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Unable to access Thunderbird v91.x settings

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  • Last reply by petro605

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Hi,

It is impossible to access Thunderbird v91.1 (x64 - Win7) settings. Thunderbird freezes, consumes all available RAM and crashes every other time. When it doesn't crash, the certificates are not manageable. Thunderbird starts consuming all the RAM again and doesn't respond anymore...

Thunderbird behaves the same way with the "general" settings. This problem has existed since the upgrade to version 91.

Hi, It is impossible to access Thunderbird v91.1 (x64 - Win7) settings. Thunderbird freezes, consumes all available RAM and crashes every other time. When it doesn't crash, the certificates are not manageable. Thunderbird starts consuming all the RAM again and doesn't respond anymore... Thunderbird behaves the same way with the "general" settings. This problem has existed since the upgrade to version 91.
Attached screenshots

Modified by Alex

Chosen solution

Alex said

Hello, This is incomprehensible! When I switch to "Safe Mode", everything is fine. If I go back to normal mode, disabling all the add-ons, it's not fine anymore! Thunderbird loses its mind as soon as I go into the settings... The processor is not overloaded. But the RAM fills up slowly until it is full...

If it works in safe mode, and add-ons aren't a factor, it's usually either a broken layout or incorrect hardware acceleration setting. For the latter, uncheck it in Preferences/General/Indexing in normal mode, then restart TB. To repair the layout, launch in safe mode, 'Reset toolbars & controls', 'Make changes & restart'.

If you can't access Preferences in normal mode, remove any language packs from the Languages section of the Add-ons Manager.

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are we talking about preferences or accessing certificates. Despite accessing the certificate manager from preferences, it is a discrete subsystem.

And how do you define a crash? See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-crashes If it is a true crash and not a hang, crash ids are most helpful.

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perhaps this will help, just stumbled on it. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1349631

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Hello,

This is another Thunderbid bug from what I can read.

This comes at the worst time! I have renewed my security certificates but it is impossible to store them in Thunderbird! I tried using the Windows certificate shop, but it doesn't work. Mozilla has always managed the certificates alone, without relying on Windows...

Today, this is a shame. I can't sign or encrypt my mails anymore. .... :-(

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Version 91.2.1 is a hell of a thing!

Everything works fine, there is no problem on this side. But as soon as you access the settings, Thunderbird goes crazy! It takes up all the RAM and does nothing...

I've noticed that Thunderbird declares some mails as fraudulent when it's not true. And it's impossible to disable junk mail detection in the settings, Thunderbird is losing its mind!

I managed to disable junk detection, but I don't know if it will work, Thunderbird is crazy! The settings are impossible to change....

I'm attaching a screenshot, but it's going to take a while. Thunderbird consumes all the RAM because of the settings! I have to wait for Thunderbird to crash...

Win7 Pro x64

Modified by Alex

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How much ram do you actually have? My experience is you will have a very bad time on less that 4Gb despite claims of less in system requirements. Paging will drive you to despair if you have less that 8Gb really. It did me until replaced the device a month or so ago.

What processor do your really have under the hood. Again system requirements are set for something minor. But reality is that is rubbish. Likewise the disk requirement are entirely fictional. A full install requires more disk space that that shown in system requirements.

You might want to try the standard diagnostics that follow to see if you can determine the actually cause of the CPU issue.

  • Restart Thunderbird with add-ons disabled (Thunderbird Safe Mode). On the Help menu, click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled". If Thunderbird works like normal, there is an Add-on or Theme interfering with normal operations. You will need to re-enable add-ons one at a time until you locate the offender.
  • Restart the operating system in safe mode with Networking. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OSX
If safe mode for the operating system fixes the issue, there's other software in your computer that's causing problems. Possibilities include but not limited to: AV scanning, virus/malware, background downloads such as program updates.

I just reexamined the support link of posed earlier. That issue is exactly what you have, the product stops responding when you open preferences. but for some reason you have determined it to be something else. Why would that be. Thunderbird should be to 91.2.1 by now, have you updated to the latest version?

