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Thunderbird will only partially download my new email. For example 14 of 95, then it stops. And I have to hit get message again.

  • 8 replies
  • 3 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Matt

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Thunderbird will only partially download my new email messages. For example 14 of 95 messages, then it stops. And I have to hit "get messages" again. Then it gets perhaps 10 to 20 more new message then stops - like it was timing-out. And I have to hit get messages again. I keep having to do this until I get all my messages. This is really getting painful.

I have been a Thunderbird user for over 8 years - and have never had this problem before. This problem started about 3 weeks ago. Also, I am highly technical and have tried many of the basic fixes.

I have not change anything either. I have this same problem on my Windows 10 desktop and notebook, which have the exact same Thunderbird configuration and have been working fine for over a years.

I am using a POP3 email server run by Newtek (http://webservices.thesba.com/). I have my own domain. I have used their POP3 email servers for well over a decade. Others in my company, who use other e-mail client, don't seem to have the problem, that is occurring with Thunderbird.

I sync my mail with about 5 devices (Windows & Android) and keep about the last 15 days of mail on the POP3 server (about 250MB of mail in my box). I have not had any problems doing this for years. Thunderbird has worked like a champ, until now.

Thunderbird will only partially download my new email messages. For example 14 of 95 messages, then it stops. And I have to hit "get messages" again. Then it gets perhaps 10 to 20 more new message then stops - like it was timing-out. And I have to hit get messages again. I keep having to do this until I get all my messages. This is really getting painful. I have been a Thunderbird user for over 8 years - and have never had this problem before. This problem started about 3 weeks ago. Also, I am highly technical and have tried many of the basic fixes. I have not change anything either. I have this same problem on my Windows 10 desktop and notebook, which have the exact same Thunderbird configuration and have been working fine for over a years. I am using a POP3 email server run by Newtek (http://webservices.thesba.com/). I have my own domain. I have used their POP3 email servers for well over a decade. Others in my company, who use other e-mail client, don't seem to have the problem, that is occurring with Thunderbird. I sync my mail with about 5 devices (Windows & Android) and keep about the last 15 days of mail on the POP3 server (about 250MB of mail in my box). I have not had any problems doing this for years. Thunderbird has worked like a champ, until now.

All Replies (8)

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Do you have 'Fetch headers only' for these POP accounts?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1158693

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Fetch Headers Only = Not Checked (Off)

Are you saying that this should be turned on?

I do want to get the whole message and not just the header.

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You don't need to fetch headers only, but if you did have that setting, the current bug would affect you.

If the problem only began recently, it suggests the possibility of an update to a 3rd-party security program that is incompatible with TB (can be tested by running in Windows safe mode), or possibly the recent update to TB has introduced a bug. Downgrading to TB 45 could indicate if that is the source.

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I tried this possible fix, but I don't think it worked.

The guys at NewTek suggested this. I went from a value of 100, to 200... and then to 400 and did not see any significant changes to the problem. See their e-mail below.

Yes, I have noticed this problem recently - within the last few weeks. It could have something to do with virus checkers, but both of my Windows 10 machines use different virus checkers.

I will next try turning off the virus checkers.

==

Hi Jim,

If you see in both your tracert 4 and 5 there is connection issues between verizon-gni.net and veinAtlanta.com your ISP would be the one to look in to this issue for you.

I found a link on increasing the timeout for Thunderbird, look in section Change connection Timeout: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Modify_Thunderbird_settings

Thank You,

Randy M. Technical Support Newtek Technology Solutions

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On my laptop (brand new HP Spectre i7) all I have is Windows Defender for virus protection. I turned it off completely...

I got to 56 e-mails downloaded of 116 on TB - before it locked up and stopped downloading mail. This is better than 19 or 28 e-mails, but still no fix.

Also, my TB mailnews.tcptimeout is still set at 400.

By the way, I also have the same problem with the latest version of EarlyBird.

It might be something in TB that has changed recently...

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It's fairly common for messages to stop downloading in the middle of a stream when a corrupted message blocks subsequent downloads. The remedy is to access the account via webmail and delete messages received around the time of the interruption until normal downloading resumes. It's often just one message, but if there are several I imagine it could cause what you are seeing.

Adjusting the timeout is usually only effective if your internet connection is very weak or sporadic; antivirus interference is far more often the source of problems, although Windows Defender is relatively benign. Just the same, I have added the TB profile folder as an Exception in WD.

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About 18 hours ago, I made exemption for Thunderbird and EarlyBird in Windows Defender - and it still has the problem - perhaps even worse! I did the same on a machine running AVG, with the same result.

Now it is stopping around every 8 to 12 messages - then I have to hit "Get Messages" again. Maybe it is not WD? But this is getting very frustrating.

I am having to click get message 10-12 times to get all my morning mail... on each windows PC. My Android devices use Aqua Mail and they are not having any issues.

I can't believe that every 8th, 12th or 19th message is corrupt either. And this started happening about 3 weeks ago.

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What mail provider are you using?