Can you be a little more specific about the circumstances? For example: In TB, you click on 'WRITE' and then what appears? Or... do you go FILE - New Message, and again, what exactly happens?

Smokva, there is no problem in either case as far as clicking on the 'write' button or using 'file', 'new', 'message'. In both cases, the "write message" page comes up as it normally would. The To and From and Subject lines can all be entered, but the cursor does not enter (and cannot be placed in) the text typing space below. In all other respects than being unable to get the cursor into the typing space Thunderbird seems normal. As mentioned, the typing space is entered only when replying to a message, but not when creating a new message. Thanks.

Ahhh.... ok. I understand. Wow. Weird. Well, let's do a couple of basic things first to try and narrow down the origin of the issue.

1. Start Thunderbird in Safe Mode (MENU - HELP - Restart with Add-ons Disabled). Now try and compose a message. Does this work?

It made no difference in Safe Mode.

Of course not. That would be waaay to simple. :)

I'm a little curious about this disappearing cursor. I wish I could see it. I'm wondering if your composition/display settings are off. A few people seem to have had a problem with weird presets when upgrading.

Go to TOOLS-OPTIONS-DISPLAY-FORMATTING tab There's a little button that says 'COLORS' on the right hand side. Click it to view the text/background colors to ensure they are compatible (light on dark or vice-versa).

Now do the same thing in OPTIONS - COMPOSITION - General Tab In this case, there is no COLORS button. The text and background colours are noted right under the HTML heading.

How do they look? If they seem fine, just clarify the behaviour of the cursor when you click within the body of your message. Does it seem that it is still there just not visible? Can you move your mouse around and click on other things or does it s? If you press enter, does it look like spaces are being inserted ie. your signature is moving down?

Color settings are all fine - black on white. It is not possible to click within the body of the message because there is no flashing cursor. If you could see it there would be nothing to see. All that is there is the mouse pointer icon which moves around fine, but there is nothing to click on. Hitting Enter does nothing. This is a strange situation because we can do a reply to an incoming message and everything works fine.

Have you created a signature? Does it show up?

If not, try and do one real quick and see if appears (and where it appears) when you begin a composition.

We created a signature and it did not show up. Since we cannot get into the text box to compose we're not surprised it didn't show up.

Go into your account settings for the profile with which you are having problems.

Paste the following into the HTML textbox (make sure to tick it as well):

{br} {font style="font-family:'Century Gothic', sans-serif; color:#cc0000; font-size:12pt; font-weight:600;"}Darn Signature{br}{/font} {font style="color:#999999; font-size:11pt; font-weight:normal;"}For darn Thunderbird.{br} {/font}

This should create a signature that we can view. In addition, it should provide a break point (the two dashes) above which you would type in your text.

• • EDIT: Sorry. The html code was rendering so I had to change the brackets. So substitute all the left and right brackets for the greater/less than signs. And make sure that the /font is also within brackets.

The message that came into our inbox looked nothing like the above. We will try again, but this problem exists with all of our accounts - there are 5.

Sorry to say this accomplished nothing. Just as a check, I posted the following corrected HTML, per your instructions:

   
 <font style="font-family:'Century Gothic', sans-serif; color:#cc0000; font-size:12pt; font-weight:600;">Darn Signature
</font> <font style="color:#999999; font-size:11pt; font-weight:normal;">For darn Thunderbird.
 </font>

Actually, it kind of did accomplish something. Now I'm leaning more toward a corrupted download than I am toward a problem setting.

Ok, I know this sounds funny, but humour me. Clear your internet cache, cookies, browsing history etc... Restart your computer. Open Thunderbird in SAFE Mode. (Hold down SHIFT key while starting the application) and try and compose a message. If it doesn't work - probably won't don't panic - shut it down, and go to the Thunderbird site and reinstall it.

Sorry to say ... No difference with safe mode (did it again from within TB to make sure), downloaded version of 38.1 marked 'latest' (not sure what the difference is with the version marked 38.1, as both have the same date and time but... Reload worked properly (albeit many times slower than the initial upgrade), but no change at all to report.

There wouldn't be any difference between the versions. I was hoping that any corrupted file would be overwritten. But this is puzzling. You can reply without a problem. You can edit without a problem. You simply cannot compose a message (although you can specify the recipient and the subject matter). You do not have an antivirus program or you have checked to make certain it is disabled when it comes to Thunderbird.

I think that's a correct summary. I still get the feeling that it is a weird quirk. Something that just needs to be nudged back into place. One more thing comes to mind: Create a new profile. Don't delete any of the old ones, just create a new one and try and compose a message.

New profile was created. The use of the new data allows the addresses, subject, AND text to be entered. Hooray, BUT: the new profile has no access to the address lists or TB information. The outgoing address had to be entered by hand. How do we fix the real profile?

