Completely Reset

InvaderZim · 11-26-2006, 09:15 PM

It was recently snowing, ALOT, so my internet along with my cable went out. Now its back but, when I opened Firefox everything completely reset. My bookmarks were gone, my tool bars that I installed weren't there, and the "Welcome to Firefox" Screen even popped up. Also, when I try and make bookmarks, it becomes stupid and doesn't allow me to make them. So I ask you, HELP ME!

martt · 11-27-2006, 01:49 AM

Are you familiar with working with Profiles (do you know where it is located)? Curing this problem will involve some work in this area. If Firefox shuts down badly because of a power cut or computer crash, the default Profile can become corrupted or locked. Did you get a 'Profile in use' message at any time? In any event, it would seem that Firefox has created a new Profile and is using this instead of the one that was in use before the power cut. Perhaps the first thing to do would be to try and find the original one.

Make sure that any entry for Firefox in 'Task Manager' is shut down. Then type firefox.exe -p (note the space) into the Start > Run box and press Enter. Is there more than one Profile listed? If so, open them in turn to see which one of them contains your bookmarks and settings. Once the right one is found, choose to always open Firefox using that Profile (you could delete any other). If the problem is more involved than that, there is a Mozilla page here that describes some more steps.

If you don't want to bother finding the problem with the existing Profile, you could just use the new one that Firefox has been using since the power cut and customise it to requirements. You would still need to find your bookmarks and import them into the new Profile though.

Put out a Windows search for the file called 'bookmarks.html'. You will find more than one copy if there is more than one Profile. Double-click on each to open them in the browser to see if the bookmarks are present. If you can't find a 'bookmarks.html' file with your bookmarks listed in it, search for a file(s) called 'bookmarks.bak'. Rename to bookmarks.html and open them to see if the bookmarks are in there. If they don't contain your bookmarks, look for a folder called 'bookmarkbackups' There should be four recent copies of your bookmarks in there. Bear in mind that if there will be a more than one instance of the folder if there is more than one Profile. Look in all of them. When (or if) you find the correct file, make a back-up of it and store it safely somewhere away from the Firefox directories. This file can then be copied and pasted into the correct location in the new Profile (let it overwrite the existing one), or you can open the browser and use the Bookmarks Manager to import the bookmarks file into the new Profile.

11-26-2006, 09:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
InvaderZim Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Planet Irk Posts: 61 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate	Completely Reset It was recently snowing, ALOT, so my internet along with my cable went out. Now its back but, when I opened Firefox everything completely reset. My bookmarks were gone, my tool bars that I installed weren't there, and the "Welcome to Firefox" Screen even popped up. Also, when I try and make bookmarks, it becomes stupid and doesn't allow me to make them. So I ask you, HELP ME! __________________ ~Typos are a way of lifw. ~2and2makes5

11-27-2006, 01:49 AM	#2 (permalink)
martt Alternative Computing Team Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South of England Posts: 310 OS: XP Pro	Are you familiar with working with Profiles (do you know where it is located)? Curing this problem will involve some work in this area. If Firefox shuts down badly because of a power cut or computer crash, the default Profile can become corrupted or locked. Did you get a 'Profile in use' message at any time? In any event, it would seem that Firefox has created a new Profile and is using this instead of the one that was in use before the power cut. Perhaps the first thing to do would be to try and find the original one. Make sure that any entry for Firefox in 'Task Manager' is shut down. Then type firefox.exe -p (note the space) into the Start > Run box and press Enter. Is there more than one Profile listed? If so, open them in turn to see which one of them contains your bookmarks and settings. Once the right one is found, choose to always open Firefox using that Profile (you could delete any other). If the problem is more involved than that, there is a Mozilla page here that describes some more steps. If you don't want to bother finding the problem with the existing Profile, you could just use the new one that Firefox has been using since the power cut and customise it to requirements. You would still need to find your bookmarks and import them into the new Profile though. Put out a Windows search for the file called 'bookmarks.html'. You will find more than one copy if there is more than one Profile. Double-click on each to open them in the browser to see if the bookmarks are present. If you can't find a 'bookmarks.html' file with your bookmarks listed in it, search for a file(s) called 'bookmarks.bak'. Rename to bookmarks.html and open them to see if the bookmarks are in there. If they don't contain your bookmarks, look for a folder called 'bookmarkbackups' There should be four recent copies of your bookmarks in there. Bear in mind that if there will be a more than one instance of the folder if there is more than one Profile. Look in all of them. When (or if) you find the correct file, make a back-up of it and store it safely somewhere away from the Firefox directories. This file can then be copied and pasted into the correct location in the new Profile (let it overwrite the existing one), or you can open the browser and use the Bookmarks Manager to import the bookmarks file into the new Profile.