Re: Multiple occurrences of popstate.dat in inbox

[Eva]

On 1/7/2015 10:48 PM, Eva wrote:
> On 1/7/2015 10:08 PM, Burry wrote:
>> On 08.01.15 3:52, Eva wrote:
>>> On 1/5/2015 11:04 PM, Wayne wrote:
>>>> On 1/5/2015 8:27 PM, Eva wrote:
>>>>> On 1/5/2015 5:22 PM, Wayne wrote:
>>>>>> On 1/5/2015 2:29 PM, Eva wrote:
>>>>>>> On 1/4/2015 9:10 PM, Wayne wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 1/4/2015 8:52 PM, Eva wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 1/1/2015 11:36 PM, Ron K. wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Eva wrote on 1/1/2015 6:27 PM:
>>>>>>>>>>> Very confusing. I hope the following will make sense to someone.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I have thunderbird 31.3.0, Windows 7 on my desktop, my husband's
>>>>>>>>>>> desktop,
>>>>>>>>>>> and my laptop. I have a gmail account and an comcast account.
>>>>>>>>>>> Both
>>>>>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>>>>>> POP
>>>>>>>>>>> accounts. I have my thunderbird profile in dropbox. I use both
>>>>>>>>>>> Gmail
>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>> my Comcast email accounts on my cell phone and tablet
>>>>>>>>>>> (Android). I
>>>>>>>>>>> have
>>>>>>>>>>> set the Comcast account to leave messages on the server so that
>>>>>>>>>>> messages I
>>>>>>>>>>> have downloaded to my computer are still available to be
>>>>>>>>>>> downloaded
>>>>>>>>>>> on my
>>>>>>>>>>> husband's computer. There are 2255 messages on the Comcast
>>>>>>>>>>> server. I
>>>>>>>>>>> should get rid of at least 1000, I know, but they have to be
>>>>>>>>>>> deleted
>>>>>>>>>>> individually and it takes time.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> About my problem. I keep getting a variety of popstate.dat
>>>>>>>>>>> folders
>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>> files on Comcast and Gmail accounts. I delete them as I find
>>>>>>>>>>> them
>>>>>>>>>>> but am
>>>>>>>>>>> never sure if I should do that. Besides, it takes time to delete
>>>>>>>>>>> them
>>>>>>>>>>> individually. Here are a few samples of the currently 101
>>>>>>>>>>> files and
>>>>>>>>>>> folders. Dates "modified" go back to 2008 with most just very
>>>>>>>>>>> recent.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> popstate.dat, popstate-6.dat, popstate-7.dat etc.
>>>>>>>>>>> popstate-5.dat.msf, popstate-6.dat.msf, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>> folders: popstate-6.dat.mozmsgs etc.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I just sent myself an email from Comcast to Gmail on my cell
>>>>>>>>>>> phone. 3
>>>>>>>>>>> new
>>>>>>>>>>> Popstate.dat folders and 3 in the Gmail account and Comcast
>>>>>>>>>>> account.
>>>>>>>>>>> Did
>>>>>>>>>>> the same sending email from the desktop Comcast to Gmail.
>>>>>>>>>>> Another
>>>>>>>>>>> Popstate.dat folder. They seem to be empty as far as I can tell.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> To complicate matters there are two profile default folders with
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> same
>>>>>>>>>>> name. One is under AppData/Roaming the other in Dropbox. The
>>>>>>>>>>> first is
>>>>>>>>>>> 16.3MB, the one in Dropbox 1.5GB. Profile.ini points to the
>>>>>>>>>>> one in
>>>>>>>>>>> Dropbox.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I just don't know where to start looking for the problem. I've
>>>>>>>>>>> used
>>>>>>>>>>> Thunderbird since the old Netscape days but maybe it's time for
>>>>>>>>>>> something
>>>>>>>>>>> else. Hopefully someone can offer a suggestion before I abandon
>>>>>>>>>>> ship.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Eva
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> The job of the popstate.dat file is to hold the status of a pop3
>>>>>>>>>> mail
>>>>>>>>>> account while TB is active. The file will exist in the account
>>>>>>>>>> folder
>>>>>>>>>> of each pop3 mail account configured in TB along with inbox etc.
>>>>>>>>>> files
>>>>>>>>>> and there paired *.msf files. The popstate.dat file does not
>>>>>>>>>> use an
>>>>>>>>>> *.msf file, so thoes yopu have are an anolaly to be removed.
>>>>>>>>>> Also,
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> popstate.dat files with -numbers are an anomaly for removal.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> With Windows since Vista, user profiles by default are stored in
>>>>>>>>>> AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird. This is where TB keeps the
>>>>>>>>>> profiles.ini
>>>>>>>>>> file it uses to find the active profile to load at startup, even
>>>>>>>>>> though
>>>>>>>>>> your using a remote location at Dropbox. The default profile at
>>>>>>>>>> AppData/ was setup during initial install and before you
>>>>>>>>>> configured
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> Dropbox copy.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Why TB is adding additional serialy numbered dat files is not
>>>>>>>>>> clear to
>>>>>>>>>> me. A possibility might be connection to Dropbox communication
>>>>>>>>>> issues.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I keep deleting the various popstate folders and files but they
>>>>>>>>> keep
>>>>>>>>> coming, not just on my desktop computer but my husband's
>>>>>>>>> computer and
>>>>>>>>> our laptop.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I would try uninstalling Thunderbird and re-installing. Would
>>>>>>>>> like to
>>>>>>>>> save the mail in my inboxes and other folders and just delete
>>>>>>>>> whatever
>>>>>>>>> is corrupted, if that's possible.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I have used Thunderbird for many years on all computers and mobile
>>>>>>>>> devices without problems so I'm guessing something got corrupted
>>>>>>>>> recently.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Any suggestions?
>>>>>>>>> Eva
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> if like https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1106251 see
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> advice there
>>>>>>> Yes, same problem. I'm afraid I'm too illiterate to follow that
>>>>>>> discussion very well. I didn't see that there was an easy
>>>>>>> solution. Was
>>>>>>> there? Running for days in safe mode doesn't seem realistic. Is the
>>>>>>> problem solved?
>>>>>>> Eva
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There is no (yet) identified Thunderbird bug in that report. One
>>>>>> of the
>>>>>> theories is this is being caused by antivirus software. You would
>>>>>> want
>>>>>> to make absolutely certain that your AV software is not scanning your
>>>>>> thunderbird profile directory (and all its subdirectories).
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for the information. I have Norton Security Suite. AFAIK
>>>>> Nothing
>>>>> has changed in any settings since long before the popstate.dat problem
>>>>> began. I haven't been able to figure out what files the AV actually
>>>>> scans. I have the same Norton Security Suite on our other desktop
>>>>> computer and our laptop. Our tablet and cellphone do not have AV
>>>>> software. I could try contacting Norton customer support.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> IMO you'd likely be wasting your time. But regardless, 1) no AV
>>>> software
>>>> should be scanning your profile, but AV vendors have been known to
>>>> screw
>>>> up 2) speaking from experience, the fact that your AV software has not
>>>> changed and you have not had trouble in the past doesn't make you
>>>> immune
>>>> - sometimes just updating Thunderbird causes the problem.
>>>
>>> Well, yesterday there were no new popstate folders or popstate.msf
>>> files. Today I sent one message from my cellphone comcast account. Have
>>> not receive a reply but immediately there were 10 new popstate-X folders
>>> and popstate-x.msf files in my comcast inbox and gmail inbox on my
>>> desktop computer. So the problem is connected with cellphone use. I use
>>> the stock email app on my Nexus 5 (Android). Still puzzling as to why
>>> this has occurred just recently. And no solution in sight.
>>>
>> Have you tried to put both phone and computer on your desk,
>> and delete the unwanted maps/mail on both phone
>> and computer, until they show the same content?
>> then really shut down both and restart, dont use suspend.
>> That might work.
>
> I don't quite follow. The comcast account is a pop account. The server
> is set to keep all messages. When I open either desktop Thunderbird or
> cell phone all messages unread on that device are downloaded. Messages
> that are sent from the cellphone do not appear in the sent folder on the
> desktop and vice versa. Messages that are deleted from the cellphone
> inbox are not deleted from the desktop inbox and vice versa. I don't
> have any "unwanted" mail except the popstate-X folders and
> popstate-x.msf files. Those appear only on the desktop (and our other
> desktop and laptop) and not on the cellphone or tablet.
>
> Perhaps this is an Android problem? Maybe I should look there for a
> solution?
>
Whether the problem is with Thunderbird, Android, or Dropbox I don't
know but I removed my Thunderbird profile from Dropbox and put it back
in appdata/roaming/thunderbird/profiles and pointed the .ini file to it.
Did that on all the computers. No more popstate folders or files popping
up. I guess Thunderbird doesn't like dropbox or vice versa.
Eva

