My computer is killing me... Thunderbird users...?

All of a sudden I can't send email without server connection error messages. Spent 90 minutes with Centurylink on it and they finally punted and told me to call Mozilla. The number is no good. Google search revealed identical problems from 2008 (!). Suggestions? Archive my emails then uninstall/reinstall? Go to something else?

Who is your mail provider? Google? Centurylink? Outlook?

Did Centurylink turn on SMTP authentication? Other than that maybe the config file got corrupted.

I thought Mozilla killed the Thunderbird project a few years ago due to lack of resources which is why I stopped using it.

I can't help with your problem, but I can share that the latest Firefox update broke it on my primary machine (Win7; still fine on various Linux boxes). Connection problems, crashes, lockups. Miserable. Possibly something related, probably not, but either way I'm avoiding updating Thunderbird for a while.

Can you post the connection error message? Preferably without login information for obvious reasons? Without it it's kinda hard to figure out what's going wrong.

First guesses:

• It could be your ISP blocking connections to the server, particularly if you're configured to use port 25, particularly if this server belongs to a provider unaffiliated with your ISP.
• It could be the server upgraded to disallow registered user connections on an unencrypted port, again particularly on port 25.
• It could be your mail provider has made a change.
• It could be that your computer clock is wrong.
• It could be a change in security software, particularly if this change in behavior coincides with a change in settings or the installation of new software.

The message is:

Sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to Outgoing server (SMTP) smtp.centurylink.net timed out. Try again.

but it pops up instantaneously, not after attempting to clear. We spent 90 minutes making sure the outgoing and incoming server information and my settings were correct. I can send email if I access the Centurylink website and use my email function there, but I can't send anything through Thunderbird. Assuming I have to drop Tbird, what's the next best course of action?

Are you using port 25 or 587, and is TLS enabled?

Incoming server Port 995 with Connection Security SSL/TLS. Out server port 587, also with SSL/TLS

I normally have to set the outgoing server to STARTTLS as 587 can be used both with and without SSL so you have to send the command to switch from one to the other. Worth a try.

Nothing to add, but I'm a longtime T-bird user, version 38.5.1, and I've had no problems with it. Sounds like some sort of network config issue, but try another email client and see if that works.

Can anyone suggest another email freeware/shareware....?

Try whichever and see if it works. I've run into troubles with servers changing configurations, rending the client on my end unable to connect. My email service has changed several times over the years, requiring me to either reconfigure the account in Thunderbird (or whichever), and in some cases, simply remove and reinstall as new the account.

As well security. That one is often a real bugaboo. Turning it off or on, and in the two places Thunderbird has it. In fact this really trips me up more than anything else.

If you go to the web page of the email service you are using, they usually have the setup parameters their service requires. Have you gone through it carefully, comparing it to what Thunderbirds settings for your account are?

stroker wrote: Can anyone suggest another email freeware/shareware....?

What OS are you running?

1988RedT2 wrote:

stroker wrote: Can anyone suggest another email freeware/shareware....?

What OS are you running?

Windows 7

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/applications/windows-7-email-5-best-free-clients-903699

Cliff Notes:

Mozilla, eM Client, Inky, Claws Mail, Outlook.

Have you gone through the Centurylink pages about how to set up your email?

http://www.centurylink.com/help/help/index.php?assetid=239

and

http://internethelp.centurylink.com/internethelp/email-server-settings-1.html

How is your comfort level with command line tools? Are you comfortable with attempting a telnet session with the remote server to see if you can connect while not using Thunderbird, to see if your problem is Thunderbird or something else?

Mike wrote: How is your comfort level with command line tools? Are you comfortable with attempting a telnet session with the remote server to see if you can connect while not using Thunderbird, to see if your problem is Thunderbird or something else?

Sounds more like a Black Art than anything else to me...

Okay, it looks like the system lost all my log in for my original account through Tbird. I created a new account in Tbird and it seems to be a workaround... How to I nuke my old original ID in Tbird?

stroker wrote: Okay, it looks like the system lost all my log in for my original account through Tbird. I created a new account in Tbird and it seems to be a workaround... How to I nuke my old original ID in Tbird?

Going to vary depending on version. From mine, I think it's from "preferences" and "account settings" Menu button is three little horizontal bars at top right.

Older versions are different.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1026691

Spent an hour and a half on the phone with my computer teacher friend. He shared screen with me and figured it out. The help guy at Centurylink had me going to the wrong servers. We uninstalled Tbird a few times and matched up the new settings. Seems to be working fine, now. Happy endings. Ya gots to luv 'em.