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popstate files keep piling up

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 30 views
  • Last reply by jworks

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Popstate files (popstate-xx.dat) are piling up in my POP account. Each time the "xx" is a different number, i.e 13, 14, 15, etc. I read the suggestion fix to go to Help, Troubleshoot Information, click Open Folder button. I did so. There are two Open Folder buttons (Update Folder & Profile Folder). I picked Profile Folder. Then I closed TB as instructed. Then I clicked Mail folder, and it says to click the Pop mail account which is displaying those popstate folders. At this point I see two : one says "inbound.att.net" and one says :inbound.att-1.net". If I click the "inbound.att.net" there is only one popstate folder. If I click the "inbound.att-1.net" account there are many popstate folders. I think this may be the cause of the multiple popstate folders showing up in TB. I am thinking I could possibly delete the account with the "-1" and keep the account with the single popstate folder. BUT, will this somehow mess up my incoming and outgoing mail? I don't want to mess up. Can someone help me?

Popstate files (popstate-xx.dat) are piling up in my POP account. Each time the "xx" is a different number, i.e 13, 14, 15, etc. I read the suggestion fix to go to Help, Troubleshoot Information, click Open Folder button. I did so. There are two Open Folder buttons (Update Folder & Profile Folder). I picked Profile Folder. Then I closed TB as instructed. Then I clicked Mail folder, and it says to click the Pop mail account which is displaying those popstate folders. At this point I see two : one says "inbound.att.net" and one says :inbound.att-1.net". If I click the "inbound.att.net" there is only one popstate folder. If I click the "inbound.att-1.net" account there are many popstate folders. I think this may be the cause of the multiple popstate folders showing up in TB. I am thinking I could possibly delete the account with the "-1" and keep the account with the single popstate folder. BUT, will this somehow mess up my incoming and outgoing mail? I don't want to mess up. Can someone help me?

Chosen solution

Toad-Hall you are right, it does say that. All seems to be well now

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well you will probably find the -1 account is your current account because you like many folks removed your account at some time in the past and added it again. When you do a number is added.

To be sure access the account in account settings and in the pane displayed when you click the account name look to the account path shown to determine which is being used.

Then open you antivirus program and create an exception for the entire Thunderbird profile as that is usually what causes multiple copies of files. Thunderbird creates a new one because the original is locked. Other common causes are the folder being synced to something like a cloud drive or NAS or server share or streaming backups.

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Matt, thank you for replying. I opened TB, clicked Tools to get to Account Settings. On the left is Bellsouth POP. I don't see a "path". On the right is Account Settings Bellsouth POP. Under that is Account Name, Bellsouth POP in the box.

I clicked Server Settings, and it says : Server Type: POP Mail Server. Under that is Server Name: inbound.att.net in the box Under that is User Name is : my name@bellsouth.net in the box. Outbound Server is (SMTP). Settings is : AT&T - outbound.att.net (Default)

  • This may be a bit weird to you. This is an old email address I've kept and still use from the days of BellSouth (...which is now part of ATT).

I hope this helps, but I don't see a "path". I have not yet looked into the virus protection like you said to do, awaiting your reply.

Modified by jworks

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Matt, thank you for replying. I opened TB, clicked Tools to get to Account Settings. On the left is Bellsouth POP. I don't see a "path". On the right is Account Settings Bellsouth POP. Under that is Account Name, Bellsouth POP in the box.

I clicked Server Settings, and it says : Server Type: POP Mail Server. Under that is Server Name: inbound.att.net in the box Under that is User Name is : my name@bellsouth.net in the box. Outbound Server is (SMTP). Settings is : AT&T - outbound.att.net (Default)

  • This may be a bit weird to you. This is an old email address I've kept and still use from the days of BellSouth (...which is now part of ATT).

I hope this helps, but I don't see a "path". I have not yet looked into the virus protection like you said to do, awaiting your reply.

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Matt, just to let you know. It seems the AV issue was the issue. I saw no way to include just the TB profile folder as an exception. A video I watched online said with the later issues of McAfee LiveSafe it will not allow for folder exceptions. So, when I went through the procedure for making an exception the only TB file I came up with was thunderbird.exe. That file is now an exception. And, so far, no more popstate files. I'm guessing this probably means the entire TB will not be protected by McAfee. If so, thats not a big issue to me.

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re : I don't see a "path".

For future reference: In 'Account Settings' select 'Server Settings' for the pop account. At the bottom on the right side is 'Local directory:' You may need to make the window wide enough to see all the entry.

It will point to the mail account folder you are currently using. I would expect the last part to say you are using the "inbound.att-1.net" account.

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Chosen Solution

Toad-Hall you are right, it does say that. All seems to be well now