And I thought I had a temperamental computer! :) I'm surprised it's not using the default address book automatically, but go into your OPTIONS-COMPOSITION-ADDRESSING tab Make certain that Local Address Book is ticked (I assume that is where your addresses are) .Then go into your Account Settings for your profile, and under COMPOSITION & ADDRESSING, make certain you specify 'Use my global LDAP server preferences'. Or.... specify the address book if it is located somewhere else.

Does that work?

Just in case my reply didn't go out (we can't find the expected portion of the thread) here it is again: Instruction 1: I did check and the Local Address Book was already checked. Instruction 2: All accounts are enabled for global LDAP server. Sorry that there is no breakthrough to report, but we appreciate the dedicated support you are providing, Smokva! Neither of us wants to 'give in', because ther is an anomaly here that needs to be solved (if not understood), but at some point, we'll have to decide to revert to the earlier version. That would eliminate the possibility that this was all a coincidence, and that the disruption of tranquility was caused by, say, a Windows 8 automatic update, rather than that of Thunderbird!

I completely understand. I would hate for us to give up, but ultimately the most important thing is to get you working again. I just want to double check a few things. It's difficult when you can't see it and I just want to be certain I am not assuming something I shouldn't be.

1. The new profile you created matches an existing profile and you are able send, receive, and compose without a problem. 2. The new profile is in the same left window as your old profile... no new location. 3. You have double checked the settings on the new profile to make certain they match the existing. (From ports and servers to folders and customization). 4. In your old profile, you start typing the address, and options from your address book appear in a drop down list. 5. In your NEW profile - despite identical settings - when you start typing the address, you do not get a drop-down list despite the fact that you have numerous addresses that start with that same letter... and you have to fully insert the address.

Now, can you send yourself a test email from your new profile... sort of to get the ball rolling. As opposed to typing it in, go into Tools-Addresses and pick the address from there (I want to make certain that there is an association with the profile). Then once you receive it... compose a new message to the same account. Does at least that email address pop-up in the drop-down menu? What happens?

Sorry, but I'll have to admit having (or feeling as though) I have dug a very deep hole. So far, it seems as though allowing TB to do things automatically - such as setting ports - creates all manner of difficulties. We have had warnings from TB (lurid) about danger from possibly dangerous and uncertified servers, and alarms from AVG about being unable to scan emails because of encryption. CHecking at the email provider's site, we found that the settings being used previously (although copied from Outlook and seemingly quite functional), such as port numbers for POP/SMTP and SSL/TLS were wrong. As far as I know, none of these values were changed by me. Another 'discovery' was that in checking to see if the outgoing server data was set according to out provider's check list for TB, that it doesn't seem possible to access that for editing purposes. So, we have settings that were known to work before the update that do not agree with what the providers says the values should be, a new 'profile' (by the way, that word doesn't seem to appear in TB's lexicon) that permits data entry in all fields but which generates alarms both by TB and AVG, and the prospect of having to completely remove all of our email accounts and create them all from scratch, and by manual methods. We can even send out a message (to another of our accounts) using the new profile, even though that profile has an iMAP identity which caused a warning that This server is not iMAP. (The only one of our accounts that was so styled was Google G-Mail). The message actually got sent out and was received! Back at the provider's, it seems that it should be styled as iMAP, so why the message and why the connection always worked before, is baffling. The sound of shovels and the dimming circle of light from overhead makes me very nervous. So... The question I would ask now is whether these various settings have been written into a file that will be re-invoked and render useless any attempt to revert to an earlier TB version, or whether it is possible to regain e-mail that way?

Ok. I know everything seems to be a mess (and it is... somewhat.. sorry :) ) but let's take things one step at a time. The most important thing NOT to do is make assumptions. So let's try this from the start, and if you have some wine or whiskey, I would recommend you put the bottle on the desk. Past experience has proven to me things go much better with such companions. :)

Ok.

NOTE: It is not clear, but if you have created the new profile, do the following within it - not your previous ones.

1. Get your complete current settings from your email provider in hard-copy. This includes ports, servers, security connection, etc. Have them either email it or point you to the website. DO NOT COPY/PASTE and DO NOT have them do it over the phone. Humour me. (Note: Email providers can sometimes have more than one set of settings - SSL and standard. These settings are NOT interchangeable. You have to choose one or the other.) 2. Now check the settings of your profile and identify which match and which don't. Your incoming ports, servers and connection security are on in the server section of settings (as you know), but your SMTP server settings are found beneath 'Local Folders' in your folder pane. Select that and view your settings. Adjust as needed. 3. AVG, Norton, McAffee etc... are notorious for interfering with email clients by trying to do too much. Make certain that the AVG settings require it simply to scan the email or the bare minimum and leave TB settings etc.. alone. 4. Report back exactly what does or does not happen.

As for your actual question - to be honest, I doubt at this point that reverting back will help much. Settings and such have a tendency to stick with updates and backdates. But if you do choose to revert, the above is still relevant and necessary.

Waiting for update! (I'll have a glass of wine in the mean time).