Windows Question

[billbenson]

I use Linux not windows so this may be a very simple question.

My partner uses Windows with Thunderbird for email. I use Linux with Thunderbird. When I hover over a link in the body of the email, the actual email address is shown in a box on my screen i.e. xyz@spam.ru.

My partner is on Win 7 and Win 8 depending on which computer he is using. When he hovers over the link nothing is displayed. He can right click and copy and past but that's a lot of work just to see that actual email.

Is there a way in win 7 or 8 to display the link as he is hovering over it?

[Freelancier]

Depends on the software (Thunderbird, or is it displaying in a browser?), not the OS.

[Harold Mansfield]

That hover and see the link thing is a browser function. Not an OS function. What browser is he using?

[billbenson]

I know he has chrome. He probably is also using IE. I need to check.

However the browser doesn't make sense. He's hovering over a link in Thunderbird. We are both using Thunderbird, although Thunderbird isn't identical for Linux and Windows. You don't even need a browser open to view emails.

[Freelancier]

although Thunderbird isn't identical for Linux and Windows

There's your answer.

[billbenson]

Then does anybody use Thunderbird on a windows system where this feature works?

Oh, and I'll argue that it is an os feature. Freelancier, when I hover over your link in your signature, the link is displayed in exactly the same place as it is in Thunderbird on my screen. If two different programs (Firefox and Thunderbird) act the same way on one OS it looks, walks and quacks like the OS to me.

Hmmm, I just opened a computer with win 7 on it (I forgot I had a dual boot machine) and on IE while hovering over your signature link it displays the link in the lower left of the screen. That's the same place as my Linux machine.

There is absolutely nothing conclusive here.

[Freelancier]

Freelancier, when I hover over your link in your signature

And that's the browser doing it's job of interpreting the HTML link and displaying the pop-up tool tip when it finds certain attributes in the <a> tag. You said Thunderbird wasn't running in a browser, so you're comparing apples to oranges. I don't run thunderbird, so I can't confirm exactly how it works, I'm taking your word for that.

[nealrm]

Thunderbird does show the link, it can be found in the lower left corner of the Thunderbird window. Look at the very bottom of the window, there is a status bar. It's the same status bar that shows email download progress. You will see it on the left side.

[billbenson]

Thunderbird does show the link, it can be found in the lower left corner of the Thunderbird window. Look at the very bottom of the window, there is a status bar. It's the same status bar that shows email download progress. You will see it on the left side.

Exactly. It shows the link on my linux pc and my windows pc. It's not showing on my partners win pc.

[Harold Mansfield]

There is absolutely nothing conclusive here.

It's not a function of the OS. It's a function of each individual program or browser.
My guess, another program that runs at start up is interfering with it, or there's a setting in Thunderbird's tools or preferences that you can adjust.

The Thuderbird add on for URL tool tips is actually a Firefox Add on.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/url-tooltip/reviews/

So I'm still sticking with this is a browser or program issue or conflict. Not an OS issue. My OS does not open links from inside documents or emails.
My Browser does.

[billbenson]

Cleared it up. Its a business partner problem :)

It was working, he just didn't know it.

Thanks to everyone who tried to figure this out.

[Harold Mansfield]

Cleared it up. Its a business partner problem :)

It was working, he just didn't know it.

Thanks to everyone who tried to figure this out.

Ugh. It sucks trying to help people figure out things on their computer, especially when you aren't sitting right next to them. They will swear to high heavens that they are doing everything correctly and the thing just isn't working.
I go through it every week with either my Mom or my friends. It is very frustrating.

It may be a little easier to swallow if I was actually a computer specialist and troubleshooting computer problems is what I actually did for a living.

5 years, and people still don't get that is not what I do.

[billbenson]

I don't really have anybody I help anymore. When I did, I had a friend who was always getting viruses. Probably from clicking on anything and everything. I eventually restored his PC and did a clone of the HD to an external HD I had. I think I put his data on a separate partition so he didn't loose data. That made the family member type of computer help a lot easier.

[nealrm]

Depending on the email service that is used, some services will strip out links and leave the text. Since it is only text at that point, Thunderbird doesn't know it is a link. I also found this link about hyperlinks not working:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/hyperlinks-in-messages-not-working.