Popstate.dat keeps disappearing on Windows 10
I understand the purpose and construction of popstate.dat Recently my pop account downloaded everything from the mail server and continued to do so on each request. Popstate.dat was not present. I emptied the mail server and downloaded all emails also compacting the mail boxes including delete/trash. When Tunderbird was opened and a get mail request sent the file popstate.dat was created. It almost immediately disappeared. I copied a file from another account and edited it. It would not save in the directory even when Thuderbird was closed. I edited in another directory and copied it into the folder. It immediately dissapeared. I created a new download folder and copied the files accross. I put popstate.dat into the directory for mail downloads and directed Thunderbird to it. All worked well for 2 days and now the same is happening. I have run both Malware and AV but nothing is noted as wrong. Am using V60 32bit Thunderbird. Anybody with a similar experience or suggestions?
Modified by Wayne Mery
All Replies (7)
Something running in Windows is causing your problem. Start Windows in safe mode - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode
Did problem go away?
Please post your results here.
The same error was over several machines and I suspect there may be an issue which was attributable to updates both windows and T'bird. Windows had also applied security settings to popstate.dat that prevented it being edited in the folder even when T'bird was shut down. Issue has not recurred since the following was done; Download of emails was stopped after download of all new emails from mail server. Local Download folder was emptied completely 'inbox', 'deleted' etc. into 'Local Folders' Download folders were each repaired and compacted. Email server 'inbox' was deleted. External server inbox compacted Thunderbird restarted and the new popstate.dat opened with notepad to check it was empty of download files ID's Download manually was then checked and a test email sent and downloaded. Popstate.dat was opened and a single ID was present. Since then all seems to be OK after a week.
DuncanJMcDonald said
Windows had also applied security settings to popstate.dat that prevented it being edited in the folder even when T'bird was shut down.
I think this is the cause and the solution here. If you ever work out what caused the change to the security flags please post back.
I have also had a problem of 'download dairrhoea' which apparently is related to the popstate.dat file. This started several months ago, and I then switched to Windows Live Mail, to avoid the problem. That was fine until a few days ago, when WLM developed a problem sending emails with attachments.
So I tried switching back to TB. However, the old problem was still there. I followed advice from another thread here, and removed the popstate file. After starting TB again, sure enough, the popstate file was re-created, with a size of 1kb, and contained only 2 lines: "system file - do not edit" or words to that effect. On clicking "READ MESSAGES", all the available emails were downloaded, several duplicates of previous ones included (as expected). The popstate file then grew to 3kb, and contained the original lines and a coded list of the downloads. After sending a few test emails the the address, I repeated READ MESSAGES and only the new messages were downloaded. All good.
But then, after closing TB and restarting it, the same thing happened, and I noticed that as soon as the READ button is clicked, the popstate.dat file reduces in size from 3kb back to 1kb, and on inspection is empty again (barring the 2 warning lines)
Is this what is supposed to happen? If so, where does TB keep a more permanent record of which files have been downloaded? Or does it mean that downloaded messages MUST be deleted from the server immediately? (WLM does not seem to have that problem)
If the popstate.dat file is supposed to retain the message codes and add to them each time, presumably it would grow very large after a while.
I'd be very grateful if anyone can throw some light on this. So far, so good. The problem may have been solved, but I can't be sure while my inbox is quiet. At present, I have TB set to delete from server after 1 day, and WLM set to delete after 3 days. They can fight it out beween themselves ;-)
On the machines that were suffering I stoped automatic message downloads deleted popstate.dat and downloaded every message from the remote server. Deleted every message on the remote server then shutdown T/b. When restarted the popstate.dat was created with a couple of lines. The inbox was repaired and all duplicate messages removed. After some messages were received into the remote server they were downloaded manually and popstate recorded their ID OK. After a few days with manual downloads T/b worked OK. The time setting for downloads was increased. There is an issue that may have been in the background in that we use file sharing over two servers. This was also switched off. I believe it possible that due to a timing issue 2 versions of popstate.dat were being created and that was the real route of the cause. Those more expert in file sharing may be better able to shed light on this theory.
My apologies for not posting the outcome more promptly
I was hoping to be able to report progress here, but sadly, not. For some reason, when TB is resarted, it clears the popstate.dat file, and proceeds to download everything available on the server (AGAIN).
What causes that? And what to do about it?