How to fix the error "message may contain virus or not enough disk space. Skip this message?"
Within the last couple weeks, I just started getting an error pop up saying "This message may contain a virus or there is not enough disk space. Skip this message?" but neither is true. This happens intermittently with no pattern (e.g., not always for the same sender). If I click No, it downloads it, and there are no problems, but otherwise the message gets tossed. I thought I'd just wait and hope it stops, but it hasn't (and I have the latest version--I always update).
Chosen solution
That message is usually caused by your anti virus. in Options > Security > anti virus is an option to allow anti virus to quarantine individual messages. Turn it off.
When that option is on, all new mail is written to a temp file in the temp folder before Thunderbird attempts to write the email to it's store. If the anti virus deletes it because it has a virus, or the anti virus is just to slow. You get this message and Thunderbird moves on. Thunderbird has no way to know what the error was caused by really an assumption is made that the anti virus deleted the file.
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Chosen Solution
That message is usually caused by your anti virus. in Options > Security > anti virus is an option to allow anti virus to quarantine individual messages. Turn it off.
When that option is on, all new mail is written to a temp file in the temp folder before Thunderbird attempts to write the email to it's store. If the anti virus deletes it because it has a virus, or the anti virus is just to slow. You get this message and Thunderbird moves on. Thunderbird has no way to know what the error was caused by really an assumption is made that the anti virus deleted the file.
Thanks, I will try that and see if it helps.
Any idea why this just started happening (I've been using Thunderbird and the same anti virus for years)?
Does this mean that my anti virus will no longer be protecting me against viruses in email?
pgrosso said
Thanks, I will try that and see if it helps. Any idea why this just started happening (I've been using Thunderbird and the same anti virus for years)? Does this mean that my anti virus will no longer be protecting me against viruses in email?
Changes in how fast an anti virus works and how aggressive it is occur usually over time, but as they update daily, you never really know when you get a new engine that does not work anything like the old one.
One contributing factor to how long it takes is the fact the windows temp folder is rarely cleaned up and access to it can actually become slow over a period of elapsed years. There is a disk clean up tool in windows in the system tools group on the start menu. Use it and see if it does anything useful.
As for scanning incoming email. I really doubt it serves a useful function, other than making folk feel safe. A virus in an email contained in Thunderbird is stored as a but of text, just like this reply. It can not run, do damage or infect anything. So scanning on arrival is really overkill.
Good info. Since it's intermittent, it will take a little while to determine if this solves my problem, but I'm betting it will. Thanks.
By way of follow up, I cleaned out the temp directory (it had quite a large number of files, though the disk partition it was on had plenty of space), but I still got the error. So then I turned off the quarantine option as suggested, and I haven't gotten the error again, so that appeared to solve the problem. Thanks!
Mine was definitely a virus or spam. I think the solution is simply to download then repeat the skips. Accept the antivirus auto-protection popups. The problem would go away.