DruiD628 :: Tech Tips  :: ThunderBird Update MozMAPI32.dll Error

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Do you empower your Inbox by using ThunderBird 2?
Do you have a webcam? A Logitech WebCam? Are you using QuickCam?
 
I myself love using Thunderbird, I think it is a great product, it has some flaws but show me a perfect application. You can't can ya? Didn't think so, anyway carrying on.  I also recently purchased a WebCam, I was a little late to jump on that bandwagon. I picked up a Logitech QuickCam, it works well enough for what I needed it for, so no complaints... until now.  It all started today when Thunderbird wanted my attention, here is a little bit of that conversation:
  Me: "Yes, Thunderbird what do you need?"
Thunderbird: "I got me an update, come install it.  It's high time, you updated me."
Me:  "Thunderbird, now you know I keep you up-to-date, so of course I will install your update"
Thunderbird: "You're right, I know you take care of me. Thanks I appreciate that."
Me: "No problem."		  

Well after this exchange of pleasantries, I got stuck in a vicious cycle of, "Un-packing Thunderbird update" and "OMG Something is using part of Thunderbird are you SURE YOU CLOSED IT I CAN'T UPDATE THUNDERBIRD" (ok so that wasn't the exact error message but I was busy and didn't think to Capture the text)  anyway so I reboot... same thing happens on reboot. So I went out to Mozilla's site and picked up the new install. I tried installing it and received a message that MOZMAPI32.DLL was in use and it could not be updated there for setup would like my permission to exit... well it's not like I had much of a choice so I granted it permission to cancel the install. I disable my anti-virus (TrendMicro Internet Security 2008-- A DruiD628 Must Buy for Windows internet security) and tried again. Still nothing. So I start trying different apps that my mind is thinking might be causing it... nothing so I googled it.

That was when I came across this site: CronCast -- Just One Post blog posted by Kris which discussed the same problem I was having and also provided a link to MozillaZine's Thunderbird Support section regarding Thunderbird 2. Well thanks to these two pages I discovered the culprit to my problem... my webcam software hanging out in the background eating up my system resources, Logitech QuickCam.  I normally let this little bugger hang out on my system, I figure I have enough RAM and I can spare the cycles, no biggie.

Well I closed QuickCam and kicked off the install/update again and guess what, NO PROBLEMS! So I am running an up-to-date version of Thunderbird; Thunderbird's happy, I'm happy; all is well.  So if you are having trouble with  a MozMapi32.dll (most commonly located in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\ ) error while updating Thunderbird, simply look for the icon you see below circled in green, right click and then (left) click on exit. Then try the Thunderbird update again.