Thunderbird Questions

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BobH
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Thunderbird Questions

Post by BobH »

Having searched for answers without success, I come here - hat in hand - asking begging for help.

First, which version of TB should I be running, 32 or 64 bit? Why?

Second, TB continues to vex me with password management. It's my impression that it changes passwords for accounts on its own, although I know that is unlikely if not impossible. Furthermore, it hides where it stores passwords from me. KB articles are no help because they reference menu choices that do not appear in version 102.12.0 64-bit.

Can someone, please, give me instructions for finding and changing passwords in TB. My ISP is sending me messages that PW authentication failed. I finally figured out the navigation to change PWs at my ISP but I cannot find the same in TB. Before you ask, I store my mail account PWs in roboform so that I can recall the last used PW when I encounter these problems.

Third, does anyone know if there is a limit in TB on the number of accounts it will manage? I'm having trouble adding accounts despite following the procedures for doing so and receiving confirmation that they have been added; yet they do not appear in the list of accounts in the window at the left of the screen.

FWIW, I've posted these questions with Mozilla but based on past experience don't expect to receive responses for some time .

:cheers: :chocciebar: :thankyou:
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by ChrisGreaves »

BobH wrote:
27 Jun 2023, 18:39
... I'm having trouble adding accounts despite following the procedures for doing so and receiving confirmation that they have been added; yet they do not appear in the list of accounts in the window at the left of the screen.
Hi Bob. Pension day here.

(1) This morning I went to email money to my accounts and found that the three banking email accounts I had set up in Thunderbird were no longer present. My regular GMail was still in force. I ***think*** last month I found that GMail sets a limit of four accounts. Certainly I cannot use my phone number too often

(2) I tried logging in to GMail under a savings account in and was told (1) that the account did not exist, so I pedaled off to w/d cash and grocery shop around 10:15, and when I returned at 11:45 an email was downloaded to Thunderbird telling me that that Motus amount was ready to be deposited. So I have clicked etc and Motus says "Thank You".

(3) While I can once again use Thunderbird with GMail, I am receiving two copies of GMails, about one in five incoming emails is duplicated.

I am therefore having problems with Thunderbird/GMail/Banking applications, and in a non-co-operative sense.

I don't know the answer to your problem, but to my mind there is something rotten going on, something which is upsetting The Natural Order of Things.

Cheers

(1) 09:25:55 sent 405 to Motus, 300 to SB. The SB is complete in less than 60 seconds. SB is autodeposit, so I can, at this time, w/d the $300 cash and go grocery shopping. By 09:58:39 I have not heard from Motus. Gmail says that my email address CGBankMotus@GMail.com does not exist. And of course, the Motus acct is not credited with $405. By 11:44:42 an email arrives and I deposit the $405. What’s going on here?
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Rebel
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by Rebel »

I don't recall whether or not I was given a choice when I initially installed Thunderbird, but I am using the 64 bit version of Windows and the 64 bit version of Thunderbird (102.12.0)

To view saved passwords (you did save them when you initially set up the your account didn't you?):
From the Thunderbird menu, click on Tools, Settings, Privacy and Security, Saved Passords, and then Show Passwords.

As far as I know, there is no limit on the number of accounts that can be set up in Thunderbird. If you have added email accounts properly, I have no idea why they do not display in the list of accounts.
John :canada:
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Rebel wrote:
28 Jun 2023, 14:37
From the Thunderbird menu, click on Tools, Settings, Privacy and Security, Saved Passwords, and then Show Passwords.
Thank you, Rebel. I followed your trail and found that in point (2) of my post above, I had forgotten that Gmail baulked at the phone-number limit and so I had set the email account under Yahoo.com.
You have saved me hours of debugging!
Thanks again :clapping: :clapping:
Chris
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BobH
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by BobH »

Thank you, Gentlemen!

I received a response from Mozilla Support to my Thunderbird question. For reasons I cannot fathom, the email announcing the response has disappeared as has the post and response on the Mozilla Forum web page (though I did click the button saying the issue had been resolved) or I would quote the response verbatim. Absent that, you must trust to my memory which is not as good short-term as it once was.

First, 'Donald' said that there is no 32-bit version; it has been discontinued and that only 64-bit is on offer. That conforms with my failed search to find a 32-bit version to download.

Second, I was told how to access PW in TB and it is just as Rebel reports. I accessed it by clicking the hamburger button at upper right then choosing Settings and then clicking the Saved Passwords button where I could then choose to display the passwords (which must be confirmed).

Third, 'Donald' said that he knew of no limit on the number of accounts that TB can accommodate. I continue to have problems adding accounts. This is, no doubt, an operator head space issue.

