Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

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cedangeles
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Joined: January 9th, 2018, 11:18 am

Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

I used Firefox and Thunderbird for years but uninstalled both recently because Thunderbird stopped receiving and sending emails last month. I've tried re-installing both but still could not get or send email. I may have messed up my Firefox profile in the process. My Thunderbird profile is still there.
I now use Google Chrome. I still get my emails (both pop and gmail) through the web but it would simplify my life to have an email client like Thunderbird. Help, please?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

What changed between the time Thunderbird was receiving and sending messages and the time it stopped?
Did Thunderbird update?
What security software are you running on that system?

You mention getting "bothPOP and gmail" messages through the web but POP refers to an email protocol that involves an email client like Thunderbird. Who is the other ("POP") email provider.
cedangeles
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Joined: January 9th, 2018, 11:18 am

Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

DanRaisch wrote:What changed between the time Thunderbird was receiving and sending messages and the time it stopped?
Did Thunderbird update?
What security software are you running on that system?

You mention getting "bothPOP and gmail" messages through the web but POP refers to an email protocol that involves an email client like Thunderbird. Who is the other ("POP") email provider.
After Thunderbird updates and Windows 10 updates i started getting the message and couldn’t receive or send email. I am using Malware Bytes and Windows Defender. My POP provider is Verizon. If I download Thunderbird again, should I delete my old profile? And is it necessary to also download Firefox?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

No, you don't have to have Firefox installed to run Thunderbird.

Clear the browser cache and the Windows Temp directory.
Shutdown any anti-virus software you are running.
Download a new copy of the full installer from http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/all
Delete the directory C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird
Run the installer.
Restart the anti-virus program.

Note that your saved messages, address books, settings, passwords, etc (if any) are stored in a different directory from the program files and will not be removed by deleting the directory identified above.

This thread http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 5#p5239885 has a more detailed version of the above instructions if needed.
cedangeles
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Joined: January 9th, 2018, 11:18 am

Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

DanRaisch wrote:No, you don't have to have Firefox installed to run Thunderbird.

Clear the browser cache and the Windows Temp directory.
Shutdown any anti-virus software you are running.
Download a new copy of the full installer from <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/t ... ird/all</a><!-- m -->
Delete the directory C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird
Run the installer.
Restart the anti-virus program.

Note that your saved messages, address books, settings, passwords, etc (if any) are stored in a different directory from the program files and will not be removed by deleting the directory identified above.

This thread <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 5239885</a><!-- l --> has a more detailed version of the above instructions if needed.
Many thanks! I will give it a try and let you know if it works.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

Good luck
cedangeles
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Joined: January 9th, 2018, 11:18 am

Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

cedangeles wrote:
DanRaisch wrote:No, you don't have to have Firefox installed to run Thunderbird.

Clear the browser cache and the Windows Temp directory.
Shutdown any anti-virus software you are running.
Download a new copy of the full installer from <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/t ... ird/all</a><!-- m -->
Delete the directory C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird
Run the installer.
Restart the anti-virus program.

Note that your saved messages, address books, settings, passwords, etc (if any) are stored in a different directory from the program files and will not be removed by deleting the directory identified above.

This thread <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 5239885</a><!-- l --> has a more detailed version of the above instructions if needed.
Many thanks! I will give it a try and let you know if it works.
I followed the whole process twice for good measure, but got the same error message. All messages on my Verizon account disappeared; all messages up to December 26 on my gmail accounts were shown, but nothing afterwards.

There is a folder "Mozilla" with Firefox profiles which I haven't touched. In the server settings for each account in Thunderbird, there is a box for local directory. Should the directory be from appdata/roaming or appdata/local?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

It should be C:\Users\WINUSERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird where WINUSERID is your own Windows login ID.
How are those accounts set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? Find out using menu path Tools->Account Settings->click on the Account in the left pane->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
cedangeles
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

DanRaisch wrote:It should be C:\Users\WINUSERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird where WINUSERID is your own Windows login ID.
How are those accounts set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? Find out using menu path Tools->Account Settings->click on the Account in the left pane->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
The Verizon account is POP Mail Server; the gmail accounts are both IMAP Mail Servers.

When I changed the local directory path to C:\Users\WINUSERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird, it gave me the following error message:

The Local Directory path "C:\Users\Cynthia's desktop\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird" is not suitable for message storage. Please choose another directory.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

A) No offense, but just to be certain: When you refer to changing "the local directory path to C:\Users\WINUSERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird", you mean that you substituted your own Windows user ID for the "WINUSERID" portion of that text, correct?

B) See if tanstaafl's reply in this thread is helpful -- http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... #p14527031
cedangeles
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

DanRaisch wrote:A) No offense, but just to be certain: When you refer to changing "the local directory path to C:\Users\WINUSERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird", you mean that you substituted your own Windows user ID for the "WINUSERID" portion of that text, correct?

B) See if tanstaafl's reply in this thread is helpful -- <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 4527031</a><!-- l -->
Yes, I substituted my own Windows user ID for "WINUSERID" in the path. I will check out tanstaafl's reply. Thanks.
cedangeles
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Joined: January 9th, 2018, 11:18 am

Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

cedangeles wrote:
DanRaisch wrote:A) No offense, but just to be certain: When you refer to changing "the local directory path to C:\Users\WINUSERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird", you mean that you substituted your own Windows user ID for the "WINUSERID" portion of that text, correct?

B) See if tanstaafl's reply in this thread is helpful -- <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 4527031</a><!-- l -->
Yes, I substituted my own Windows user ID for "WINUSERID" in the path. I will check out tanstaafl's reply. Thanks.
I've cracked part of the problem, thanks to you and to tanstaafl. In the local directory path, I entered the correct directories for my verizon account and two gmail accounts. After entering my passwords, it worked for my verizon and one gmail account. For the second gmail account, I kept getting error messages that login to server imap.googlemail.com failed. Checking on my mail through my web browser is fine. Are the server settings for two separate gmail accounts different? There is a file in the imapmail subdirectory called imap.googlemail-1.com. Should I use that instead for the second gmail account?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

That's not a file but a directory name. Double click on that entry in the file manager and you should see a list of files including Inbox.msf and others. There might also be a files (such as Inbox) with no file name extension.

Use menu path Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings, click on the name of the working Gmail account in the left pane and see what the settings are (right hand pane.) The settings in the non-working Gmail account should be matched (if not already) so they are the same as those in the working account.
cedangeles
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Joined: January 9th, 2018, 11:18 am

Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by cedangeles »

DanRaisch wrote:That's not a file but a directory name. Double click on that entry in the file manager and you should see a list of files including Inbox.msf and others. There might also be a files (such as Inbox) with no file name extension.

Use menu path Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings, click on the name of the working Gmail account in the left pane and see what the settings are (right hand pane.) The settings in the non-working Gmail account should be matched (if not already) so they are the same as those in the working account.
Because it kept rejecting my password, I decided to remove the non-working gmail account from Thunderbird and re-added it. It created its own imap settings.
Now, all is well. Many thanks again; I learned a lot in the process.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird msg "connection to server ... timed out"

Post by DanRaisch »

You're welcome. Glad to hear things are up and running for you.
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