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Unable to change password / Unable to change Primary Password

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  • Last reply by johnyept

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I've been using Outlook Express (from XP) for years, even into the Windows 10 era with a patched version of XP. Since GMail will no longer support it after May 2022 I decided to migrate to Thunderbird Portable.

Since 91.8.1 doesn't import from Outlook Express, I first used Thunderbird Portable 52.9.1 x86 (last version that supports XP) to import mails, accounts and whatever else it imports. I then set up a Primary Password, and painstakingly manually added all rules from Outlook Express to Thunderbird's "filters". After everything was up and running, I upgraded to Thunderbird Portable 91.8.1 x86.

For some reason, when I try to login to any GMail account, after the login, pass, allow Thunderbird as email client, a popup window appears asking me to "Change Password", but whatever password I put, it always says "Unable to change password". If I go to "Privacy & Security", "Use a Primary Password" is disabled, and if I check it, it asks me to enter and re-enter a new password, but it also says "Unable to change Primary Password".

II tried both commands listed in the link below, both seem to work by pressing the Reset button, but the error console seems to output a uncaught exception. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/protect-your-thunderbird-passwords-master-password#w_resetting-your-master-password-if-you-have-forgotten-it

Any more suggestions?

I've been using Outlook Express (from XP) for years, even into the Windows 10 era with a patched version of XP. Since GMail will no longer support it after May 2022 I decided to migrate to Thunderbird '''Portable'''. Since 91.8.1 doesn't import from Outlook Express, I first used Thunderbird '''Portable''' 52.9.1 x86 (last version that supports XP) to import mails, accounts and whatever else it imports. I then set up a Primary Password, and painstakingly manually added all rules from Outlook Express to Thunderbird's "filters". After everything was up and running, I upgraded to Thunderbird '''Portable''' 91.8.1 x86. For some reason, when I try to login to any GMail account, after the login, pass, allow Thunderbird as email client, a popup window appears asking me to "Change Password", but whatever password I put, it always says "Unable to change password". If I go to "Privacy & Security", "Use a Primary Password" is disabled, and if I check it, it asks me to enter and re-enter a new password, but it also says "Unable to change Primary Password". II tried both commands listed in the link below, both seem to work by pressing the Reset button, but the error console seems to output a uncaught exception. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/protect-your-thunderbird-passwords-master-password#w_resetting-your-master-password-if-you-have-forgotten-it Any more suggestions?

Chosen solution

You're not supposed to upgrade from TB52 to straight to v91. Certain parts of the profile get "migrated" between some versions of Thunderbird, so you should go from v52 to 60.9.1, 68.9.0, 78.9.1, and finally to the latest 91.x release version (currently 91.8.1).

It is usually a good idea to create a full profile backup after each migration step. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile

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All steps above were done in Windows 10 x64 build 1511, running a patched version of Outlook Express from Windows XP. Thunderbird Portable 52.9.1 x86 was installed to a custom folder, everything was imported/configured, then Thunderbird Portable 91.8.1 x86 was installed to the same folder to upgrade the previous version. Currently I cannot download new emails due to the popup asking to change the (master?) password.

EDIT: I also tried renaming KEY3.DB, KEY4.DB, CERT8.DB and CERT9.DB but it didn't solve anything.

Modified by johnyept

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Seçilmiş Həll

You're not supposed to upgrade from TB52 to straight to v91. Certain parts of the profile get "migrated" between some versions of Thunderbird, so you should go from v52 to 60.9.1, 68.9.0, 78.9.1, and finally to the latest 91.x release version (currently 91.8.1).

It is usually a good idea to create a full profile backup after each migration step. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile

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Since I was getting nowhere, I backed up the folder and restarted from scratch: installed 52.9.1, imported OE settings, upgraded to 60.9.1, 68.12.0 (there is no 68.9.0 portable), 78.9.1 and 91.8.1, adding the password only in the end. The password now works correctly and the email passwords are also saved.

It's not a solution per se since I worked around it, but at least my problem is solved.