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Just installed version 31.5.0. Constant "(Not Responding)" in title bar, crashing/freezing up. CAUSE: McAfee?

  • 8 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by Wayne Mery

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This version 31.5.0 on Win 8.1 consistently freezes with (Unresponsive) in the title bar. Locks up w/o any reason or for such a vast variety of reasons that it for sure is not just one thing. Is there a way to download and install an earlier version or do I have to resign myself to using another email client?

This version 31.5.0 on Win 8.1 consistently freezes with (Unresponsive) in the title bar. Locks up w/o any reason or for such a vast variety of reasons that it for sure is not just one thing. Is there a way to download and install an earlier version or do I have to resign myself to using another email client?

Modified by Wayne Mery

All Replies (8)

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First of all, have you tried with Thunderbird in its safe mode?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/safe-mode http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

And in Windows safe mode?

Past versions are available here:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/

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Zenos--thanks for taking the time to lend a helping hand. I have just now been running TB in safe mode. Still it is lapsing into "unresponsive" freeze. I had just left it running as I was using my browser to do other things and when I tried to switch to TB I couldn't. I waited and kept trying at intervals. Eventually I was able to bring it back from the freeze so I could at least look at emails. As soon as I tried to do some things it fairly quickly whited out with a "Not Responding" in the title bar. This non responsiveness has been growing more common in recent releases, even when I was using a former release under Win 7. I strongly suspect that it is due to a combination of both problems in the coding of TB and to my having many, many old emails, on local folders and within Gmail account, and to having lots of filters to move all incoming mail to various folders. Unfortunately I just don't know of any stable, good featured email client under windows which can handle the tasks and not be buggy. Getting VERY tired of TB hanging up and being so problematic.

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What anti virus are you using. If McAfee that will be your issue, if not what is it anyway.

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Thank you Matt. Yes, you are correct. My new Dell XPS 13 came with McAfee bloatware pre-installed. Following your advice I completely de-activated it, including from the StartUp. Alas, the Not Responding of Thunderbird is still just as bad as before. I strongly suspect that this is at least partly due to problems with the code under 64-bit Win 8.1. However I also think that my profile and large numbers of many years of messages are contributing to the "confusion". I've just relied on Thunderbird for so long now that changing is difficult. And there aren't any good alternatives, save for switching from doze to Linux.

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I suggest you try safe mode with Networking. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OSX

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If you are seeing text in the title bar, then what you are seeing is

(Not Responding)

not

unresponsive  :)

Skyhermit, Please post a resopnse for us. Does https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Antivirus_Related_Performance_Issues#McAfee help

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Wayne-- Thanks for your continuing help and patient consideration. First, I have not "fixed" or found and single solution yet. I disabled McAfee. The "McAfee Anti-Spam Thunderbird Extension" referred to in the article is not installed on my copy of Thunderbird. I uninstalled the newest version of Thunderbird and installed 24.8.1. I then deleted a large amount of old emails from the three different email services I use. All of this helped a great deal. Thunderbird went from absolutely unusable to only freezing (yes with Not Responding) a half dozen times a day--and then unfreezing after only 5 minutes or so rather than remaining crashed. So the short of it is that I am still using Thunderbird but the problems don't really go away. I am slowly relying more on Gmail and will likely end up using it instead if Thunderbird doesn't improve. I used TB for so long that it is difficult to think of breaking up. But sometimes relationships must end prior to death, I guess.

Modified by Skyhermit

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Ah, good info.

Well, the McAfee antispam addon is only ONE aspect of McAfee that can impact performance. You would need to use Matt's advice about WINDOWS safe mode https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1051349#answer-703174 to eliminate McAFee as a potential cause.

May I suggest then installing verison 38 beta from http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/channel/ It has at least two changes which may help you: 1. a folder performance bug 2. changes IDLE setting which may impact gmail.

Is the problem gone?