very slow

[sinclair2]

I've been using Thunderbird (TB) for many years. I recently attempted to install Win 10 (currently use Win 7). However, after it installed once, it uninstalled and will not install again. One consequence has been that TB now works very slowly (about 1/20th normal speed). I've tried:

1. Using TB in safe mode.
2. Using TB without Norton turned on.
3. Reinstalling TB.
4. Cleaning registry.
5. Cleaning disk.
6. Defragmenting disk.

Nothing changes the fact that TB now works too slow to use.

What do I need to do to get it working again?

[DanRaisch]

"Turning off" Norton may have only disabled the user interface. You may want to try uninstalling Norton using the utility available on their web site for the purpose and then reinstalling it after rebooting the computer.

Also, what specific version of Thunderbird do you have installed and what specific elements of Thunderbird are slow?

[sinclair2]

Everything is painfully slow on Thunderbird, and TB also acts erratically. I have the latest version installed 38.2.0 and reinstalled.

I did uninstall Norton, and that didn't make any difference; so I reinstalled it.

[DanRaisch]

The next step might be to create a new profile and install one account in that to see if the problem persists in that new environment.

[sinclair2]

Doesn't work.

The program seems to grind away with the HD for every little bit of data. It's literally running at 1/20th speed and hanging up a lot.

[DanRaisch]

How is that mail account set up, as POP or IMAP?
Is Thunderbird set to provide Global Search and Indexing? Check under menu path Tools->Options->Advanced->General.
Is the Thunderbird profile installed on the C: or another location?

[sinclair2]

Global Search and Indexter is enabled.
Profile is on C:

[sinclair2]

Set up for POP.

[sinclair2]

I tried to upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10 unsuccessfully, and that seems to have slowed down Thunderbird. However, a two days ago I was successful in upograding to Win 10. So I am now running Win 10 well. But Thunderbird continues to be slow.

[DanRaisch]

Turn off Global Indexing and see if that makes any difference..

[sinclair2]

Makes no difference.

[mgagnonlv]

Two labour-intensive activities: global search and indexing, and on-the-fly compaction. I find that the latter is not a problem when I use TB Portable on my desktop computers (i7, 8-core...), but that it slows everything to a crawl on my portable (older 2-core system). So I don't know what computer you have, but you might want to de-activate background compaction.

To disable compaction:
– Click on ALT to show menus.
– Select Tools –> Options –> Advanced –> Network and Disk Space.
– Uncheck the last item: "Compact folders when it saves.... xxx MB

Warning:
If you don't want any problem like data corruption, do manual compaction once per week. To do so:
– Click on the account name (left panel, at the top where you see me@domain.com)
– Click on ALT, then select File –> Compact folders.


Finally, another trick that may improve slightly the speed, especially if you use IMAP over a slow connection: make your active folders as small as possible. Why? Because these folders are accessed and synchronized each time you receive a message (even junk) or send one. If they are smaller, there will be less work in the background.
– Create a new folder, called "Inbox Archive", either within your account (so it will be saved on your ISP and will be visible via webmail), or within "Local folders" (quicker, but you will only see it locally via TB).
– In your "Inbox", select older mail (say more than 1 year old) and move it to the Inbox Archive folder (right-click on all selected messages and choose Move To –> me@domain.com –> Inbox Archive).
– Do the same for your "Sent Items" folder.

[sinclair2]

Thanks for the input.

I tried the first idea about compaction, and it didn't make any difference.

Otherwise, I save all my email to another folder quarterly so my in and out boxes don't get too big.

I've used Thunderbird for 10 years and never had any problems until I switched to Win 10.

[tanstaafl]

See if any of the suggestions in http://kb.mozillazine.org/Performance_-_Thunderbird help. I'd focus on disabling hardware graphics acceleration and seeing if somehow you got a places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal directory (NOT file, that's okay) in the profile since you said even the user interface is slow. It wouldn't hurt to try running Thunderbird in safe mode (help -> restart with add-ons disabled) to see if an add-on is the culprit, though that seems a long shot.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by TB acts erratically? Are we talking about any activity that relies upon network activity isn't as consistent/reliable as it should be or ....?

[wsmwk]

sinclair2,

Is your Thunderbird profile in the default location? Also, one thing mentioned at http://kb.mozillazine.org/Performance_-_Thunderbird is Windows Search - this can really put your performance in the crapper.