Can't start TB because it thinks one is already running
William B. Lurie
error message "An instance of TB is running, close it
or restart your system".
I can't find it in Task Manager, and have shut down and
restarted 3 times, always same result. In order to send this
SOS message, I'm running on my backup (clone) system.......
In Task Manager I see half a dozen SvcHost and ccSvcHost
items......I don't know which, if any, is this already running
Thunderbird.......
David Pyles
With Thunderbird closed, look for a file in your profile folder called
parent.lock and delete it, then try to restart the program. If you have
more than one profile, check each of them.
Dave Pyles
tjoen
> In trying to reboot and start running TB, I get the
> error message "An instance of TB is running, close it
> or restart your system".
Maybe a file ~/.thunderbird/??????.default/lock
Nir
Both, David and tjoen, already suggested to look for a lock file that Tb
maintains to check whether or not profile is still in use.
Here are some other possibilities that can result into this problem
William B. Lurie
I've searched every way I know how, and can't see a .lock file.
I did the chkdsk/r on the master drive; it found nothing.
I finally got to where we were headed when the error message
hit the fan, as a last resort, and *it* didn't work. Maybe that
tells a story in itself:
I copied the entire 'profiles' subfolder from this working
clone system, and pasted it in over the profiles in the
Master system.....XXXXX>ApplicationData>Thunderbird>profiles.
When I booted to that system and tried TB, I got the same
error pane.
I read all of the KB article, and if it gave any more alternatives,
I didn't see any.
So now I have the clone system to use as my Master, and I guess
I just have to wipe the old Master clean and do a "Save and Restore"
from the working system, to have a new Master again.
But is there anything else I can do with that Master? I'd really
prefer not to rebuild it *all*, just TB.........
Nir
I'd rather suggest not to go for restore for this type of issue.
As far I can understand profiles.ini file is now lost track of your
existing profile folder. As a result you are experiencing this issue.
Solution is easy.
Search for profiles.ini file[1] in your master system. When found move
it out of its place and keep it somewhere else.
Now start Tb profile manager[2].
Create a new profile. Note down the location of the profile folder (Tb
will display the location at the end of profile creation process).
Copy _content_ of working profile folder from your 2nd system.
Goto the new profile folder you just created.
Delete all content from the new one.
Paste the copied content in the new profile folder.
Start with your new profile.
[1]"http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profiles.ini_file"
[2]"http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager#Accessing_the_Profile_Manager"
William B. Lurie
thought I knew how these files get tagged and sorted,
I am now in a position where my most recent backup system
isn't acting the way I thought it should. I'm just going
to have to back up and regroup and get back on solid ground,
and get back to you when I have my backup working again.
Clarify one procedure for me, please. Let's say that in my
mailbox there is a folder named 'oldzeiss', and deep in the
profile there are files named 'oldzeiss', along with one with .msf
extension (I think). I take just the object 'oldzeiss', and
I make a copy of it (elsewhere), rename the copy 'newzeiss',
and copy and paste 'newzeiss' back right alongside 'oldzeiss'.
right alongside 'oldzeiss'. It is my recollection that, in the
past, closing and opening TB will cause both folders to appear
in the mailbox. That isn't happening in either of my systems
now. So you see I have two problems, and I really have to solve
the "no two copies of TB running" first, and I'll try to work with
your advice on that subject next. But I'd still appreciate that
clarification.
William B. Lurie
Your instructions were clear, and the links not to hard to read.
Did all that, and am now up and running in the new profile, on my
master system. I know that because I went back and looked at
profiles.ini ....
So my next questions are, do I live forever with fzi5fpk7.newname
as my operating profile, or can I simply delete the old profile
name under profiles, and rename this newname mess what the old
name was, dot default?
And eventually, I'm hoping you will comment on the mechanism
of new mailbox file creation. I'm aware of the "create new folder"
option, of course.
Leonidas Jones
> William B. Lurie wrote:
>> Nir wrote:
>>> On Sunday 22 November 2009 01:25 AM, William B. Lurie wrote:
>>>> Nir wrote:
> Very good, Nir!
> Your instructions were clear, and the links not to hard to read.
> Did all that, and am now up and running in the new profile, on my
> master system. I know that because I went back and looked at
> profiles.ini ....
>
> So my next questions are, do I live forever with fzi5fpk7.newname
> as my operating profile, or can I simply delete the old profile
> name under profiles, and rename this newname mess what the old
> name was, dot default?
>
> And eventually, I'm hoping you will comment on the mechanism
> of new mailbox file creation. I'm aware of the "create new folder"
> option, of course.
The 8 character beginning is the equivalent of the old slt folder, a
security measure. Your actual profile name is newname, the suffix.
Isn't that what appears in Profile Manager?
Regardless, if this is your only profile, the name is of no consequence.
Lee
Andrew DeFaria
The 8 character beginning is the equivalent of the old slt folder, a security measure.
William B. Lurie
has certainly been very helpful and educational, I still
find that the method of creating a new profile and copying
and so on, is not clear enough (for me) to be able to do
it reliably.
What always works for me, at the cost of an extra half hour of
computer time, is to copy and save elsewhere the objects that
change with time, mostly Mailbox in the profile. Then I run the clone
system, delete the Master Partition that won't start, do a Norton
Save & Restore of the Clone, and Restore it as the Active Partition
on my Master. Then I simply copy and paste the mailbox saved off
the Master, back into the Master. It's a slow, brute-force method,
but it is simple and it works.
Leonidas Jones
Well, you're using a sledge hammer instead of a screw driver, but if its
working for you, what the heck?
Lee
William B. Lurie
sophisticated method again, some time, because it's obviously the
*right* way to do it. Unfortunately, it's not documented thoroughly and
adequately all in one place, and I keep putting 2 and 2 and 2 together
and ending up with five.