I get this when I open Thunderbird Portable:
Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features.
This is due to either corruption on the drive. Or formatting an external drive as NTFS on XP (which will mess up the rights).
If corruption, check for errors and reinstall Thunderbird Portable over itself.
If rights, right-click on the drive in Explorer, select the Security tab and add the Everyone special user with full control.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!