My guess is the account is being configured with the bigpond settings, not the bigpond/hotmail settings.

There is a page in mybigpond with your mail server settings. look it up and confirm what Thunderbird is using.

Tools menu (Alt+T) > account settings > server settings

Thanks. I had tried the auto and manual setups with the same result. IN addition, the Bigpond Support sent me the following which I also tried and got the same result.

For the settings that needs to be configured for your new mailbox, kindly follow the steps listed below:

(**Note: Please be advised that BigPond technical support team is only trained for Microsoft mail clients like Outlook Express, windows Live mail and the like. Having said this, we can only provide limited assistance in setting up your email account for your Thunderbird mail client by providing the correct settings that need to be configured.)

For IMAP server settings:

Account Type: IMAP Incoming IMAP server: imap-mail.outlook.com Incoming IMAP mail: port 993 Outgoing SMTP server: smtp-mail.outlook.com Outgoing SMTP port: 587 (with TLS [preferred] or SSL Encryption depending on your e mail app) Incoming uses SSL: On (this is required) Outgoing uses SSL: On (this is required) (with TLS [preferred] or SSL Encryption depending on your e mail app) Authentication Outgoing server (SMTP) authentication: Same as incoming mail server

For POP server settings:

Please be advised that before setting up your email account on an email client using a POP mail server, we will need to ensure first that 'Connecting devices and apps with POP' has been enabled through webmail. For instructions on how to do this, kindly follow the steps below:

- Log In your email account from the BigPond website from the Webmail section located at the top left side of the BigPond home page (http://media.telstra.com.au/home.html). - The page then will automatically redirect to an Outlook website in which you will need to click the 'settings icon' (a gear like icon) located at the top left side of the page. - From the drop down list, click on 'Options'. - It will then direct the page to a new page where you will need to click 'Connect devices and apps with POP' under the Managing your account section. - Choose 'Enable' and choose "Do what the device or app says—if it's set to delete messages, delete them." under Deleting downloaded messages. - Click on the 'Save' button to save the changes. - Log out of from your webmail page and start setting up your email client on your mail client using the following setting below:

Account Type: POP3 Incoming POP server: pop-mail.outlook.com Incoming POP mail: port 995 Outgoing SMTP server: smtp-mail.outlook.com Outgoing SMTP port: 587 (with TLS [preferred] or SSL Encryption depending on your e mail app) Incoming uses SSL: On (this is required) Outgoing uses SSL: On (this is required) (with TLS [preferred] or SSL Encryption depending on your e mail app) Authentication Outgoing server (SMTP) authentication: Same as incoming mail server

In looking at the Thunderbird error message, it seems to consistently refer to the User Name and Password. I know they are correct, as I can log in from a browser using them. Is there something in the validation rules that might be the problem? Also, you may be aware that Bigpond is migrating their old Webmail system across to the Outlook platform. Registering new e-mail accounts in Bigpond get created on the Outlook platform, whereas older accounts are still on the Bigpond Webmail system. Is this causing a problem somewhere in validation?

Further to my last message, I retried using the first set of settings above, and got a new error message from Thunderbird, which may give further insight. The new error message is "Thunderbird failed to find the settings for your new email account". Is it looking in the Thunderbird ISP data base?

As I mentioned, Bigpond is in a migration from it's aging Webmail system to an Outlook platform. This has created a situation where the log on ID is user@bigpond.com, but the incoming server is imap-mail.outlook.com and the outgoing server is smtp-mail.outlook.com.

I wonder if this is causing an issue.

I have set it up successfully on my Android phone in an app called MailDroid without any apparent problems.

I hope this helps, and I appreciate your further assistance.

I think now your issue is your anti virus software, protecting you from, well I am not sure really.

Check any firewall component to ensure Thuinderbird is allowed full internet access. Auto is not adequate. Then disable email scanning in your anti virus program. Reboot and retry the setup.