Thunderbird treating me as new user
I've been using Thunderbird for years but this morning it treated me as a new user and asked for email details. Is that connected with recent updates? I found new folders in programs, dated 26 to 29 January, but it worked OK yesterday, 1 February so that seems unlikely. I haven't provided email details in case that leads to all old downloaded mail being lost. Can you suggest how to proceed without losing data? Thanks Michael White
Chosen solution
Are you double-clicking a js file to open it? That would explain the errors. Instead, open a js file in a text editor. See if prefs,js has lost the account information, while one of the prefs-N.js files has it.
If you have to create a new profile, from Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles, the mail files in the old profile can be copied into the new one.
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Cancel the account setup wizard then go to the Help menu > Troubleshooting Information > about:profiles. In the tab that opens, how many profiles are there?
Just the default profile, with Root and Local paths underneath, to ri3hdpaf.default. From the message times it appears I'm being treated as a US user but I'm in UK.
When TB opens with a blank slate, it can often be fixed by repairing a corrupted file in the profile folder:
There does seem to be a problem with the prefs files. I have prefs-1, prefs-2 and prefs-3 plus the prefs.js file under profiles/ri3hdpaf.default. prefs-2 and -3 are empty, prefs-1.js and prefs.js both report errors. prefs.js says Line: 12 Char: 1 Error: Object expected Code: 800A138F Source: Microsoft JScript runtime error. prefs-1.js says Line: 1 Char: 1 Error: Invalid character Code: 800A03F6 Source: Microsoft JScript compilation error Is there a way to fix that? I've found the mail files I was worried about losing. If I have to start again as a new user, should I move them somewhere safe first?
Chosen Solution
Are you double-clicking a js file to open it? That would explain the errors. Instead, open a js file in a text editor. See if prefs,js has lost the account information, while one of the prefs-N.js files has it.
If you have to create a new profile, from Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles, the mail files in the old profile can be copied into the new one.
Many thanks for your help, that cured the problem.