Thunderbird E-mails
Hello. I want to make a complete back-up copy of all my Thunderbird contacts and E-mail addresses, so that when I buy a new computer I can effortlessly transfer everything over. I'd like to create a new folder and call it something like " Thunderbird Back-up " and save it to my Desktop - possibly later transfer the contents to an external hard drive. Can someone please explain ( in simple terms ) how I go about making a back-up copy of all my TB E-mail addresses, contacts, and telephone numbers ? I am using Windows 10. Many thanks.
Mafitar da aka zaɓa
You have mentioned this problem before.
There are some nefarious people who do abuse other peoples email addresses sending out spam which unfortunately always looks like it is you who sent out the emails. If this is the case, then there is nothing you can do about it and the offending person usually gives up after a while if no one responds. But if people have reported your email address as sending spam then this may also have triggered that error message.
If they sent emails to addresses that are not vaild then the first you would notice is when you get mailor daemon emails saying emails could not be delivered when you know you did not send them. In these cases, it is usually not a virus, but wise to start computer in Safe Mode and then run scans just in case. When all is ok, I suggest you access webmail account and change your password, then update the password in Thunderbird.
It is impossible for Thunderbird to send that message. It was triggered by the server spam filter for the TalkTalk smtp server.
There are reports on TalkTalk support that it has been known to send that message if an authentication is wrong, but in that case you would never be able to send emails and all your settings were checked, so is unlikely. But changing your password as previously advised would be advisable, just in case TalkTalk has other triggers on it's system needing an authentication update. It would not surprise me if after a period of time talkTalk server gets triggered to force you to logon to webmail and update a password. Note: Gmail does this to pop accounts by deliberately blocking them with some unhelpful nonsense that basically means gmail want to check that you really are you because you are not using either OAuth authentication nor sending via their webmail account. They make life annoying. So I'm wondering if something just as crazy is going on with you and all they want is you to update the password via webmail account.
You are not alone in reporting this issue with TalkTalk smtp error message. TalkTalk has plenty of people who have experienced the same thing as you can see on their support forum, so this is not new to TalkTalk and it usually involves tiscali. It has been reported by people using various email clients. Sometimes the user is just sending too many emails within the time frame, but most are people like you.
If you are using a VPN when sending then you will run into problems. If you are using a phone with a mail app then something might have been triggered.
TalkTalk also say : The error message is also indicative of email being rate limited possibly due to multiple concurrent sign ins from different locations.
TalkTalk say: limits can get applied:
- When the email account has been compromised and is used to send emails
- When the sending location is not from the TalkTalk network and a lower limit has been applied as a spam protection measure.
I would have thought that raising a fault ticket with TalkTalk would mean they could check to see the number of emails that were sent and this would identify whether someone was abusing your email address.
Just checking you still are using the following settings for the tiscali email address mail account.
- Outgoing server name: smtp.tiscali.co.uk
- Outgoing Port: 587
- Connection Security: STARTTLS
- Authentication Method: Normal Password
- Username : full email address
All Replies (17)
Are you talking about a pop or imap mail account ?
If pop, then it is likely you are downloading full copies of emails. All emails are stored in Thunderbird in the profile. There is no folder synchronisation between any pop mail account folder and the server. This means deleting emails directly off the server via webmail account will not effect any emails in the pop mail account.
If imap, then all imap folders synchronise with server to show what is on server. This means if you delete emails off the server via webmail then you will find those emails will also get deleted from the imap mail account when it synchronises with server. This means you would need to ensure you have downloaded a full copy of all emails in all folders first before creating the backup. If you intend to maintain an ability to read those emails currently in an imap account, you would need to get copies into your 'Local Folders' mail account after downloading full copies. This is information on getting all folders sychronised with fully dowloaded copies.
Another user asked about creating a backup copy / getting emails into 'Local Folders, so you may find this link helpful.
How to create a Backup: Once all emails are fully downloaded.
Note: it is possible to get to the profile name folder via Thunderbird.
- 'Help > 'Troubleshooting Information'
- Under 'Application Basics' about 8th in list is 'Profile Folder' - click on on 'Open Folder'
This opens a new window showing you the contents of your profile name folder.
- Exit Thunderbird now.
If you did not use Thunderbird to get to profile, then Access Profile name folder directly.
If you used Thunderbird to access profile name folder, you need to go up the directory three levels, so you are looking at the contents of the 'Roaming' folder.
On a Windows OS this is where the profile is located:
- C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\profile name folder.
Get a copy of the 'Thunderbird' folder and paste it into an external harddrive so you can plug into new computer and copy folder across. It would be ok to store in a temp desktop folder called " Thunderbird Back-up ", but you would still need to put onto an external hardrive or usb of suitable size in order to put on new computer. The 'Thunderbird' folder contains everything.
When you have new computer: Install Thunderbird and run (same version as you are using on old computer), then do not create account, just exit Thunderbird. Access profile - in 'Roaming' folder - delete the default 'Thunderbird' folder and paste the copied 'Thunderbird' folder into the 'Roaming' folder.
Please note: I would advise that you create a backup prior to each time you update Thunderbird and also after updating assuming all is ok. This is because since version 68, there is a dedicated profile per installation. Ideally, you want the old computer to be running an up to date version of Thunderbird and then create a backup. On new computer install same version of Thunderbird, so when you copy over the 'Thunderbird' folder, that copied version was using the same version of Thunderbird. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/dedicated-profile-thunderbird-installation
Dear Toad-Hall
I am very sorry but all of this is far too complicated for me ! I had imagined that I knew a little bit about computers, but I just can't understand it all. I know you are trying to help. But I need a few simple steps just so that I can make a copy of all my E-mail contact details. ( i.e. the name of the contact, their E-mail address, and their contact telephone numbers.) I am not sure whether I made clear that I don't need to save copies of all the E-mails. Only the contact details. I am using Windows 10 and the E-mail account I have is a pop3 mail account.
Are you able to condense your instructions into just a few simple steps for me ? Perhaps I did not properly explain that all I need is to make a back-up copy of all my E-mail addresses and contact details. I'd like to import this information onto a new folder ( don't know if I should " import " into a new folder, or " export " into the new folder !! ) and that would simply give me a list of all the contacts. Then I would be able to " save " that information onto a USB stick or an external hard drive.
Will look forward to hearing from you again, when you have a moment.
Many thanks.
SG.
re: all I need is to make a back-up copy of all my E-mail addresses and contact details.
Click on 'Address Book' to open
- Select an address book, but not 'All address Books' as this is not a true address book
- 'Tools' > 'Export'
- Choose where to save
- Check the filename as you might want to change it if it is a default name like 'Personal Address Book'.
- Save as type: LDIF
- click on 'Save'
Repeat for each address book.
When importing:
- Click on 'Address Book' to open
- 'Tools' > 'Import'
- select 'Address Books'
- click on 'Next'
- Select 'Text File (LDIF, .tab,.csv, .txt)
- click on 'Next'
- Locate and select the LDIF file you exported and click on 'Open'
As you have a pop account making a full backup is much easier than you think. Making a backup of everything: In Thunderbird
- 'Help > 'Troubleshooting Information'
- Under 'Application Basics' about 8th in list is 'Profile Folder' - click on on 'Open Folder' - see image below as guide.
This opens a new window showing you the contents of your profile name folder.
- Exit Thunderbird now.
- Go up the directory three levels, so you are looking at the contents of the 'Roaming' folder - see image below as guide.
On a Windows OS this is where the profile is located:
- C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\profile name folder.
Get a copy of the 'Thunderbird' folder and paste it into an external harddrive so you can plug into new computer and copy folder across. It would be ok to store in a temp desktop folder called " Thunderbird Back-up ", but you would still need to put onto an external hardrive or usb of suitable size in order to put on new computer. The 'Thunderbird' folder contains everything.
See images below as guide.
Many thanks Toad-Hall. That was much clearer. All sorted now. I can sleep easy tonight ! SG.
Oh. Sorry T-H ! Just one more thing ! I tried to make a copy of the two images you sent me for future reference. Wanted to create a paper copy of each image, portrait size, about 11 x 8 inches ( A4 ) or thereabouts. Unfortunately, I can't seem to make a copy on my Canon printer because it simply reverts to a tiny size - probably the size of the original small icon - and I can't seem to increase the size to A4. Any ideas ? SG.
In Forum, click on image so it gets enlarged. Then use keyboard 'Prt Scr' key Open 'Paint' and use 'Ctrl+V' to paste into Paint. then save as jpeg or try File > Print or Open saved image and then try to Print.
Or as a shortcut, freeware "Personal Backup" by Dr J Rathlev has a separate Thunderbird module ( as well as a full back-up system that works really well). It'll backup your TB profile for you.
Oh. And if you install it on your future PC it can then import it in for you too.
There is also an addon which provides a whole range of exporting and importing including profiles, but the method I mentioned is fast and backs up the 'Thunderbird' folder which contains everything. https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools-ng/
Thanks for this. Much appreciated. I have now managed to create a back-up for all my Thunderbird contacts.
However, I now have a new problem when sending E-mails. It happens intermittently, but is very annoying and has been going on for the past couple of months. When I attempt to send an E-mail I occasionaly get an error message which says " Too many messages. Please check the E-mail address for the E-mail recipient and try again. Error message TT602." Well, I had assumed that an error message beginning with " TT " must mean that this was a Talk Talk problem. But apparently not. I have spent two or three hours discussing the matter with Talk Talk and we checked all my connections, server settings, etc. and they tell me the problem must lie with the application I am using. ( i.e. with Thunderbird ) Like I said, the error message only happens two or three times a week, but when it does, it is very annoying and means that my E-mails don't get sent.
What I have been doing up until now is to simply " save " the un-sent E-mail into my " Drafts " folder, and then attempt to re-send it after an hour or so. Then, it usually gets sent. But why am I getting this problem in the first place ? And why does it keep happening ? Talk Talk have confirmed that all is well at their end. So any help you can give me would be very much appreciated. Thanks and regards.
SG.
re : Too many messages. Please check the E-mail address for the E-mail recipient and try again. Error message TT602.
This is a message from the TalkTalk server. The error message indicates that a limit counter has been triggered. This is a temporary stop on sending so the short answer is that in 24 hours the limit counter will be fully reset. TalkTalk do have limits on the number of emails that can be sent in a given period. I think they may be: TalkTalk is normally 50 per hour and 500 per day and 10MB attached. The filters to prevent spamming limit the number of mails sent per hour and per 24 hours. Remember that it's the number of recipients so 1 mail sent to 50 on a mailing list would count 50 not 1.
So basically TalkTalk server is temporarilly blocking you.
Hello again Toad-Hall. Thanks for your prompt response. It sounds quite plausible except that I only send four or five E-mails per day and only to a single recipient each time, therefore this explanation cannot be right in my own case. Morover, I have spent about an hour on two telephone calls to Talk Talk Customer Service this morning, when they checked all my connections, etc. and told me the problem could only be with Thunderbird. My connections / settings etc. have been checked several times over the past couple of months as you might recall from our previous E-mail exchanges. ( you might recall that back in December or January this year I spent around fifty pounds getting a computer technician from my local computer shop to go through all my E-mail settings.) So how do you explain the reason when I don't send more than half-a-dozen E-mails per day, and sometimes not even that ? Seems to me that the problem MUST lie with Thunderbird. Do you have any other ideas ? Thanks again for your assistance and for your patience !! SG.
Could it be that you have a virus hijacking your PC to send spam? Is your AV software up to date? Have you tried running Malwarebytes to check for nasties?
Zaɓi Mafita
You have mentioned this problem before.
There are some nefarious people who do abuse other peoples email addresses sending out spam which unfortunately always looks like it is you who sent out the emails. If this is the case, then there is nothing you can do about it and the offending person usually gives up after a while if no one responds. But if people have reported your email address as sending spam then this may also have triggered that error message.
If they sent emails to addresses that are not vaild then the first you would notice is when you get mailor daemon emails saying emails could not be delivered when you know you did not send them. In these cases, it is usually not a virus, but wise to start computer in Safe Mode and then run scans just in case. When all is ok, I suggest you access webmail account and change your password, then update the password in Thunderbird.
It is impossible for Thunderbird to send that message. It was triggered by the server spam filter for the TalkTalk smtp server.
