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msgFilterRules.dat can not be read -continuing problem

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

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Previously the problem was fixed as suggested by MattAuSupport. File was corrupted(clean file copied from another system) Avast may have prevented Read(File excluded in Avast)

This all worked fine for one day, now today when I download new emails, I get the same error message "....msgFilterRules.dat.... could not be read" with the same result - msgFilterRules.dat is copied to rulesbackup.dat leaving no filters to apply to new messages.

I downloaded & installed a new copy of 24.5, then manually copied the existing mailboxes to the new version. Did the changes as above, and all worked well(for one day), until today.

Today, I have created a new msgFilterRules.dat from a known good system and it is still excluded under Avast, however the problem remains, so the original fixes no longer work. Any help would be appreciated.

Previously the problem was fixed as suggested by MattAuSupport. File was corrupted(clean file copied from another system) Avast may have prevented Read(File excluded in Avast) This all worked fine for one day, now today when I download new emails, I get the same error message "....msgFilterRules.dat.... could not be read" with the same result - msgFilterRules.dat is copied to rulesbackup.dat leaving no filters to apply to new messages. I downloaded & installed a new copy of 24.5, then manually copied the existing mailboxes to the new version. Did the changes as above, and all worked well(for one day), until today. Today, I have created a new msgFilterRules.dat from a known good system and it is still excluded under Avast, however the problem remains, so the original fixes no longer work. Any help would be appreciated.

All Replies (3)

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Ross, try the current beta here http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/channel/

You say it was not present in 24.4 but in 24.5 Lets see if the next major version has the issue.

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Matt, thanks for the advice. First, the problem appeared in 24.4 and updating to 24.5 made no difference. I have now tried the 30 Beta, with same problem.

Note: Before installing any fresh version, I have always Uninstalled from Windows, then manually deleted the Thunderbird folder, & everything below it. I use the default folders when installing, as follows - G:\Users\Ross\Appdata\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders\Ross's Folders.sdb\All old Mailboxes & emails copied to here.

I downloaded & installed 30, manually copied my old emails over and used the 30 version of msgFilterRules.dat to accept a copy of my existing .dat pasted in & saved. That failed with first email coming in, wiped .dat and copied to rulesbackup.dat. I then used the "empty" ...Rules.dat to manually re-create my filters. These all saved & worked ok on the Inbox, as each Filter was created. The first time I got an external email coming in, msgFilterRules.dat "can not be read" was wiped and copied to rulesbackup.dat. Also *.dat is still excluded in Avast, in TB folders. Could this problem be related to the path? You will see above, the Thunderbird path starts with G: on my system, could it be that C: is expected & somehow confuses the issue?

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If G is a network or USB connected device the issue could well be that Thunderbird expects drives to be attached as non removable drives. I have heard of all sorts of weird problems with Network and USB drives, especially seagate enclosures. But each persons experience appears to be different, like as if brand of device or versions of operating system on the device is important. Some never see an issue.