*********************
On to plowing new ground:
I am still vexed by email passwords. I went through the process of capturing the PWs that TB displayed onto a notepad (before deleting them). This involved typing - cut and paste is not available to this function in TB - the PWs, printing out the sheet, then confirming what I had typed verbally by reading them back from TB to my wife. Surprisingly, this has not yet ended our 62 year marriage, but it's a close call I think.

Having captured all the PWs that TB would display for me, I deleted them all from TB because I had read that doing so would simply cause TB to prompt me to enter them again whenever TB processed messages to and from each account. I must sorrowfully report that this has only increased the vexation. Yes the prompts work, but providing PWs I previously and carefully captured doesn't get past the requests to provide the PWs. Adding to the overall confusion, TB asks for each account's PW in turn and none so far has worked. TB continues to test PWs for accounts periodicallly (5-10 minutes) and returns messages when those tests fail forcing me to have to cancel the messages.

Continuing to overthink the problem, I reasoned that my ISP must have records of the email PWs for accounts under its domain name. Thinking that the corruption might have been and might continue to be at the ISP, I endeavored to capture what their files showed by my email accounts which turned out to be impossible as their web pages do not support this. My aim was to set them on my ISP to new, known values then use those values when prompted by TP for new PWs. This might have worked were it not for the very poor user interface provided by my ISP.

My ISP does not allow my to see what PWs are on file. Even providing all login security and security challenges for identification will not let me find those nuggets. Instead, their protocol requires that I must confess that I have forgotten the PWs (not at all the case since I was careful to preserve their values). This then forces me to go through the routine of resetting all PWs at my ISP. Guess what? This can't be done through direct editing because, remember, they won't let me see the PWs despite my having jumped through all the hoops and challenges.

To further complicate matters, I (try) to use Roboform to store and manage PWs. I say 'try' because Roboform sees any PW change as being the PW for the ISP account, not for each individual email account. Don't ask how many hours I spent before it dawned on my what was happening. Roboform is another rabbit hole I explored but let us just say that they use 2-part ID with email to confirm I'm who I say I am. With email totally glommed up, I can't get the email that I need to respond to to confirm I'm me. So, I have to resolve the email PWs issue before I can tackle the Roboform email PW issue.

And, to add yet another complication, I have ISP email accounts each requiring PW validation and gmail email accounts each requiring PW validation.

My plan of action for the moment is to ignore the gmail PW issues for now and concentrate on my ISP email PWs. I will have to allege that I've forgot my PWs in order to set up new ones. I will use Roboform to generate the PWs but I will store them in a file of me own. Once I complete this for more than half a dozen accounts, I will turn my attention to TB to see if I can get it to accept and validate those PWs with my ISP.

If all that works, I shall turn my attention to gmail account PWs and sync'ing them with TB.

If you've read this far, I commend your patience. If nothing else, perhaps you found it entertaining in a schadenfreude kind of way. :hairout:
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by ChrisGreaves »

BobH wrote:
28 Jun 2023, 22:52
I will use Roboform to generate the PWs but I will store them in a file of me own.
Bob, I'm with you on this.
When "password manager" software started poking its head above the sod I elected to manage a Password.doc (not its real name!) file on my laptop.
I roll my own passwords from a clutch of little macros.

Cheers, Chris
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aekyall
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by aekyall »

Interesting comment re there not being a 32 bit version. I've been following this thread out of interest and decided to check mine. Under "settings" - "General" - "Updates", my version is quoted as being Version 102.12.0 (32 Bit) and it is up to date (my W10 system is 64 bit) :scratch:
Regards,
Keith

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by ChrisGreaves »

aekyall wrote:
29 Jun 2023, 21:20
Version 102.12.0 (32 Bit)
"102.12.0 (64-bit)"
Cheers, Chris
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BobH
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by BobH »

That's interesting, Keith. I didn't find a 32-bit version to download. I'll look again.
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BobH
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by BobH »

There are 32-bit versions of Thunderbird available for Linux but I'm yet to find one for Windows. All of the ones that mention a 32-bit windows version have failed to download for me, so far.

UPDATE:
I found a 32-bit version of TB for Windows 10 but it is from a non-Mozilla source: https://www.filehorse.com/download-thun ... /download/

I downloaded it but none of the windows up to the installation steps contain information about the number of bits it addresses. I did not install it to find out, partly because of its source.
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Thunderbird Questions

Post by ChrisGreaves »

BobH wrote:
29 Jun 2023, 23:06
That's interesting, Keith. I didn't find a 32-bit version to download. I'll look again.
Bob, Attached is a screenshot of part of my \appl\ folder tree.
You might try searching for the specific filenames e.g. "Thunderbird Setup 102.12.0.exe".
I am currently running that version under WEin11(64)
I have older versions stashed away on my cumulative backup drive.
Cheers, Chris
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