My password it used to accept is not accepted anymore

we know exactly what you tell us. If you want anything vaguely useful as an answer I suggest you spend the time to actually describe exactly what is happening and with what mail provider.

You you see error messages, when and what do they say? Verbatim please.

I use Thunderbird on my computer and my laptop. Thunderbird on my computer works fine but on my laptop it will not accept the password for my provider. When I open the email program it asks me for my password for my email on imap.virginmedia.com. I then type in the password . It then comes back that my login failed. I have my wife' email also and this happens just the same. I have triple checked that my virgin media password is correct but I cannot get anywhere. The only way to get out of this cycle is to resort to Task Manager to end the task. Can you help please. Thanks

I use Thunderbird on my computer and my laptop. Thunderbird on my computer works fine but on my laptop it will not accept the password for my provider. When I open the email program it asks me for my password for my email on imap.virginmedia.com. I then type in the password . It then comes back that my login failed. I have my wife' email also and this happens just the same. I have triple checked that my virgin media password is correct but I cannot get anywhere. The only way to get out of this cycle is to resort to Task Manager to end the task. Can you help please. Thanks

It's best form to start a new thread for your issue rather than add so someone else's who may have already resolved their problem long ago. But since you're here..

According to Virgin's email settings page, you need an "app password". This is not the same as your regular password that you would use to log into your online account or web mail. Do you have an app password?

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/manage-email-settings

I don't have an app password.

I tried to sign in to Virgin Media and read the instructions you cited above, and it comes back as invalid. I also tried using Task Manager to end task and feel that it may be bad for my computer.

I'm not clear what you did here. Were you able to sign into Virgin Media? Were you able to get the app password or not? What/when/where is it that 'comes back as invalid'?

I do think these instructions are poorly worded, but they're all we have to go on. To quote the part from the Virgin help page:

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From https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/manage-email-settings

"How to set an app password to use an email app

To set up Virgin Media email on an android or iPhone email app, you need to create a separate app password through Account settings on the My Virgin Media app.

To get the password, follow these steps:

Sign in to My Virgin Media on the app

Go to Account settings, then Account details.

Under Virgin Media Mail, tap Manage next to Manage your Virgin Media Mail app password.

Under Virgin Media Mail app password, tap Generate new App password and follow the instructions.

A new secure app password will be generated for you, you can use it in all apps that access your Virgin Media mail address. If you create a new app password, you’ll need to update all your existing apps with the new password.

Your separate app password will help make things more secure as IMAP and POP don’t use extra protection like Multi Factor Authentication.

Remember that this password is separate from your sign in details for My Virgin Media (or any Virgin Media apps). So, if you need to check your Virgin Media Mail emails through My Virgin Media or at mail.virginmedia.com, you'll still use your My Virgin Media password."

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"End Task" is kind of a last resort, for if you can't quit a program by any other means. It won't hurt your computer, but the program you forced to close may not operate properly until you reboot.

I wasn't able to get the app password.

I wasn't able to get the app password.

I'm sorry that I can't help you with that. That's a Virgin Media issue that doesn't involve Thunderbird. I don't have a Virgin account to try to advise you, so I think you're going to have to contact their tech support for guidance about that.