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Can't start Thunderbird

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comtech5
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Can't start Thunderbird

When I try to launch TB, I get a new window "TB appears to be running from a location that is read-only. Would you like to temporarily copy it to the local hard drive and run it from there?"
I've gotten this error msg many times before and was always able to resolve it somehow. I cannot this time.
I tried chkdsk and no problems found.
I've very recently compacted my inbox.
I tried re-installing TB v8 software and this didn't help either.
This all started the day after I upgraded to v8. Don't know if that was a coincidence or not. But v8 did work for a while. FireFox Port from the same drive works fine though.
WIN7/x64

3D1T0R
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Set to ReadOnly?

I'd check the properties of the ThunderBirdPortable folder to see if it (or some of it's contents) has been set to Read-Only.

Check "Read-Only" status (and remove it)

  1. Right-click on the PortableApp's (i.e. ThunderBirdPortable) folder (usually X:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable)
  2. Click Properties
  3. At the bottom of the "General" tab there is a section named "Attributes" containing a check-box labeled "Read-only".
         If this check-box contains a check-mark [✓] the whole folder is set to "Read-Only".
         If it contains a square [] some of the files and/or folders within it are set to "Read-Only"
         If it's empty [ ] I don't know what your problem is.
  4. If the "Read-only" check-box is not empty then click it till it is, then push OK (Or Apply, then OK if you prefer).

Hope this helps; if it does (or if it does not) let us (the forum members) know.

~3D1T0R

comtech5
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The read only box is

The read only box is unchecked.

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3D1T0R
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$PROFILEDIRECTORY\writetest.temp

If you go to the folder containing your ThunderBirdPortable Profile (usually X:\PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\Data\profile), is there a file (or folder) named "writetest.temp" (Capitalisation doesn't matter, Windows' handles files in a case-insensitive manner)?  If so, Delete it; if not, Create it (just make a new, blank TXT file, and rename it), make sure it isn't set to read-only (or encrypted or anything fancy).

P.S. That "writetest.temp" file is created by the Launcher to check whether the current location of TBP is writable at every launch, so if it can't write to it, it'll complain (as per your experiences).

~3D1T0R

comtech5
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Unable to open "profile".

Unable to open "profile". Won't display contents. New window asks me what program do I want to open it with?
Profile file size 8.00Kb

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John T. Haller
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Drive Issue

In that case, it's the drive, not the app. You either have a logical error or the physical drive itself is just about to die. Copy everything you can off of it. Keep your most recent backup handy for the stuff you can't recover.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

comtech5
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Good advice, thanks

Good advice, thanks John...Now the "profile" file is missing altogether.

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Chris Morgan
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Because it was corrupted

"profile" should have been a directory. When file system corruption occurs and a directory is affected, it can do this. At that stage there is unlikely to be anything that can be done to fix it.

I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1

comtech5
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Is my data likely gone? Or am

Is my data likely gone? Or am I still good with that?

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John T. Haller
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Gone

When a drive gets to this point, the data is often long gone. Whenever you notice ANY behavior anything close to this, copy your data off the drive AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING NEW TO THIS DRIVE. Everything new you write could be destroying something already on this drive. Stop using it for anything except getting your data off of. If you don't have a recent backup, you could try a data recovery tool on your drive to try to recover the files you can't access.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

comtech5
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Thanks John. I don't doubt,

Thanks John. I don't doubt, but just curious, why would the hardware fail only at the spot on the drive where the data is most critical? Meaning the profile directory?

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John T. Haller
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Writing

That could have been where it was writing. Drives will start failing there. Unless you did an unsafe eject (manual remove or PC crash) or used one of those nasty 3rd party eject utilities which crashes apps, which may also cause this.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

comtech5
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I've decided to send the

I've decided to send the drive out for recovery. Which folders/files contain the data I would need to restore?

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