Thunderbird is already running?

[pgc]

Thanks. I followed your procedure but at the end I realized I've probably not been very clear.
I was using thunderbird already. So, there are no mbox files to be imported. I need to read my old Profiles\xxxxxxx.default files.
pgc

[pgc]

Thanks. but I think this answer does not solve my problem.
I created a new profile and set it correctly (now, at least, I can read my new e-mail!). However, I have to read an old (and large) TB profile (an xxxxxx.default folder), not an mbox file. I tried to edit again the profiles.ini file, putting back the old profile. Now, thunderbird doesn't start anymore: "Thunderbird is already running, but is not responding. To open [etc.]". I couldn't find, again, any profile.lock file, or any instance of TB running in the task manager.
regards,
pgc

[Daifne]

The mbox files are you mail files. Thunderbird stores messages in the mbox format and stores them in your profile folder. The instructions are correct. They are to create a new profile and bring all your data in to it.

[pgc]

Hi again,

you were right. Unfortunately this is taking ages to be done as this was a very large mailbox.. Moreover some new unknown subfolders have been created, I lost all my filters and setup, and I have to repeat the procedure for each folder of my multiple accounts (about 1.5 GB).

Could you please let me understand, if you know that, why the procedure of restoring the folder doesn't work in this case.

Thanks again

[Daifne]

Something is messed up in your profile which is why you need a new one.

I gave you the instructions to also bring in your filters. The account settings you have to enter manually.

[pgc]

BTW, I also lost several extensions. May this help to trace this back?
cheeres,
pgc

[Daifne]

You will also have to replace the extensions manually. Extensions can cause problems though. I'm not saying don't use them, I use over 30, but they are not a part of the base program and are written by people other than the programmers.

[pgc]

thanks for all the invaluable support and suggestions again, Daifne.

However, after several attempts I preferred to restore a quite old backup that I had of my profile. In this way I recovered all the setup, filters, extensions, address book passwords and structure. After doing that, I followed your procedure to import some important mbox's and the recent address and filter in a temporary folder. After some time spent in moving those e-mail to the right folder, I found myself with barely everything I need in good shape, ready for my work. I am now making a new backup of my profile and be ready to restart work.

The most important problem with your procedure is that while starting from scratch I lost some password to access some accounts. Passwords that were impossible for me to recover, but you didn't know I had a backup of my profile, whatever old.

I wrote this note just in case someone else should experience the same problems in the future.

Regards and have a good year.
pgc

[jCounsel]

So, I had to do a little bit of everything that has been suggested:

1. Edit pref.js;
2. Edit the profiles.ini;
3. Use the extension...

Still not sure if I am getting everything, and I did not get all of my subfolders, etc. back (but that likely may be due to my error).

I noticed the original post was March 2006 and that most of the suggestions were for Thunderbird versions below 2.0 (menus have changed). Is there someone looking into the root cause of this 'issue' so that 'we' can fix it so that it does not occur?

Just a bit of frustration coming out from a long-time user...

Thanks for all of the suggestions...

[phoenixwriters.co.uk]

I have also had the problem below (windows xp) which I wasnt able to get past.

"Thunderbird is already running, but not responding. To open a new window you must close the existing thunderbird process, or restart your system"

The profile path in profiles.ini for some reason had got messed up. It was stating

Path=../../../paulh/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/95o4k73k.default

Having deleted all the bumph to show Profiles/95o4k73k.default I was able to load Thunderbird without problems with all the settings etc intact.

Hope this helps some folks

[Daifne]

phoenixwriters.co.uk,
please start a new topic. These issues can get quite involved and helping more than one person in a topic just confuses everyone. Thanks.

[chrishowell]

Hi phoenixwriter... I am having the same problem that you were with the TB "running but not responding" message. Can you tell me exactly what you did to get it to work again? Where did you find the profile path that was messed up, and how did you edit it?

Thanks.

[guest19740000]

None of the above solutions worked for me. I found the problem though. The profiles.ini was messed up.
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Thunderbird\profiles.ini

It should look something like this:

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/fg0tsarm.default
Default=1

Backup your profiles.ini, copy and paste the above code into the new profiles.ini, change the Path to your profile.. and badda bing... you're in business.
Worked for me anyways....

Cheers!

Well. Thanks for reminding. My story is different, I rename the volume name from E: to P: by using WINXP's Disk Management then thunderbird doesn't work.
I changed the Path in profiles.ini then thunderbird works fine!

[markmcjr]

I had the same issue. I moved my thunderbird folder to my server, I discovered that I got the "Thunderbird is already running" error when the network drive was not mapped.

This is a misleading message, maybe something for the Thunderbird developers to correct. "Profile not found" would be a more accurate message.


Mark
www.mytruetech.com

[tinkerkid]

This is often caused when you have changed the folder name of the folder holding your Thunderbird email. Follow others' instructions on finding and editing your profiles.ini file so that the path accurately reflects the folder name and location. Cheers