Configuring my email client on xampp-win32 for example.com

i am configuring zen cart 1.51 using the e start book. i have installed xampp "xampp-win32-1.4.16 (1)" cofigured apache, configured mercury, and have downloaded and am trying to configure email clients, book page 42 however the version of mozilla thunderbird i have is 45.0 and when i use thunderbird mail account set up to install the email accounts for the test customers i get the message " thunderbird failed to find the settings for your e mail account " i have followed the various suggested steps in manual setup but have been told by mozilla support that this is because i am using example.com which is not a real domain name can anybody tell me what i need to do to set up these email accounts , and is it possible on the thunderbird version i have or do i need to try and find an older version. help keith

I must ask, why are you installing a 4-year old version of Zen Cart when there are 4 newer releases?

email client software like thunderbird works with the real email account and the valid smtp/pop3 settings;
so, ask your email service provider (or google search) to find out the smtp/pop3 settings detail first;
there is no direct relationship between ZEN CART and the EMAIL CLIENT;