever seen where a window user get this error it is because their anti virus has issues. What internet security suite are you using? It used to be Avast mostly that caused the issue.

Yes, I use Avast. Would that affect my TB in Windows 10 when it didn’t affect TB on my earlier PC with Windows 7?

Yes, Matt is on to something, and it *could* affect your current configuration. Since it's possible, I would run a simple test. You might try sending new letters and forwarding/replying to letters with images, from your account to itself and/or to another account, disabling Avast for some sends and re-enabling it for others. I'd advise going back and forth a few times, just to convince yourself of the results. If you want to be even more thorough, you can even try with different images from different sources. You can try your snipping Tool, regular screenshots (press the 'Prnt Scrn' [print screen] key with or without the Alt key), images you create yourself in Microsoft Paint (included with Windows as an Accessory), and/or images you get from the web. I only suggest this because you mention the Snipping tool specifically; it might be overkill, but won't hurt beyond time spent.

• Don't forget to turn your anti-virus protection back on when you are done with the test, at least until you get another if you decide to replace Avast.

Nope, disabling Avast anti-virus made no changes whatsoever. No email containing a Snipping Tool & other .png images and/or .jpg images was allowed to be sent/forwarded.

Any other thoughts? Would uninstalling/reinstalling TB itself correct this? And if so, how could I do that without losing my TB folders and files?

Thanks, Gail

Hi again! I don't know if reinstalling TB would correct it, because I can't really guess what's causing it, myself. If you want to see if it ties to your TB installation, try this, though.

Get PortableThunderbird from <https://portableapps.com> -- it's fantastic, just regular Thunderbird, but packaged so that everything it needs is in a single directory (and its subdirectories). Its installation is basically just an unzip. Anyway, you can run it independently of your other Thunderbird, and it doesn't mess with anything; it can be run from your hard drive or a flash drive or wherever, and copying/moving/deleting the program completely is just doing those things to its directory. By the way, updating the TB program is done the same way as normal, too; if you ever went on using it, you wouldn't have to keep going back to the PortableApps website for updates or anything.

Run it, set up your server information for sending only, and give it a try. If it works as it should, then the problem is somehow in your installed TB.

QUESTION: Did you move from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system? I just read about someone's problem with something else being that they had the wrong "bit-size" version of TB installed, and getting the right one installed fixed their problem, so that comes to mind right now.

Re: Preserving your folders and mail and settings and all that stuff, if you reinstall: There is lots of information around about moving your profile. I don't want to get any details wrong, so I have to leave that search to you ;-) . I presume that you'll have to make sure that the profile or its parts are being moved to the same version of TB, though. Sometimes changes get made that affect that stuff.

You're welcome! Have a blessed life!

Yes, I use Avast. Would that affect my TB in Windows 10 when it didn’t affect TB on my earlier PC with Windows 7?

Certainly. funny how there is a batch of folk in the forum using avast with issues sending mail all of a sudden. Try the following, as it is the only sure way that I know of to actually "remove" and anti virus product. even uninstalling often does not work as it should.

Restart the operating system in safe mode with Networking. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OSX

If safe mode for the operating system fixes the issue, there's other software in your computer that's causing problems. Possibilities include but not limited to: AV scanning, virus/malware, background downloads such as program updates.

No, that didn't make any difference. I get the same "Sending of the message failed" running in Safemode.

Time to uninstall/reinstall TB? and if so, how to preserve folders and files?

Thanks, Gail

Spitballing: Do you have any Windows 10 update issues? Tried updating Windows soon before, or since, the problem? Someone else's problem was solved that way today, so it comes to mind.

If you're going to reinstall, or want to see if a new instance would work, using the Portable Thunderbird would be a pretty painless way to try; you can run that without "installing" in the traditional modern sense, and no effect on your current installation of Thunderbird. Before running it, just replace the new profile folder with a copy of the old one -- ah, assuming the two installations are the same version, at least. You might need to update your old Thunderbird installation first, to be sure. Also, note that the portable version available isn't always the latest version, so definitely update right away when you first run it. But copying the profile folder will copy over your mail and many settings, etc.

You can also try just copying over *some* files from your profile. As I said before, there are already many posts covering this accurately, and I don't want to make any mistakes, so have a good read :-) . And try to look at the dates of posts or articles, because some information becomes obsolete or wrong as time goes on.

Enjoy your weekend, and life!

Yes, the Thunderbird Portable worked fine, sending/forwarding messages containing .png and .jpg images with no problem whatsoever.

So I'll follow instructions elsewhere (as you say) re uninstalling what I have and installing new -- and yes, I'll watch closely that it's a 64-bit install.

Thanks for your perseverance and patience with this for me, Gail

You're welcome, Gail. I'm glad you found something that works. Uninstalling your old Thunderbird, just to clean up your system, seems like a fine enough idea. But since the portable installation is already working for you, though, I wouldn't think there's any reason to have to install anything else instead of just sticking with it. (Obviously, I am a fan of it and all its advantages, though :-) .)

Cheers!

As Portable Thunderbird runs in an environment created by portable apps, it is not actually supported here as no one here knows how the environment fools Thunderbird into placing file that are hard coded into the local had disk into a USB drive. Personally I would use portable Thunderbird under protest. web mail for me would be a better substitute.

Good Afternoon,

I am not a moderator but would like to give some feedback...

I have a similar issue happening (recently) with "receiving" Snip files as HTML in my TBird emails - it will not display the jpg/image in browser. I have several theories and a workaround:

1. Browser Security Features - some browsers block links to local files (and directories) from remote files. This includes linking to files on your hard drive, on mapped network drives, and accessible via Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) paths. You can disable the feature...but would be vulnerable to attacks.

2. Windows Security Update - I noticed my issue after an update that installed 88 patches in a single day.

3. Snipping Tool...in addition to #2 above...I have noticed several comments here and elsewhere that the users were most likely using the old Windows "Snipping Tool" which is over 18 years old and since 2018, Microsoft has been gently nudging us to use the new and improved "Snip & Sketch" tool (see screenie below) - maybe one of the updates are preventing the file from opening.

I looked at the HTML code and I cannot find an issue, but I'm no expert in app-developent...so someone out there may know the exact reason just by examining this code...I am sorry to say that I am not 100% sure on the code parameters.

Workaround: Try using the new "Snip & Sketch" tool...it not only works, but is way more robust and has better functionality anyway. Try it and good luck.