Affected products:
Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) (Gnome Desktop)
Thunderbird 17.0.5
Firefox 20.0

Hello,

Having difficulty getting you more information than that. I believe it is Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) and everything is as up to date as that will let me get. (since added affected software and versions)

The problem is I can do almost nothing without Thunderbird greying the screen and then freezing. After that I have to force quit and restart. Restarting Thunderbird is kind of pointless because I can't really do anything.

There are 2 things that will ALWAYS cause the problem: Clicking anywhere on the Thunderbird menus and Right-clicking on anything. If I do either of those, it will hang-up 100% of the time.

The rest of the time, just normal use will cause either to hang (Thunderbird very consistently) within a click or two of anywhere in the window.

I have no idea what to do at the moment. This is a work machine that holds EVERY email we have ever sent or received. It goes back at least 5 years... probably 7-8...

Any ideas? I've tried safe-mode with zero success. I suspect some recent update of some mundane file totally broke these two, but that's purely speculation. It has been working pretty flawless for the last 7-ish years.

I double checked all updates that occurred recently. After downgrading a couple with no success (openssl and libssl), I attempted to load an older kernel (that also updated recently). Amazingly everything worked fine on the older kernel. I have no idea how that broke things, but it did.

Thunderbird 17.0.5
Firefox 20.0

Bad Kernel:
linux-headers 2.6.32-61.124
linux-image 2.6.32-61.124

Previous version kernel works fine.

Is it LTS SERVER? If you're using 10 LTS Desktop then it has expired and you'll need to update your system. Your kernels (good and bad) are quite old. It is not surprising that you're experiencing these problems.
jdk

It is desktop 10.04. I am aware of the age of the software. It is LTS and although it would be nice to update it, I have decided not to do that on a system that is used primarily for email and where stability is far more favorable than the latest and greatest.

I should note that although it is rather old, the software is still being maintained and updated as I am still receiving updates and the update is what broke the software (Thunderbird primarily). The rest of the software seemed to function quite well, however Firefox would lock up once Thunderbird locked up.

It appears to be a bug, despite the age of the system. The problem is solved now that I removed the latest version of the kernel. I have since removed the package that updates the kernel as well.

jdkaye

Quick serious question, is there a particular reason you suggest updating aside from the software and kernel being newer (and it possibly fixing my problem)? I ask because the hardware is relatively old, but stable. I would assume the kernel update would primarily be helpful with added functionality on newer hardware. Even though it appears (for unknown reasons) to have affected the functionality of the software, I wouldn't normally assume it would positively (or negatively for that matter) affect the software.

Thanks,
checkmate3001

A number of reasons are given on this link. I'd say the addition of new features, fixing old problems, security updates, general improvement of performance are a few of the many reasons for regular updating. Another reason is the fact that sooner or later you're going to update your hardware and most likely you'll install a current version of the software you'll be using. It will be a far less traumatic experience if you've kept your software reasonably up to date. Installing the latest system and using the latest system will go far more smoothly. I, personally, don't see a down side to keeping your system up to date. As a bonus, it gives you more confidence in your abilities and more knowledge about the ins and outs of your system. This can only be a good thing.
jdk