Updating from 52.1.1 to 52.2.1 I got "update failed" because "patch apply failed". Same result updating to 52.3.1 [verizon]

Does it update when you disable/uncheck Options > Advanced panel > Update tab > '''Use a background service to install updates'''? For Options, press Alt and select Tools in the menu bar OR click the menu button ("hamburger" icon). I’ve seen this happen on Win 7 both for Firefox and Thunderbird, also after several years (albeit with zipped nightly versions only) and this helped. I’m not sure why updating fails (yet), other than that the background service is not (properly) installed or there is a permissions issue, perhaps in Windows 7 only. I assumed it was because of the zip files in my case and something has changed so this no longer works - release versions had no issue so far. You may be able to find an update log file in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\updates\xxx(16 chars)xxx\updates\last-update.log. The 16 characters represent an ID and can be random, based on your install copy. If there are several of such folders, be sure to open the most recent log file based on timestamps in any text editor and look for text similar to<br>"AUS:SVC readStatusFile - status: failed: 57" or any other error - just look for "failed". If the background service was enabled previously and the update succeeded now, the bottom section in the file should contain no fails. I’d be curious to see the reason for your update failure, so please report back your findings. You could try uninstalling Thunderbird first (you won’t lose email or settings) and e.g. reinstall 52.2.1 from [https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/52.2.1/win32/en-US/ here] in order to try fixing the background service, and then see if the update to 52.3.0 succeeds, either manually or automatically depending on your Update setting. Be sure to re-enable the background service option ''before'' you uninstall Thunderbird, or it might update without it after launching 52.2.1. However, it may be better to install the ''exact same version'' that you are using now. Speaking of: which one is it? If you browse the folder tree from the link above (or replace the version in the path name manually), you can find the same version. So in short: # Create a backup of your Thunderbird profile just in case (see below.) # Leave the background service option ticked if it was, and exit Thunderbird. # Uninstall Thunderbird using the Add/Remove programs feature in Windows. # Reinstall Thunderbird from the link above, or rather by browsing to your similar version first. # If an automatic or manual update still fails, uncheck the background service option and retry (by choosing Help > About Thunderbird > Check for Updates). In case all of this fails, another suggestion is to try moving the entire content of the ...\updates\xxx(16 chars)xxx\updates folder, i.e. the folder that has random strings. As for your questions: 1) Any next and successful update patch, also in the scenario above (i.e. when you play with the background service option) will just overwrite the failed one and then remove itself upon success. There should be no older or damaged update file left. There is no real security risk involved for Thunderbird itself, and even for email connections to servers they would be quite rare. However if your Thunderbird version is ''really'' old, you may miss some features such as blocking remote images in messages, so that may be considered as a risk. 2) Unless your email provider migrates to another platform, switches authentication methods or similar changes take place, you could run Thunderbird for years - some users simply don’t want to update and use older versions simpy because they don’t need to and would like to save themselves from possible issues. 3) You can simply overwrite any Thunderbird install with an installer as linked to above - even downgrading should work. That means you could just install the 52.3.0 version on top of the existing install too, though you would not be able to test for / fix the update issue and will run into it again at a next update. However, it’s usually best to uninstall the previous version first and then perform the new install, also to fix any possible issue such as yours. Your passwords, email and any other setting and customizations are stored in a [[Profiles - Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data|profile]], which is a set of user files, stored separately from your application install folder and should not be lost when uninstalling and reinstalling the program. That data can be removed using the so-called Profile Manager, see that article for more info. While at it, it would also be good to create a backup of your profile before the steps above as explained in the article just in case anything goes wrong when uninstalling/reinstalling, or just as a wise step to take once in a while, and now is a good time. As for the Verizon to AOL change, that should be no issue for Thunderbird or any other email client. A reinstall of the program is not required, and any account can be set up and accessed anywhere and from anyplace. ;) Side note: I would suggest you edit your previous message to remove your email address in order to prevent it getting caught by spambots. Hope this helps, please let us know how things work out.