new hard drive, new anti virus, new firewall. I would say one of those two things it blocking Thunderbird from accessing the internet.

Yes, I did reinstall the anti virus. But it's the same anti virus I was running before - and mail worked fine then.

One thing that seems strange is the server name that came up in the server settings. It is "california.websitewelcome.com" I have now idea where that came from. It doesn't even sound like a real name?

I don't know what to do about the anti virus blocking the Thunderbird, but will ask someone to help me with that. However, when my anti virus (Eset) blocks something, I usually get a dialog box telling me it has done so. I am not getting that in this instance.

Matt, I uninstalled anti virus and firewall. Still got error message that I can't connect to server. What else could it be?

Got some friends to help me with this. Mozilla support is woefully inadequate.

but did they help and find the solution? If they did, what was it.

BTW this is a global forum. your last three posts to this forum were between midnight and 7:30am my time.

Matt, Thank you for your reply. I was feeling like no one was interested in helping me. Also, I did not stop to think that this is a global forum. We Americans are guilty of thinking the world revolves around OUR waking hours. I will be more mindful.

The solution was in the server settings, not the antivirus or firewall. Once I got the correct settings and port, I was able to access my email. Haven't tried sending anything though.

Case resolved, in my opinion.