Firefox does not recognize the default profile it created. Bookmarks, etc., are unavailable. I have tried the boiler plate remedies, which have not worked.
My Windows 10 crashed, and with the repair some programs were lost, including Firefox and Thunderbird. However my profiles for both programs survived. The problem is that since I reinstalled Firefox, my bookmarks, passwords, etc., are no longer available. I have tried to use the prescribed remedies, like about:profiles, Firefox.exe-P, and so on to no effect. The profile, although it has been renamed a number of times by Firefox in the past few hours, contains what seems to be the original entries. The default profile is the only one, and it is referenced in the intalls.ini and profiles.ini folders. Any suggestions?
I have not yet tried to reinstall Thunderbird and put its profiles in place (addresses, etc.), but am expecting to encounter the same issues.
I may need walkthroughs to remedy both.
All Replies (8)
Hi Burl, Firefox normally doesn't rename your profile, so that's strange.
How many profile folders do you have in the standard location, and do any of them contain older files pre-dating the problem?
To access that location, I suggest:
(1) Set Windows to show hidden files and folders: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files
(2) Paste the following shortcut in the Windows 10 system search box to leap into the Profiles folder:
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
Is there really only one profile folder?
I am having to move back and forth between two desktops. So this is a little awkward.
The profile name was changed about 3 times, maybe some of it due to my pressing the wrong button. I looked for the old import procedure that Firefox had that I once used, but it was no longer there. I then thought that I could simply copy my old profile into the new profile that Firebox assigned to me when it was reinstalled. Anyway that was too simple a solution to work. Then I started Googling for answers, especially from Mozilla. I tried several, including the procedures and programs offered by Firefox. Nothing worked; in fact things seemed to get worse until I decided to get personal help.
The only profile I have now has the formidable name dfi0uuww.default-1576789943634. It is lengthy and the only one listed in installs.ini and profiles.ini. It appears automatically in the Firefox applications for dealing with profiles. BUT there is no list of bookmarks nor access to my saved passwords when I am in Firefox. I did the routines with Firefox on and off.
Profiles.ini : [Install308046B0AF4A39CB] Default=Profiles/dfi0uuww.default-1576789943634
[Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/dfi0uuww.default-1576789943634 Default=1
[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 Version=2
Installs.ini: [308046B0AF4A39CB] Default=Profiles/dfi0uuww.default-1576789943634
I hope you have a solution. Thanks
Firefox doesn't rename profiles. It may create a new profile if you use the Refresh feature, adding that long number (timestamp) to the name of the old profile. "1576789943634" is a time today, very fresh.
In a Refresh, the old profile folder is moved to your desktop inside a folder named Old Firefox Data. Do you see that up there? Anything useful inside?
If you do not have any other profile folders in the usual location or in Old Firefox Data, then your options are limited.
What kind of repair did you do?
Q1: Did it create a folder named
C:\Windows.old
If so, that could be very useful.
If not:
Q2: Do you think that repair would have removed erased files and/or old restore points? Don't use Windows' System Restore, that will only dig the hole deeper. However, you could look at the following thread: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1272618#answer-1265602
A profile with one or two time stamps appended has been created as the result of a refresh. That long number is a time stamp in Unix Epoch format (number of seconds since 1-1-1970).
- 1576789943634 = December 19, 2019
Installs.ini is a backup for dedicated profile data stored in profiles.ini in case an older Firefox version did remove this data by rewriting this file.
The Windows repair did indeed leave a Windows.old folder, but there was no Mozilla folder in it.
I clicked the link you provided. Windows folder search indicates that a key4.db exists somewhere in the Firefox folder. It could not find any logins.json. I sent the key4 to the desktop, where it now sits as a shortcut icon. I skimmed through the article and noticed that you list a number of recovery programs. Tomorrow or the next day I will download and run them.
In the meantime, thank you very much for your prompt and kind response to my query. I can see now there is not going to be an easy or quick solution to my "profiles" problem. I hope you can periodically indulge me for the next few days. It will be awhile before I finish downloading and using the programs you listed. Again, thank you and good night.
Burl
Burl said
The Windows repair did indeed leave a Windows.old folder, but there was no Mozilla folder in it.
How did you determine that? You would need to turn on viewing of hidden files and folder and explore up this path:
C:\Windows.old\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
I had settings in explorer-view to show hidden files. I do this after installs generally so I can find things.
By the way, this machine is back to its old rebooting habits, so I am almost ready to use a new ssd and install windows 10 on it. If I do, it may be awhile before I get back to the profiles issue.
I checked event viewer to find 4 entries for "Warning distributed COM" Event ID 10016. So, I need to find out what that before getting back to the problem with Firefox profiles.
But this morning I found an icon Old Firefox Data." I copied it to a thumb/usb drive. I believe it had the had the same contents as the profile with the long name I mentioned. It did not have the installs.ini or profiles.ini programs with it, however.
So, let me check out the warning and event id, and I will get back to you. Thank you for your patience.
Burl