This isn't a third-party thing, it's part of Thunderbird 68+

{EDITED} At least in my case: the pop-up was *right* yesterday (I had 68.2.0-64 installed, but 68.2.1-64 was current) and "help-about" and the "check for updates" were incorrect about Thunderbird being up to date. And all seemed well when I posted, but now it's popping up again.

If you're getting the pop-up you can try downloading and installing the most recent version from here:

https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/all/

However, the pop-up may return anyways, IMHO something is borky with the "check-for-updates." Besides the incessant pop-up there is the matter of other places in T-Bird claiming it is "up to date" when it isn't. {/EDITED}

Klarah Fenderson said

This isn't a third-party thing, it's part of Thunderbird 68+ At least in my case: the pop-up is *right* (I have 68.2.0-64 installed, but 68.2.1-64 is current) and "help-about" and the "check for updates" are incorrect about Thunderbird being up to date. If you're getting the pop-up try downloading and installing the most recent version from here: https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/all/

I believe Klarah has hit the nail on the head: The pop-up is right; ignore whatever else TB tells you and do the upgrade. Best is to upgrade from the web site and not by clicking "update now" or whatever in the pop-up. I have done this and now have a newer version than the one that TB Help/About told me was the current release. I'll see if the pop-ups go away...

I am at 68.2.1 according to Help > About Thunderbird, and got the pop-up message today (11/04/2019) when I clicked on the first email in my Inbox. The download from the website link from above, today (11/4/2019), still says 68.2.1 and the file properties (CRC32 Hash Value) are identical to the one I downloaded and installed 11/1/2019. Even though the install file properties were same as the previous one, I ran the install with the new download copy, just to be sure, but it is still at version 68.2.1, so at least for me, this problem is still not solved because I was up to date and still got the pop-up message.

Well indeed. I was on 68.1.1 (64-bit) while the newest version is 68.2.x. Thunderbird did not update automatically. Updated manually, we will see now.

There are clearly users on the correct, most recent version who are getting messages telling us that we need to update when we definitely don't. Posting a response that you were indeed needing to update isn't helpful, because that is not the issue. Maybe you need to start a thread for that.

There's also this thread...

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1269619?page=2#answer-1264579

Seems the same one ( aside from the irrelevant posts; "Oh I needed to update...") And I note the mention of Kaspersky - which adds to the impression that this is the clash.

terrybernstein said

Posting a response that you were indeed needing to update isn't helpful, because that is not the issue.

It was intended a "have you tried?" post.

And I started receiving the pop-up again today, which still leaves me as yet another who is up-to-date but getting the pop-up, and I'll be adding a note to my previous post accordingly.

---

Thunderbird 68.2.1 (64-bit), release update channel.

I did have the 32-bit version previously installed. I uninstalled via add-remove programs before installing 64-bit.

My only "version checker" (SUMO Lite) is a stand-alone that only runs on demand and doesn't add anything.

My only T-Bird add-on is Lightning.

wbforbestx said

I believe Klarah has hit the nail on the head: The pop-up is right; ignore whatever else TB tells you and do the upgrade. Best is to upgrade from the web site and not by clicking "update now" or whatever in the pop-up. I have done this and now have a newer version than the one that TB Help/About told me was the current release. I'll see if the pop-ups go away...

Sadly, I was wrong, the pop-ups are like the proverbial cat that came back the very next day.

The suggested removing the update folder didn't work. Still getting the poxy messages.

Hi everyone, There hasn't been a reply from the question owner in over a month, and this thread is starting to get used by others. Your issue may have similar symptoms, but it might have a different cause/solution. You should use https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new where volunteers can get more details about your setup.

Because more people might start using this thread for their own questions, I'm going to lock it.

RE-OPENED AT THE REQUEST OF THE QUESTION OWNER

I, too, am still getting the pop-up messages, though they may be occurring only when there is truly a new update available. As best I can tell, the following observations are valid: a) TB 68.x.x is not able to update automatically when a new version is available on the release channel; b) When the update fails, you get a pop-up alert to that effect; c) If you check "TB About", you're told that TB is up-to-date, which in this case is false; and d) If you "manually" install the latest version, TB About is updated to report the newly-installed version number. I would say that a) and c) of this list constitute bugs. Of those, I can see how a) might be somehow due to the influence of Kaspersky or other security software, but I don't see how c) could be caused by a 3rd-party security app.

Is it time to create a Bugzilla report?

Earlier today I installed TB 68.2.2 and just now got the pop-up telling me that TB can't update to the latest version. I confirmed that no new update has been released in the past few hours by going to the TB download page and clicking the "Free Download" button; that produces a pop-up box to download "Thunderbird Setup 68.2.2.exe". So that puts me back to square one - this annoying pop-up notification does not depend on there actually being a new update available. However, note that when a new update *is* available, Help/About says, falsely, that TB is up-to-date and shows the version number to be the currently installed, out-of-date revision.

Clearly TB update is screwed.

As yet no one has posted that it's happening to them
and they have a different AV programme, so Kaspersky isn't by any means off the hook.

Any one of the a) b) and c) above could be screwed by Kaspersky intercepting calls to Windows subsystem - especially if it's an illegal system call

I am also having the same issue.

I also have 68.2.2 64 bit and every 24 hrs get the update pop up. This is after removing TB completely, sanitizing system, and then reinstalling 68.2.2 from scratch...

I'm having the exact same issue and I too have removed, sanitized and reinstalled TB to no avail.

Owners Gamer said

I also have 68.2.2 64 bit and every 24 hrs get the update pop up. This is after removing TB completely, sanitizing system, and then reinstalling 68.2.2 from scratch...

Do you use Kaspersky Total Security or other Kaspersky security product?

Bill said

I'm having the exact same issue and I too have removed, sanitized and reinstalled TB to no avail.

Likewise... Do you use any Kaspersky security product?

What has Kaperskis to do with a Thunderbird issue when TB is whitelisted with Kaperskis util to be ignored? I was getting same issue with Windows defender active in place of Kaperski's, TB would pop up with update notice. Even when I do have latest TB version, there is a pop up saying it needs to update.............

So far all the posts have been from people who are using kaspersky, or at least don't say they aren't. A parallel thread ( now closed) was the same. So we need to know if you are an exception. Was Kaspersky present on your system? Clearly you are a Kaspersky user - so the thread holds, in some manner. Whether Kaspersky is a red herring is another issue. But so far it seems to be a common factor. There are enough posts to show there is a definite issue. But is it one in which TB update is, for example, trying to access some part of Windows system that AV software doesn't trust it with?