[Wayne]

"... I have my thunderbird profile in dropbox." Holy crap! Forgot about or missed that from your very first post I bet that can't be a good idea. You were only had thunderbird running on one PC at a time, correct?

[Eva]

I have Thunderbird on three computers. The popstate-dat-X folders and
files occurred whether the computers were off or on, whether Thunderbird
was running or not. Whenever I sent an email from my Android cellphone
or tablet the multiple popstate.dat-X folders and files would be listed
under the accounts on the desktop and laptop computers when I opened or
viewed Thunderbird.

I guess no one else has encountered this problem which is surprising to me.
Eva

[Wayne]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/quotecollapse/ (and there are others) will nicely solve the issue such that you never have to worry about scrolling again

Followups to m.general

On 1/29/2015 3:03 AM, Lindsay Graham wrote:
> If ever I saw a good argument for top posting, it's the last few
> messages in this thread. I will not read messages (or, if I do, I get
> very annoyed) where I have to scroll down through several screens of
> stuff that I've read before to get to the 2-3 lines of text that have
> been added. Yes, it could have been avoided if the contributors had
> trimmed, but a better by far solution is to have new messages at the top
> where one can see immediately the new message without worrying (unless
> you want or need to look at it again) about all the old stuff below..
>
> Lindsay Graham
> Canberra, Australia
>
>
> On 29/1/15 04:41, Wayne wrote:

>> "... I have my thunderbird profile in dropbox." Holy crap! Forgot
>> about or missed that from your very first post I bet that can't be a
>> good idea. You were only had thunderbird running on one PC at a time,
>> correct?

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>

[Tanstaafl]

On 1/29/2015 5:13 AM, Wayne <vsee...@lehigh.edu> wrote:
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/quotecollapse/ (and there are others) will nicely solve the issue such that you never have to worry about scrolling again

Been using it for a very long time, and it works well, but isn't
perfect, as there are a number of people who (very annoyingly) use
non-standard/custom quite characters/methods that quotecollapse doesn't
work with. I guess they think they're being cute.

Simply highlighting the text in context with what you are replying to is
by far the 'best' way to avoid the issue, as then only that text (needed
for context) is quoted.

[Wolf K.]

+1

Cut that, make it +100

:-)

--
Best,
Wolf K.
kirkwood40.blogspot.ca

[John Kaufmann]

On 2015-0129 09:44, Wolf K. wrote:
> On 2015-01-29 6:19 AM, Tanstaafl wrote:

> +1 ... +100

Editing to focus is not only 'by far the 'best' way', it's the (only)
RFC-compliant way.