my inbox messages are gone happened as v45 update was made avail (was not yet installed)
Email has been very slow, stopped responding, etc. for the last two weeks. This morning, email DID download from earthlink, but then all my messages in my inbox, both unread and saved (like saved forever) vanished at the same moment the Thunderbird 45 update downloaded. Before it was installed or activated. Installed v45 hoping it was a fix for the obvious crash that had occurred, but Inbox remained empty of all saved messages from 10/2/2011 to today's date. Strangely, there are some messages in the inbox dating from 7-3-2011 to 10-1-2011, coming from the two different @earthlink.net email addresses I've used for 20 years. Everything from 10-1-11 to now is gone. There are new messages waiting to land in Tbird, sitting in webmail, but "Get Messages" button results in zero activity by Tbird for these two email addresses. The Gmail address I have does not appear to be affected and the Earthlink ISP is not down. I have been unable to receive any email from earthlink. It looks as though Thunderbird is not even trying to get it. It's like throwing the stick and the dog just sits there.
I did not change the settings or passwords. I took the TB folder out of the MSE scan and that didn't fix it. Where are my messages and why can't I receive my earthlink mail? I don't know where to go for help.
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Email has been very slow, stopped responding, etc.
I don't know what 'etc.' means, however, the 'not responding' behavior typically is caused by anti-virus software messing with Thunderbird mail files.
all my messages in my inbox, both unread and saved (like saved forever) vanished at the same moment the Thunderbird 45 update downloaded.
This has got nothing to do with the update.
See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Disappearing_mail
Also, anti-virus software can cause corruption of mail files often causing data loss. What is your anti-virus software?
As I was trying to backup the profile 4-23, 8:50am, it says it can't read the "inbox", which was modified at 8:22am 4-22, which is when Tbird crashed and burned. There isI checked quarantine and its not there in my MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials is my AV) quarantine files. The only way I found it at all to back it up was by using the profile manager in Tbird; looking for it via local c:/users/****/, the entire "AppData" folder is missing. The profile is almost 6GB, so there is a lot of information there. But the 'inbox' cannot be read or copied.
I have tried the 'repair folder' option. I have restarted Tbird and rebooted my machine to no avail. Is there anything else I can do or is 5 years worth of email simply gone? The other thing I noticed is Thunderbird is refusing to even check for mail on that profile. How do I fix that?
I also tried the link for import/export add on described in the article you cited and it is not an available add on for Tbird any longer. I found 3 different Earthlink POP servers using the information in the article and there should only be one. I personally did not duplicate the servers on Tbird, but the program may have done it at some point. The additional servers that were added seem to have been created when I migrated the one profile from an old machine to a new machine. Which was over a year ago.
The current "inbox" part of my profile appears to be corrupted. Is there any way to 'uncorrupt a file?
it says it can't read the "inbox",
Sounds like anti-virus software did block access to Inbox.
The only way I found it at all to back it up was by using the profile manager in Tbird;
To locate your profile see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird
But the 'inbox' cannot be read or copied.
Try to start Windows in safe mode with networking enabled. - Win10 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/change-startup-settings-in-windows-10#v1h=tab01 - Win8 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode# - Win7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode
Still in Windows safe mode, start Thunderbird in safe mode. - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/safe-mode
Does the problem go away?
I also tried the link for import/export add on described in the article you cited and it is not an available add on for Tbird any longer.
Get it from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/