Hmm. Interesting problem. Let's start with this;

Let’s do a full clean re-install;

Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}

Save the file. Then Close Firefox.

Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.

Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86) Note: Check Both Folders

Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac

Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux

If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Look for, and remove any Mozilla or Firefox program folders. Do not remove the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.

Do Not remove any profile folders.

After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

Look on your desktop. Do you see a folder called; Old Firefox? Look inside. Look for the folder with the latest creation date.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible

Hi TLPoirier, the Refresh should have moved your old profile folder with your bookmarks and other data to your desktop inside a folder named Old Firefox Data. Can you find that?

Please make a backup of that somewhere safe if you get an urge to use Windows' system restore feature again because that could flush it permanently.

Next, before proceeding with further troubleshooting, please shut down and restart Windows to free file locks and complete any deferred updates.

And then try the articles in Fred's reply.

Thanks Fred...I just spent the last 4 hours re-inputing usernames and passwords for as many pages as I could remember, not all for sure and just saw your message. Yes indeed there is a folder there with Old Firefox Data, will have to revisit tomorrow as I am totally burnt out now.lol My fear is now that the old data will mess with the new data, again not going to do anything until tomorrow though...will check back in then. Thank you so much, Tracey.

The old data was saved 'as is,' so everything should be there.

I invited TLPoirier to a screen sharing session, and I'll give an update here once we are done.

Hi Roland, I don't see an invitation as such anywhere, I checked my spam folders as well...can you please send again? Thanks Tracey

oops hi tlpoirier, the screen sharing invitation feature doesn't work AFAIK, i must have clicked on it by mistake! my apologies! ...Roland

And please continue with the troubleshooting process as per what jscher2000 said:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1243663#answer-1180971

happy holidays!

....Roland

That's unfortunate, before I got the first responses to my question I refreshed Firefox and spent 4 hours re-doing passwords for as many pages as I could remember, over 50...it was a very tedious process of clicking on 'forgot my password' then trying to recall through trial and error what email I had linked to the account...now I am afraid that importing the saved 'Old Firefox Data' will override all of the new saved passwords and I will have to spend another several hours doing it over again...I was hoping for some guidance on how to import some of the data, like bookmarks etc without overriding the current passwords for those sites....or if their is a way to just view the files without importing them, at this point I'm afraid to double click and open any of them.lol Any assistance is appreciated. Thank you Tracey

Hi Tracey, do you have a complete set of data now? What's missing?

If you need to restore bookmarks

If you have newly saved bookmarks that you want to keep, add the optional steps:

(1) Optional - Export current bookmarks: Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks

(2) Restore using the menu, either:

(A) Restore a listed backup, or (B) Click Choose File and point Firefox to Old Firefox Data, into your old profile folder, then into the bookmarkbackups folder

Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer

(3) Optional - Import the file created in Step 1: Import Bookmarks from an HTML file

(4) Reorganize as needed while you are in the Library window -- for example, you may find an Imported Bookmarks folder at the bottom of your Bookmarks Menu, or you may find a few duplicates of the built-in bookmarks.

Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.{web link} I use an add-on that makes backups of my user profile, Just In Case. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with the current Firefox.

Every now and then, open the profile folder and create a copy of the current profile as is to another location on your hard drive. This way you will have a backup.

If you do this each day, you will not lose much data. This should be done with Firefox Closed.

Note: In case you need to restore from these backups, you may need to overwrite old or corrupted files.