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unable to send any attachments through thunderbird

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by christ1

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Im using Thunderbird 45.1.1 on a Windoze 8.1 platform - Since last Sunday my partner and I have been unable to send ANY attachments though thunderbird - these attachments can be small < 100kb to 2 mb - when sending email with attachment it will sit at sending email at 60-99% for a long time before coming up with "sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to the outgoing server (SMTP) mail.hotkey.net.au timed out. Try again. Also on the Sunday that this all began an error orrured where Thunderbird could not connect to the mail server, and it suggested changes be made in account settings - Security settings - Authentication method - change it to Normal Password, where it has been set to Encrypted password since I've been using Thunderbird (since 2011). Once changed emails could be recieved but no emails created or forwarded with attachments could be sent.

Im using Thunderbird 45.1.1 on a Windoze 8.1 platform - Since last Sunday my partner and I have been unable to send ANY attachments though thunderbird - these attachments can be small < 100kb to 2 mb - when sending email with attachment it will sit at sending email at 60-99% for a long time before coming up with "sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to the outgoing server (SMTP) mail.hotkey.net.au timed out. Try again. Also on the Sunday that this all began an error orrured where Thunderbird could not connect to the mail server, and it suggested changes be made in account settings - Security settings - Authentication method - change it to Normal Password, where it has been set to Encrypted password since I've been using Thunderbird (since 2011). Once changed emails could be recieved but no emails created or forwarded with attachments could be sent.

All Replies (5)

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What did you change? Authentication method for incoming server only? You may need to do this also for the outgoing server (SMTP). Check with your email provider about the correct server settings.

Can you send messages w/o attachments? Then your SMTP server settings are correct, and it's more likely anti-virus software is messing up things.

What is your anti-virus software?

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Yup checked with provider and everything was correct. Atte,pted to send an email with a small text file attachment -no go-same error message as before. Uninstalled my AntiVirus software (AVG) and got another (Avast) again tried to send an email error:- Original error message

Sending of the message failed.

The Outgoing server (SMTP) mail.hotkey.net.au does not seem to support encrypted passwords. If you just set up the account, try changing the 'Authentication method' in 'Account settings | Outgoing server (SMTP)' to 'Normal password'."" No idea what to do next.

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My best guess is your anti-virus software is the problem. See https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Antivirus_Related_Performance_Issues#AVAST

Some general rules wrt anti-virus software:

Create an exception in your anti-virus software for the Thunderbird profile folder, so that the anti-virus real-time scanner will not scan it. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird

Don't let your anti-virus software scan incoming and outgoing messages.

Don't let your anti-virus software scan attachments.

Don't let your anti-virus software intercept your secure connection to the server.

Remove any add-ons your anti-virus software may have installed in Thunderbird.

Keep it working. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Keep_it_working_-_Thunderbird

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Still no luck - still unable to send ANY attachments - continually times out after a period of time, Very frustrating........

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Ask for help in an Avast support forum, if the article doesn't get you going.