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Thunderbird keeps asking for passwords but still won't download or send emails

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 28 views
  • Last reply by Matt

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1. I have a laptop and a desktop with Windows 10 installed. I recently updated Thunderbird to 91.4.1. I have 3 email accounts. I have zero problems receiving and sending email with my laptop since the update. However, my desktop keeps asking for my passwords and even after entering them, it will not let me receive emails. Nor will it send any that are in my folders that I wanted to forward. When I try to send it asks for my password which I input, but still won't send. I put my laptop right next to my desktop to compare ALL account settings. Server, synchronization, etc.etc. They are the exact same. I thought about uninstalling and reinstalling, but afraid I will lose my folders (@30 with thousands of emails. 2. AS A SIDE: I used Eudora for almost 30 years with nary a problem and wanted to import my info to thunderbird which it would ot do even though I tried earlier versions of thunderbird that was supposed to work (it didn't). 3. Where are the folders stored? I could not find them. Are thy encrypted somewhere under the Mozilla thunderbird program location? I would back them up before I uninstall and try to reinstall. I can't afford to lose them.

1. I have a laptop and a desktop with Windows 10 installed. I recently updated Thunderbird to 91.4.1. I have 3 email accounts. I have zero problems receiving and sending email with my laptop since the update. However, my desktop keeps asking for my passwords and even after entering them, it will not let me receive emails. Nor will it send any that are in my folders that I wanted to forward. When I try to send it asks for my password which I input, but still won't send. I put my laptop right next to my desktop to compare ALL account settings. Server, synchronization, etc.etc. They are the exact same. I thought about uninstalling and reinstalling, but afraid I will lose my folders (@30 with thousands of emails. 2. AS A SIDE: I used Eudora for almost 30 years with nary a problem and wanted to import my info to thunderbird which it would ot do even though I tried earlier versions of thunderbird that was supposed to work (it didn't). 3. Where are the folders stored? I could not find them. Are thy encrypted somewhere under the Mozilla thunderbird program location? I would back them up before I uninstall and try to reinstall. I can't afford to lose them.

All Replies (3)

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Got a different anti virus on your desktop? Most folk with issues post update have a software firewall in their anti virus that is the root cause blocking Thunderbird access to the internet on mail ports. Some of the brain VPN stuff actually assumes you only use a browser so you also can not connect and keep getting asked for a password.

Eudora import uses the registry keys set by Eudora to locate your mail store. See this 2016 support topic for details of the key. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1146656 You can't just point Thunderbird to what you want imported, which is probably why it did not work.

Having said that Eudora was quite happy to work in a rather messy birdcage and successful import often requires using various tools (like Eudora Rescue) on the mail store to clean up the mess. You may have had no problems, but under the hood it was a mess. This article also from 2016 is perhaps the most comprehensive discussion on importing Eudora that is still around. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Thunderbird_:_Issues_:_Import_From_Eudora But really I think you received all this information back here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1325278 except for the information about the registry and I provided that here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1345791 So perhaps it is time to either let go or offer more in your question that it does not work. That is the computing equivalent of saying your car does not start. Fine if you are calling out a mechanic to tow it, not so much if you are fixing it yourself as is the case here.

In an attempt to actually elicit information I asked you a question on your last Eudora topic. You chose not to reply. Therefore the support process ceased pending you reply. Did you ever have Eudora running on the device you are trying to import on?

3. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data and no they are not encrypted, unless you are using your operating systems, or third party, drive encryption.

I would say that if a reinstall fixes your issue then the problem is not Thunderbird as all program settings as well as data are stored in the profile. As the profile lives though a reinstall then is should change nothing in the program. (But it sometime acts a a wake up call to other products to allow access. Those same ones I mentioned at the start.

To reference your question here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1344915 Use POP instead of IMAP if you want the functionality of POP. It is not like it is not a choice in the account wizard, just not the default.

To reference your question here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1348376 Repair folder only reindexes the mail storage file. Using IMAP as you do can cause corruption as the imap copy function has had issues when applied to more then a few email at a time. This was fixed in the current release. That is not to say other bugs are not present. IMAP is a mail protocol, not a file system protocol so really many of the these move/copy actions that also delete mail have not really been tested since the 1990s when much of the IMAP code was written.

There are eight support topic in less than 12months. Most related to Eudora import and all unsolved because you apparently gave up. Perhaps stick around and you might get somewhere, but asking the same small group of people the same question every few months is not going to get you different answers. We are not going to come back to you and ask you how you are enjoying your meal or if you are happy with the support you receive. We volunteer our time and unless you come back and tell us how it is going we will assume you figured it out.

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Matt. Thank you for the info. I apologize. I save emails regarding Mozilla in a separate folder and have tried to follow any replies, but haven't answered before other than to click on "problem solved or not". I tried some of the solutions recommended to no avail regarding importing Eudora including trying installing Thunderbird v.17. Also, 1 answer was to install Eudora 7 directly under C: instead of under "program files". that did not help so I kind of gave up on the import.

I use Windows 10 anti-virus and firewall on both computers. No other anti-virus is installed.

The weird part is that i had no problem with Thunderbird for a couple of weeks. I shut down my computer as I was gone for a week. When I returned and turned on my computer, I could not receive or send which is why I put my computers side by side and compared each account settings to ensure they matched. I installed no programs, deleted none. Nor made any other changes other than scan the drive for optimization and viruses when the problem arised hoping that I could find the problem. I also performed a for Registry Scan, Check Security, and Windows Repair scan and found no viruses nor other problems. I have the exact same programs on both computers. Maybe a corrupt file which is why I was going to uninstall Thunderbird and reinstall. But was worried about losing my folders and emails.

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The key to importing and I am testing my old brain thinking back about 10 years always appeared to be placing the Eudora store in what Eudora considered a "standard location". Having a working installation proves that Eudora could find it's mail and the registry key was set but it is not necessary.) What is necessary is that the registry key exists. Even if Eudora does not.

To go back to the topic I linked to. That key is defined in the topic and is crucial the path which is discussed in the topic H:\\SCRATCH\\Eudoradata must point to where the data is actually on disk.

Create a .reg file called eudora.reg containing the following lines. Replace H:\\SCRATCH\\Eudoradata with the location of your Eudora data. (note the double backslashes and the blank line) === Registry file, adjust file location as required === Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Qualcomm\Eudora\CommandLine] "Current"="Anything H:\\SCRATCH\\Eudoradata Anything"

=

If you try again, and I actually encourage it, make sure to open the error console (ctrl+Shift+J) and clear it before you start the import. then there is a chance of capturing any error generated.

I also suggest you use another dedicated profile as going backwards and forwards is rubbish using the same profile in the past few years. Once you get the mail and contacts into a Thunderbird profile the next steps are fairly simple.

But I am offtopic really. The issue is you can't get mail now.

Open the troubleshoot information on the help menu, click copy to clipboard and paste into a reply. If it complains about being to big just give me the first part (paste into notepad). The last half really contains nothing I have ever used here.