This problem might be caused by an extension. Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement? (More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode)

did the restart in safe mode and the message was not there until I tried to put an address in the bookmarks area also tried to recover bookmarks and same message -- "unable to process .......

Try recovering listed here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles if was not included in the above. See if can save your bookmarks : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data Or can try from the Bookmark Menu --> Show All Bookmarks then Import or Backup. and also: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-lost-or-missing-bookmarks

Once recovered you can do a Refresh : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings or download a Full Installer from here: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

tried all of the above and nothing worked -- bookmarks are saved but will not transfer

If the Places Maintenance extension or the "Verify Integrity" button on "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" can't repair the places.sqlite database then remove all places.sqlite file(s) in the Firefox profile folder to make Firefox rebuild the places.sqlite database from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

• keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_process_the_backup_file_-_Firefox

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.

• Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
  Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

This is the same info that is noted in the Firefox problem area for this problem except it said to add .old to places file and this time I deleted it and the new places file was created, but the problem was not fixed. Should I try to save the current profile folder and totally uninstall firefox and start over???

Since my last post was not answered, I'm guessing my solution is to delete Firefox and go to Edge

Did you try the steps described in the Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message support article?

You can create a new profile to test if your current profile is causing the problem.

See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues

If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

You can copy files like these with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to recover specific data. Note that you should be cautious with copying SQLite database files if you previously had problems.

• bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
• bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
• cookies.sqlite for the cookies
• formhistory.sqlite for saved form data
• logins.json and key3.db (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
• cert8.db and possibly cert_override.txt for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
• persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
• permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other Site Preferences
• sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.

• Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
  Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox