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Thunderbird is slow, neurotic, unresponsive on start up

  • 3 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by christ1

anthonyduo
anthonyduo
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I now have to wait 10-20 minutes for the Thunderbird email program to fully function. If I am in a hurry to see an important email, download attachments, otherwise the screen will go hazy, error message "Thunderbird not responding" appears, and the screen freezes up. Clicking on a message before this "warm up" period is over often means the message will spontaneously disappear, later to found in junk or trash. Trying to delete the overwhelming amount of junk messages is also very tedious during this period: the program will freeze on the highlighted message and depending on how many times the delete button was clicked, may or may not delete along with multiple messages below it. Clicking on attachments or hyperlinks again will yield the "not responding" error message. Meanwhile the program is constantly and spontaneously re-configuring the order of the emails listed.

Is re-installing the program an option? And would that mean losing the file organization I currently have, mailing lists etc.?

--- Eric

I now have to wait 10-20 minutes for the Thunderbird email program to fully function. If I am in a hurry to see an important email, download attachments, otherwise the screen will go hazy, error message "Thunderbird not responding" appears, and the screen freezes up. Clicking on a message before this "warm up" period is over often means the message will spontaneously disappear, later to found in junk or trash. Trying to delete the overwhelming amount of junk messages is also very tedious during this period: the program will freeze on the highlighted message and depending on how many times the delete button was clicked, may or may not delete along with multiple messages below it. Clicking on attachments or hyperlinks again will yield the "not responding" error message. Meanwhile the program is constantly and spontaneously re-configuring the order of the emails listed. Is re-installing the program an option? And would that mean losing the file organization I currently have, mailing lists etc.? --- Eric

All Replies (3)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Is re-installing the program an option?

You'd be wasting your time. Profile files are stored separately from the Thunderbird program files. The program files are static and do not change (except when you upgrade the Thunderbird application version). Because we store profile and program files separately, you can uninstall Thunderbird without losing your messages and settings, and if something goes wrong with a Thunderbird update your information will still be available. It also means that you don't have to reinstall Thunderbird in order to delete your information or troubleshoot a problem.

What is your anti-virus software?

anthonyduo
anthonyduo Question owner
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Thanks for your response. Webroot is the anti-virus. Is there a troubleshooting process within Thunderbird or is it just the generic Microsoft troubleshooting one (pretty useless)? What do you think might be causing these malfunctions, and what do you suggest doing to fix them?

christ1
christ1
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Anti-virus software can block or even corrupt Thunderbird mail files.

As a troubleshooting step you can try to start Windows 10 in safe mode with networking enabled.

Windows safe mode disables anti-virus software. Does the problem go away?

These are some generic suggestions to avoid problems 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. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_how-to-find-your-profile

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