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Mozilla Thunderbird Portable Edition cannot be started.

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ebp184
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Mozilla Thunderbird Portable Edition cannot be started.

Is this the correct forums to post this question? I've also posted it under General Forums --General Discussion

I've been running Thunderbird Portable Edition from a USB flash drive for about three years. Today, when I tried to start the app, I received the following error message text box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mozilla Thunderbird Portable Edition | PortableApps.com X

Mozilla Thunderbird Portable Edition cannot be started. You
may wish to re-install to fix this issue. (ERROR:
thunderbird.exe could not be found)
OK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do not have thunderbird installed, only thunderbirdportable.

On the USB flash drive, there is a thunderbirdportable.exe (189 KB) in the PortableApps,com/Thunderbirdportable directory. The Date modified of that thunderbirdportable.exe is 12/20/2022 5:05PM. If I try to start that .exe, I get the above text box message.

Is there some simple way to fix this problem?

(Note: In the PortableApps.com directory, I see there is a PortableAppsPlatform.exe and a PortableAppsUpdater.exe , both dated 1/11/2023.)

John T. Haller
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Check for Errors, Backup, In-Place Reinstall

This means the copy of Thunderbird within Thunderbird Portable is missing and can't be located. This can happen if you manually delete something within ThunderbirdPortable\App or if your drive encounters an error and corrupts some files.

First, check your drive for errors. Right-click on your drive in Windows Explorer, select Properties, then the Tools tab and click Check and then Scan.

Next, backup your drive just to be safe.

Finally, do a manual in-place upgrade of Thunderbird Portable. Download Thunderbird Portable. Run the .paf.exe installer and do a Standalone Upgrade of it. This is the same thing the platform usually does on upgrades and won't affect your data.

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

ebp184
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Thank you very much, John

Back up and running. Couldn't thank you yesterday because I had been blocked from logging in until a multiple login error wait time had been satisfied, which, to my way of thinking, seemed a bit too long for practical purposes. (-:

Do you know whether SynkronPortable or Toucan can be configured to do a real time backup copy of ThunderbirdPortable Mail...analogous to having a mirrored drive? I'd like some way of not having to manually back up my e-mail every day. Of course, I have no idea whether a proper manual backup requires backing up the entire Data folder, or just the Profile folder, or just the Mail folder; so, I've been manually backing up the entire Data folder. -- I'm on Windows 10

John T. Haller
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Not Offhand

The built-in Windows backup (Windows 10/11) would likely be the best option for that.

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

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