Thunderbird Issue??

Not sure where to put this problem since there is no E-mail folder, so mods feel free to move it wherever you believe it most appropriate.

Here is my issue.

I use T-bird as my POP e-mail client. About six months ago issues began arising. I cannot forward a message nor can I receive a forwarded message. Both appear as blanks. Those I receive are blank other than containing all the addresses to whom the person forwarded the message AND those I forward are reported back to me as my having sent them a blank e-mail. IF I use another e-mail client (i.e. Windows Live Mail) the exact same problem occurs.

Now... if I receive a forwarded message that appears blank and then forward it to my Yahoo account... low and behold, I can READ the bloody thing. Go figure. What the heck it going on?

I tried to get help from my ISP but tech support there told me that it is not their problem but mine... that I should simply stop using Thunderbird and just log onto their web server and read my mail that way.

So... where does the problem lie?

Oh... and using Thunderbird (or Eudora) as a newsreader is pretty much useless since all responses other than the very latest to any news message is blank. I've reported this before. I can even use Free Agent but still have the same issue.

Comments welcomed and no... I have no other cable option in my area. Charter has a monopoly here so I'm forced to deal with this ISP, like it or not.

 

This is very perplexing since, if I understand correctly, the problem is common to TB and Windows Live Mail, but not to Yahoo (an account set up in Mail, or at the Website?). I will defer to Ramona, who has a charter.net account.

 

James,

In Tools | Options | Composition - have you selected Forward messages Inline, or Forward messages as attachments?

I'm not at all certain that this is a Charter issue, as I've never had the problem you describe.

When you click on View | Message Source - are you able to read/see the forwarded message?

 

Okay... we're finally getting somewhere with this. I was going to say that Opera e-mail works perfectly (and it does but I hate it) but now...

I have it set up as forwarded messages being Inline rather than attachments. And YES, when I go to View and Message Source I can finally... finally see the forwarded message. Now... that does not help my newsreader (remember, Opera's newsreader is displaying all the responses in a single thread whereas T-bird's only shows the most recent). But we're getting closer.

So, what now?

 

Have you tried starting TB in Safe Mode to ensure it isn't a Theme or addon that is creating your problem? If not, then give it a whirl.

I found a KB Article which addresses this issue, which you might want to read:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Forwarded_messages_not_readable

Skip down to Workarounds, and see if the "Reply" workaround works for you.

 

One other suggestion:

Close TB
Rename your Inbox to OLDInbox
Delete the Inbox.msf file
Start TB

Now try forwarding a message.

If still no joy, then I think a new Profile is in order.

 

Is mailbox10b5ef27.msf my Inbox that you want me to rename?

 

is not a standard file. However, you could have a mailbox10b5ef27 file to accompany it. Your standard files are of the type: Inbox, with its accompanying Inbox.msf.
Now, I may have lost you, but, there is a choice in Tools|Options|Composition |General|Forwarding to send Inline or as an attachment. The first setting, which I use all the time will also place an attachment, provided that the message is in HTML format. The second settings will send only as an attachment (plain text or HTML). I, personally, detest forwarding, because of all the junk that it places, like all the addresses to which the e-mail was sent to.
I use forwarding, and, it works fine, only if I get a spam message, and I forward it to the spamreport address.
Anyway, what I am saying has been covered by Ramona, however, I don't see why renaming would help, but, if done it should be done to the Inbox file (after doing this all old messages would be in the "oldinbox" file, while a new Inbox file would be created, for new messages. The Inbox.msf should be deleted, before opening TB.
By the way, I installed Windows Live Mail, and it is an, almost, unmitigated disaster.

 

James,

As indicated by Westside, rename the file named Inbox, which is located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.profilename\Mail\pop.charter.net

Delete the Inbox.msf file in the same location.

 

I did everything you said and here are the results. After sending a message to my wife and asking her to forward it back to me, I received it and could read it. Good. Then I asked her to send our priest's forwarded message to me (which we both received two days ago ... she could read and I could not). Well... when I received it I could NOT read it. It was blank. Oh...and the newsreader is still entirely useless.

So... here's my thought:

- how do I save my address book and my stored e-mail?
- how do I completely wipe T-bird from my system with the exception of the stored items above?
- after downloading a new copy of T-bird, how do I import that which is stored above?

And finally, do you think that this will solve the issue?

If not... I'm going to dump T-bird once and for all and just go with Opera since it appears to work perfectly. Granted, I don't like how it works, but at least it works.

Thanks for your help.

 

A new Profile should correct just about any problem.

Create a C:\TB Backup folder

Open Thunderbird
Empty Trash
Compact folders
Export the Address Book as an LDIF file
Copy it to the C:\TB Backup folder
Close Thunderbird

Next:
Remove the Profiles folder from this location:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles
Paste it into the: C:\TB Backup folder

You can copy the Mail files from the TB Backup folder to the new Profile.

Uninstall TB using Add/Remove
Use CCleaner to clean up all instances of Thunderbird in the Registry
Or
Use Regedit:

Start | Run
Type: Regedit in the blank field
Click: Edit | Find
Type: Thunderbird in the blank field
Place ticks beside:
- Keys
- Values
- Data

Press F3 to find the next instance of Thunderbird

 

Success

Thanks for all your help, Ramona. I also mentioned my "issue" on the "other" forum and Paul and Fulvio actually set me on the right path. But still the answer eluded me.

Now... my wife's son is a distinguished engineer with MS (very few of these and my wife likes to think that the genetic pool had a great deal to do with it! LOL). Anyway, she had me open my Tools/Options/Display/Plain Text Messages and take a look at the part that says: When displaying quoted plain text messages and to check my color choice. Low and behold... it was white. She had me change it to blue and BINGO. My forwarded messages all work... my newsgroup threads are all visible... it is all back to where it was six months ago. I'm now a happy camper once again. Thanks for everything.

 

TOO bad that I did not understand, fully, the issue. I, hardly ever, get plain text mail, and, almost never forward. Indeed the "color" for plain text is a sort of dirty white, which is readable, but not so well. I will go and change it to something really garish.
Just to be thorough, I checked the same settings in my various Thunderbirds, and relatives, as well as Seamonkeys.
All the colors were different: blue for Eudora8.0beta3, green for TB3.0a1pre, yellow (not so godd on white) for Seamonkey1.1.9, and black for Seamonkey2.0a1pre. How about that?

 

It's been quite a learning session for me, Westside.

 

I appreciate your perseverance. Whatever we saw, and I have been seeing seems to have been rather random. It may have been caused by a Theme (which I have in my TB, and, in none of the other programs). In fact, do you have a non-standard Theme, which your wife does not have? But, on the other hand you had the same problem in Windows Live Mail. I will have to check it, although I have little interest in using it.