There are reports on TalkTalk support that it has been known to send that message if an authentication is wrong, but in that case you would never be able to send emails and all your settings were checked, so is unlikely. But changing your password as previously advised would be advisable, just in case TalkTalk has other triggers on it's system needing an authentication update. It would not surprise me if after a period of time talkTalk server gets triggered to force you to logon to webmail and update a password. Note: Gmail does this to pop accounts by deliberately blocking them with some unhelpful nonsense that basically means gmail want to check that you really are you because you are not using either OAuth authentication nor sending via their webmail account. They make life annoying. So I'm wondering if something just as crazy is going on with you and all they want is you to update the password via webmail account.
You are not alone in reporting this issue with TalkTalk smtp error message. TalkTalk has plenty of people who have experienced the same thing as you can see on their support forum, so this is not new to TalkTalk and it usually involves tiscali. It has been reported by people using various email clients. Sometimes the user is just sending too many emails within the time frame, but most are people like you.
If you are using a VPN when sending then you will run into problems. If you are using a phone with a mail app then something might have been triggered.
TalkTalk also say : The error message is also indicative of email being rate limited possibly due to multiple concurrent sign ins from different locations.
TalkTalk say: limits can get applied:
- When the email account has been compromised and is used to send emails
- When the sending location is not from the TalkTalk network and a lower limit has been applied as a spam protection measure.
I would have thought that raising a fault ticket with TalkTalk would mean they could check to see the number of emails that were sent and this would identify whether someone was abusing your email address.
Just checking you still are using the following settings for the tiscali email address mail account.
- Outgoing server name: smtp.tiscali.co.uk
- Outgoing Port: 587
- Connection Security: STARTTLS
- Authentication Method: Normal Password
- Username : full email address
Hello again Toad-Hall !
Many thanks for your very detailed explanation. You are correct in that I have mentioned this problem before. You suggest that if a certain E-mail " limit " has been triggered then I might need to log-on to Talk Talk Webmail and change my Password. But I don't think I want to change my Password and I certainly can't have my Computer telling me what to do !! We are living in an Orwellian World and how much I would love to go back to using the quill pen ! Or even the fountain pen !! Life was so much simpler in those days !! I can't believe that I am having to spend so much time on this problem when it actually has nothing to do with me at all. I'd like to get rid of my PC altogether.
Anyway, this problem only happens occasionally and so I intend to just ignore it. It is not worth the effort. Incidentally, I did re-check all the settings as per your latest E-mail and they are all correct. I might try to log this as a fault ticket with Talk Talk. But can you explain in simple terms how to go about that ? Presumably this would involve telephoning Talk Talk Customer Service ( yet ) again, going through at least THREE password security checks to " verify my identity " ( !! ) and then discussing with a " voice " in Bombay which does not speak very good English !! All this does is waste a lot of my time, and put my blood pressure up !! Anyway, Toad-Hall, will await your further advices in due course. Many thanks.
SG.
Hello again ! Today I am suddenly getting an error message when I attempt to send an E-mail or even to view my in-box messages. It says " you are about to override how Thunderbird identifies this site." After that, I only have two options - either to " confirm security exception " ( whatever that means ! ) or to cancel. I have tried using both options but it does no good. The message just keeps coming back. I have also tried to send a couple of E-mails from one of my E-mail addresses to another E-mail address, but although it says the messages have been sent and they are listed in my " sent " box, they have not appeared in my in-box. So clearly they are not getting through. I have also found over the past few days that when using a secure VPN ( via AVG ) many of my E-mails don't actually get sent ( although a few of them have gone through OK ) so I have now disabled the VPN. Can you help, please ? SG.
That message " you are about to override how Thunderbird identifies this site." is your Anti-Virus interupting the connection. So recheck the certificate is up to date: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1315503
Regarding the vpn: https://support.avg.com/answers?id=9060N0000005QnRQAU
However, more specifically TalkTalk, their forums are a good place to discuss VPN issue connecting to their server. https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Broadband/Access-to-VPN-Blocked/td-p/2452484 https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Broadband/VPN-ISSUE/td-p/2694088
So make sure your router is using up to date firmware. Try a reset to factory settings. You also need to make sure you can use dynamic IP addresses and not static. In some cases it seems TalkTalk are sending out replacment routers.