Thunderbird Stuck in Endless Upgrade

Posted on July 25, 2007, under Web Dev/Tech.

The last couple of times I’ve updated Mozilla Thunderbird through the automated update, the upgrade process would get stuck somehow. I would go to open Thunderbird, and an error would popup that said:

“One or more files could not be updated. Please make sure all other applications are closed and that you have permission to modify files, and the restart Thunderbird to try again”

I would click ok, it would try to update, fail, and come back with the error message, going into an endless loop. In the past, I did a full uninstall and reinstall to get rid of the error message. This time that didn’t work. I did a little research, and found that a couple files in a particular directory weren’t getting updated, causing Thunderbird to keep thinking it needed to upgrade.

To fix the issue, without having to do a reinstall, delete everything inside this directory:

C:/Documents and Settings/<username>/Local Settings/Application Data/Thunderbird/Mozilla Thunderbird/

End of loop.

Update: Be sure to check the comments for alternative solutions.

Update II: As many of the comments point out, the primary culprit of this issue may actually be Logitech with their QuickCam software. I have a Logitech webcam as well, so that fits my scenario. I’ve had a couple run-ins with Logitech now that make me wonder if they are headed down the same path as Creative.

Update III: marcelotroubledwiththunderbird notes he had the upgrade loop issues and did not have QuickCam installed.

28 Replies to "Thunderbird Stuck in Endless Upgrade"

alf on August 16, 2007

Thank you very much for helpful information!

My Firefox was stuck in the same kind of upgrade problem, though it would start after OK-ing the error message a couple o’ times. Deleting everything inside the equivalent Mozilla Firefox folder did the trick.

That is, C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox

Miki on September 19, 2007

I have the same problem, but in WIN XP, I do not have those files at all. I can not delete 2 sys32 files from Thunderbird folder, until I deinstall Firefox first. The stupid thing is that I have TB 2.0.0.6, and the update is also 2.0.0.6. It happens automatically every week and I have no way to stop it. How the hell do I stop automatic update to the same release?

jess on September 19, 2007

Miki - my problem was Thunderbird in WinXP as well. You checked under Documents and Settings for your logged in user account and didn’t see that structure or files?

Isaac Rabinovitch on November 15, 2007

I just got bit by the same bug. Thanks much for posting the workaround.

Hard to believe that nobody has done anything about such a long-standing bug. And TB has many other issues. I’m really unhappy that Mozilla Foundation is doing so little to support ThunderBird. It’s not like they don’t have the resources.

If there were a good alternative, I’d switch to it. But there isn’t — all the more reason for me to be concerned.

John Feeney on November 16, 2007

I just experienced the same bug. Very sloppy by the developers, this is the kind of thing that turns people off open-source solutions.

Kevin on November 24, 2007

Thunderbird gave me this problem before too, however I can’t find the site I used previously to fix it. There’s one file in particular that causes this that you just delete/rename. But removing the files in the folder the original author specified does the trick and is easier to do Miki & anyone else having the same issue, make sure you have the folder option checked to view hidden files/folders to get the the ‘Local Settings’ and ‘Application Data’ folder.

Richard on February 27, 2008

Thanks a heap, this error was driving me mad!

Harald on February 28, 2008

Ok, what do I do again under Windows XP? I have switched on seeing hidden files, I still do not see the files mentioned here. I get to “Application Data\Thunderbird” and there I find to files and a directory called “Profiles”. Plus, a pointer to non-geeks: better always make a copy of anything that you erase but do not know what it is supposed to do. That way you can undo the erase, if need be (hopefully…).

Harald on February 28, 2008

… sorry I overlooked the “Local Settings” bit…

Harald on February 28, 2008

… and here is, what worked, finally. After erasing these files, right-click on mozMapi32.dll in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\ and rename it. Download a new, full version of Thunderbird from Mozilla, install and hope for the best. Worked for me.

Reto on February 29, 2008

Had the same problem: Haralds trick worked fine.. Thanks!

Felix on March 5, 2008

In fact, you don’t need to delete profile data. Just close Thunderbird, delete mozMapi32.dll (as Harald suggested), start Thunderbird, and it gets updated successfully. Unfortunately, I’ve been doing it for a year now.

norman on March 8, 2008

So this stops the loop but doesn’t fix the problem. Every time you try to update it will get caught in the loop again.

norman on March 14, 2008

In fact this is not a fix to the problem. Still can’t update whats a drag is that this is the first result in google

jess on March 14, 2008

Thanks for visiting again norman. This is what fixed the issue for me at the time, and apparently has helped some others in the past.

I can’t speak to if this fixes the loop now, as I no longer use Thunderbird. Have you tried searching Bugzilla or opening a new bug report there?

ianm on March 19, 2008

There are a number or programs that for no fault of mozilla lock the file mozmapi32.dll

In my case it was quickcam.exe which is used by a logitech webcam. ctrl-alt-delete click on the processes tab, click on ‘quickcam.exe’ then click the stop process button, then try opening thunderbird again. You may have to stop ‘updater.exe’ or something. Best close firefox and of course thunderbird.

jonmansey on May 2, 2008

quitting Quickcam.exe in the task manager fixed it for me too, seems like the mozilla folks should have a word with the logitech folks.

Mozilla Thunderbird stuck in upgrade | purple orange on May 2, 2008

[...] Thunderbird Stuck in Endless Upgrade [...]

acrobaleno on May 3, 2008

Many thanks ianm. Quickcam.exe was the causing the problem in my case as well. Very helpful site. It took me 5 min to fix my problem after googling it.

marcelotroubledwiththunderbird on May 4, 2008

Hi,
I found a different solution (or that it seems to be)

I also had this problem of the endless loop of error and re-update trial and the only solution was normally to kill the process from the task manager (winXP)

Before starting Thunderbird, I installed UNLOCKER, which detects the bottlenecks apparently. The thing is this time I had no problem at all and the upgrading went smoothly.

hope it helps

marcelotroubledwiththunderbird on May 4, 2008

I forgot to mention

I have none of the conflicting programs mentioned above (quickCam, spybot, etc), so there must be some other programs making troubles

Tracey on May 7, 2008

Thank you - all of your comments were really helpful.

Israel on May 8, 2008

all i did was quit logitech quick cam and it worked.

stevenstark on May 11, 2008

confirmed that closing the quickcam.exe process and re-trying the thunderbird setup worked for me, windows vista x64

Tracey on May 21, 2008

any suggestions how to stop Thunderbird from automatically getting the update again?

ditfos on May 31, 2008

I had been dutifully deleting those files, but quitting Quickcam worked for me as well - the update immediately worked! Thanks everybody.

Tracey - you can stop Thunderbird from automatically updating by (when you get it to start again using one of the ways detailed above)
Tools -> Options -> Advanced tab -> uncheck automatic check for updates [alternately, leave that checked, but select 'Ask me what to do' below - this will be more annoying, however]

caffeinelover on June 2, 2008

XP Pro, Thunderbird upgrade to 2.0.0.14. Endless upgrade loop until I killed the quickcam.exe process. Then it ran smoothly. Thanks.

ModemMan on June 16, 2008

I’m using an Acer laptop with inbuilt webcam (Logitec), as such doesn’t have quickcam.exe but OrbiCam.exe. Killed that process and thunderbird updated correctly.

Hello..and you are?