Thunderbird is already running, but not responding

Asked By dinacallway 1220 points N/A Posted on - 06/20/2011

Hello everyone,

I was using Thunderbird this morning, and by chance I closed the program. I got back, but suddenly, when my work is in progress, I often experience this error message that says, Thunderbird is running but is not responding.

Close Thunderbird

Thunderbird is already running, but not responding. To open a new window, you must first close

the existing Thunderbird process, or restart your system.

OK

I immediately restart my computer and go back to work, and again in the middle of my work, same error message came across my screen. With much frustration, reinstall Thunderbird and return to work, same error scenario experienced. In my last hope, I checked my computer for any viruses not found none. So that has come to the conclusion now the problem is now with Thunderbird. Please share some Ideas.

Thank you.

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Best Answer by Walsh

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Answered By junepinto 0 points N/A #123655

Thunderbird is already running, but not responding

Hi dinacallway!

 

Sounds like the lock file isn't getting deleted when you exit the program. Look at ~/.mozilla-thunderbird/[RANDOM_NUMBER].default/ for a file called lock. (Note that [RANDOM_NUMBER] isn't the literal name of the directory, it represents a random-looking character string that's different for everybody.) If there's a file called lock, delete that and you should be all right.

 

Remove the profile lock file.

 

The application may have shut down abnormally, leaving the lock in place. To fix this, open the profile lock and delete the file,

 

• "parent.lock" (Windows),
• "lock" and ".parentlock" (Linux), or
• ".parentlock" (Mac OS X).

 

For Mac OS X: You need to use a free utility like Onyx or Maintain to turn on visibility of invisible files to show ".parentlock". This file contains no information, and deleting it will unlock the profile.

 

For Windows: If you attempt to delete the "parent.lock" file and receive the error, "Cannot delete parent: The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable", restart the computer and run the system Error Checking Tool.

 

Most of the times this problem is solved by the above method. If not you can try this other one.

 

May be one of your Thunderbird extensions: Minimize to System Tray (MinimizeToTray version 0.0.1.2006102615+) is enabled. Then uninstalled it, along with Buttons! (version 0.5.1).

 

Thanks for the question it was my pleasure to answer.

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Answered By Walsh 0 points N/A #123656

Thunderbird is already running, but not responding

Hi Dinacallway,

I understand that this is very frustrating to happen. Well, here are some tips on how to resolve this issue:

1. In your profile, check for http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder#Thunderbird and also find the file name parent and delete it. Then try to start your Thunderbird.
2. You can also open the Task Manager Ctrl/ALT/Del and see the processes tab. End the Thunderbird process by clicking it and restart the program. Then try opening Thunderbird.
3. Or you can find the C: Documents and Settings <username> Application Data Thunderbird. Then find and change profiles.ini to profiles.ini.old.
4. Or just close Thunderbird, then open-up profile manager: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_manager. Next, make a new profile and set your accounts. Then install the Thunderbird extension: https://freeshell.de//~kaosmos/mboximport-en.html.

Give it a try.

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• Posted on - 06/22/2011
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