BTW junk is managed on a per account basis from account settings.

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Hello,

This is incomprehensible! When I switch to "Safe Mode", everything is fine. If I go back to normal mode, disabling all the add-ons, it's not fine anymore! Thunderbird loses its mind as soon as I go into the settings... The processor is not overloaded. But the RAM fills up slowly until it is full...

My config : - Win7 Pro x64 - Intel i5 4 cores - 2 x 4GB RAM

Thunderbird is at version 91.2.1

Additional modules : - MailHops - Signal Spam - ThunderHTMLedit - DKIM checker

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Hmm, there are antivirus product that inject their filers into Thunderbird as addons. These do not show up in Thunderbird, they really are only obvious if they add buttons for scam or spam or such and about the only time we become aware of them is when their listed in cash reports as addons.

Among the other things like disabling graphic hardware acceleration troubleshooting / safe mode prevents these injections into the running application as addon are disabled.

What anti virus are you using?

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I don't own an anti virus... Microsoft anti-virus is disabled. I have always thought that caution and wisdom are worth an anti virus ;)

In addition, the absence of anti-virus software means that you have to be vigilant. When I say vigilant, I mean common sense. Don't open attachments, don't download .exe's from sharing sites (and especially sites like ygg specialised in .torrent). Use virustotal.com when in doubt. And so on.

Modified by Alex

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What's up? My answer is subject to the approval of a moderator...

So I said: I don't have anti-virus software and the Microsoft anti-virus on my machine is disabled.

I reassure you, my machine is not infected. I have detection tools that I use regularly (ESET Online Scanner & Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool). I am also a loyal user of the site virustotal.com.

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Chosen Solution

Alex said

Hello, This is incomprehensible! When I switch to "Safe Mode", everything is fine. If I go back to normal mode, disabling all the add-ons, it's not fine anymore! Thunderbird loses its mind as soon as I go into the settings... The processor is not overloaded. But the RAM fills up slowly until it is full...

If it works in safe mode, and add-ons aren't a factor, it's usually either a broken layout or incorrect hardware acceleration setting. For the latter, uncheck it in Preferences/General/Indexing in normal mode, then restart TB. To repair the layout, launch in safe mode, 'Reset toolbars & controls', 'Make changes & restart'.

If you can't access Preferences in normal mode, remove any language packs from the Languages section of the Add-ons Manager.

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Hello,

Halelujah! It seems to work! :)

I disabled the hardware acceleration, without any result. A "Reset toolbars & controls" did not change anything. And then, the miracle! By removing the language packs (English & French) it works !!! :-D

I'll wait 2 or 3 days to check that everything works properly and I'll mark this topic as solved. Thanks a lot, sfhowes ;)

Alex.

EDIT : Post in French. Translation to English.

Modified by Alex

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There is no point in waiting. I have been "torturing" the settings for over 30 minutes and have re-enabled hardware acceleration.

The problem was the language packs.

Thanks again to you, Sfhowes! :)

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I also want to thank Matt who helped me from the beginning. Thanks a lot Matt ;)

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I was experiencing the same symptoms. I am running Windows 10 21H1, and upgraded Thunderbird directly from 78.14.0 to 91.2.1.

I spent considerable time troubleshooting and trying various suggestions in other threads before figuring out that it was indeed the language pack. I had set the General Language to "English (United Kingdom)" AND had the "English (GB) Language Pack" (version 91.0buildid20211020014537).

Deleting the language pack solved the problem. Reinstalling the language pack reproduced the problem.

I re-enabled all extensions, indexing, and hardware acceleration, and added the English (GB) dictionary (not the language pack). Everything seems fine now.

When uploading my screenshots, I noticed that my Date & Time Formatting is set to "Regional (Canada)" instead of "Application (United Kingdom)". Could this have been a factor? If I have time, I may experiment further. For now just noting the observation.

It seems to me that the Language Pack is redundant with the "General/Language" setting. I hadn't really noticed it before. Are they somehow conflicting with each other? The Language Pack version is obviously recent so it's not a compatibility issue with something old.