TB 3 Beta 4 Sloooowww...

[sirbanks]

I've been using TB3 beta's previously and was very pleased, but Beta 4 is running extremely slow. It takes 5-7 seconds for a message to show selected once clicked, then another 5 seconds for it to open (this also applies to deleting or moving the message). I have searched this topic but found no real answers for my situation. It is a clean install, running Lightning nightly builds (was slow before adding Lightning). I have disabled the 'spell check as you type' option, disabled indexing, disabled HTML composition, deleted all .msf files and compacted several times to no effect. Any other recommendations? I should note that I am running the portable build, but have been since version 2. My USB is a 20MB/sec transfer and has worked great previously. There is no doubt that it is beta 4 release where something changed. Any help is appreciated!

[smsmith]

Are you running any extensions or something other than the default theme?

[sirbanks]

I am running the default theme. The only extnesions I am running are Lightning 1.0pre, Provider for Google Calendar 0.6pre and Lightning Nightly Updater. On my previous installation I was running many more extensions with no ill effects, but it was an upgraded Beta 4. This is a clean install and it is slow.

[Demandred]

I am running the default theme. The only extnesions I am running are Lightning 1.0pre, Provider for Google Calendar 0.6pre and Lightning Nightly Updater. On my previous installation I was running many more extensions with no ill effects, but it was an upgraded Beta 4. This is a clean install and it is slow.

whats your Hardware specs?

[smsmith]

As you are running the portable version, I recommend you ask over at the portable apps forums as well. Some of the subtle differences to the portable version are more known to the folks there.

Have you tried safe mode to see if the behavior improves?
Safe Mode
Standard Diagnostic

You said you did a "clean install". Does that mean you created a new profile to use with beta 4?

Is it a general overall slowness or more so when you do certain tasks over others? I've noticed that when I am viewing my calendar it is much more sluggish than when viewing mail.

Might also try switching USB ports to see if maybe the one you've been using isn't going bad. Have you tried a large file transfer to see if the speed is still there? Your memory stick might be slowing down, too. Might try backing everything up off the stick and then formatting it.

[sirbanks]

As for the hardware spec's, the performance is the same on any of my 7 machines, all dual-core Intel or AMD 64's. I am running the Windows version and I see no difference between WinXP, Vista or Win7 operating systems. I have not tried safe mode, but will shortly. Yes, with the 'clean install' I created a new profile. I noticed it seemed sluggish when I was setting up my accounts, and I did eventually copy over my individual email accounts from the old profile, but it was performing poorly even before that. I see the sluggishness overall when dealing with emails. Slow to acknowledge when an email is clicked, and it can take up to 15 seconds to display the email in the preview window: typically this is 5-7 seconds, however. Deleting emails takes 10-15 seconds, just timed it. I will check with portable apps, it is just strange that B4 was running great on my upgraded version and that I only experienced this sluggishness with the clean install. The USB appears fine: I have not formally clocked it, but file transfers appear no different than before. Thanks for the feedback, guys. I will update after trying safe mode.

[sirbanks]

OK, just tried safe mode and there is no difference in performance.

[Zmark]

Try unticking the "Enable Global Search and Indexer" in Tools-Options-Advanced. See if that makes a difference.

[sirbanks]

I did. It did not affect anything. But that is exactly how TB is acting: like there is something going on in the background that is taking up the processing time.

[Jim too]

If you see this with a clean install and new profile that rules out lightning (it isn't installed) and thus any interaction with gmail calendars. Do you have anti-virus software running? If something in one of the mail store files is causing the anti-virus scanner to take longer to run when Thunderbird opens/closes the file that could explain slowdowns. A change in the virus signature files could cause a change in behavior with no change in Thunderbird code or mail store file content. Turning off real-time scanning for a test might be informative.

[sirbanks]

OK, this appears to be SOLVED. I did everything recommended above, but stopped short of a new installation (I'm a bit of a 'got to know why' personality), but the problem with the sluggishness remained. In my case, I defragmented the USB drive (64GB Luxio), which took 14 hours, but that seems to have resolved it. So the problem appears to be on my end and not Thunderbird 3. Just wanted to let everyone know. Thanks again for all the help and recommendations. As usual, I learned a bit more about Thunderbird from this thread than I knew before!

[Zmark]

Thanks for that information, sirbanks. Good to hear you found the problem.