Thunderbird 68.8 upgrade complains about profile. Upgrade stops being able to read the existing profile, usually within 24 hours. have to reinstall it every day
(Apologies in advance, somehow my original post got marked as "resolved", but it may been me: PEBCAK. Reposting with additional information.)
The rev 68.8 Thunderbird upgrade stops being able to read the existing profile, usually within 24 hours. (Windows 10, no custom profile. no custom anything). I get the pop-up box complaining about trying to read an old profile.
I can re-install Thunderbird (from the same downloaded installer executable), and then it works fine. And within another 24-48 hours, it stops working again.
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.
My next step is to completely remove Thunderbird (and all profiles), reboot, and reinstall from scratch. Um, have to back up local folders. Painful.
Attached a screen capture of the error message.
Modified by Wayne Mery
All Replies (8)
(Question is about Thunderbird, not Firefox. Um, thanks?)
Hi croth, please ignore the fake support link someone is spamming here.
Thanks, jscher! I didn't click on the bogus link, but I see (hover-over) that it is indeed a most suspicious URL.
If you try to open a profile with TB 68.N, and the profile has previously been opened with a newer version, e.g. you try to open TB 68.8, but TB 68.8.1 was opened earlier, you will see that error. Close TB, Windowskey+R, type
thunderbird.exe -p --allow-downgrade
to start Profile Manager, select your profile, probably named default, and see if TB opens showing your data.
That's useful information, thanks.
But the root problem is "why does Thunderbird think it's suddenly running an earlier version?"
After 24-48 hours, I noticed that the Thunderbird icon (pinned to the taskbar) changes from the usual bird-with-mail, to an MS installer icon. At that point, it wants me to reboot before it will let me launch thunderbird.
So I do that. And then I get the pop-up "A newer version may have made changes" error box.
I usually get around it by downloading and re-installing, which is actually pretty quick. But then 24-48 hours later, it happens again. I'm on at least the 4th cycle of this.
Interestingly, when I look at the detailed properties for C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe, it says "File version 68.0.7446", but "Product version 68.8.1". Thunderbird Help/About says 68.8.1 (32-bit).
It's as if it thinks it has downgraded itself somehow. And now that I think about it, there was a similar error in Firefox about a year ago -- something about not parsing the ".0" part of the version number correctly, that caused a similar cycle of install/work/complain/re-install, etc. (Sorry, the details are foggy, but it was a real bug, and there was a patch issued for it.)
This is the first time I've heard of TB 68.8.1 causing the error - it usually happens for the reasons stated in my first reply. I assume you haven't run a later beta version TB 7*.0. Maybe it will disappear if you uninstall TB, delete the TB folder in Program Files (x86), reboot the computer, then download and run the 32-bit TB 68.8.1.
Is it possible you installed the 64-bit TB at some point? It would install to Program Files, and there might be an error from running TB 32-bit on a profile that was previously opened by 64-bit, even if the version was the same.
Good thoughts, thank you. I did check in C:\Program Files as well, Firefox is there but no Thunderbird. Definitely did not (at least intentionally!) install any beta versions.
If all else fails, I was already planning on a complete wipe-and-reinstall. Just a pain because of local email folders.
Appreciate the thoughts!
re :Interestingly, when I look at the detailed properties for C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe, it says "File version 68.0.7446", but "Product version 68.8.1". Thunderbird Help/About says 68.8.1 (32-bit).
Just to let you know, I have exactly the same as you for File version, so this is not the issue.