thunderbird is already running, but is not responding.
Suddenly I'm getting the error message "Thunderbird is already running, but is not responding. The old Thunderbird process must be closed to open a window." When I close that error message, it says, "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."
Both of these statements are in error. I shut Thunderbird down after it suddenly stopped working properly. I opened my Task Manager and verified there's no previous version running. I rebooted my computer. I uninstalled the program and reinstalled it. Each time I get the same bogus error messages. And my profile is not missing or inaccessible; I know exactly where it is and can access it easily.
I'm running Windows 8.1, if that helps.
This is my primary window out to the world, and how I communicate with all my clients. Please help me figure out what's wrong so I can get back to work! Thank you!
All Replies (6)
Clearly, something did not shut down properly. It may be that the 'parent.lock' file is saying the profile is already open. So Thunderbird thinks it is already running.
Access Profile folder:
- C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name> folder.
'Profile name ' folder is usually 'xxxxxxxx.default' where the x's are letters and numbers. Locate and delete 'parent.lock' file. Start Thunderbird.
That didn't work. I verified all hidden files were visible and deleted all the parent.lock files in the Users/xxxxx folder, but Thunderbird is still giving the same error message, and so is Firefox. In addition, my Discord and Dreamweaver programs won't work. Unfortunately, it seems to be something more complicated than just deleting the parent.lock file. Any other advice would be appreciated!
I'm using windows 10 and am having the same problem/ error message- Thunderbird is already running. It asks if I want to close it and when I do it just asks me to set up a new account.
If uninstalling and then reinstalling didn't work for cjdarling it makes sense that any other recommendations including the ones given by toad-hall didn't and won't work. Since un/reinstalling didn't work for cjdarling is there any reason/ chance it will work for me and why? Any other recommendations/ solutions/ ideas on how to proceed/ fix this?
Not sure what version of Thunderbird you are using so I'm guessing Thunderbird has just updated and cannot locate your profile, so it is using an empty new one as default. Hence why you are asked to create mail account.
Exit Thunderbird. Make sure nothing is running via Task Manager. Start Thunderbird in SAfe Mode.
Menu icon > Help > Troublshooting Information click on 'about:profiles' button You should see a list of profiles. Currently, it sounds as if the one set as default is a new one. Locate your profile in the list. Below it will be some buttons. click on 'Set as default profile' click on 'Launch profile in new browser' It will launch in a new window. Exit the first Thunderbird window.
Toad-Hall said
Clearly, something did not shut down properly. It may be that the 'parent.lock' file is saying the profile is already open. So Thunderbird thinks it is already running. Access Profile folder:'Profile name ' folder is usually 'xxxxxxxx.default' where the x's are letters and numbers. Locate and delete 'parent.lock' file. Start Thunderbird.
- C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name> folder.
My friend you ar a genius... I had completley removed the program and registry entries, after deleting the above file. It started up perfectly (on a new install) and remembered all my settings. I had a bit of a game finding the path, but after checking show hidden files I was there! All folders downloaded and I am sorted.... Thank you so much!