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Firefox 98 options for downloads / security warnings

My_unique_username
My_unique_username
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I just updated from Firefox 96 to 98. This introduced the following problems:

  • all known file types were set to "save file" (so I had to go through the whole list and reset it back to "always ask" for like 30+ file types
  • downloading an unknown file type for the first time gets automatically set to "save file" instead of "always ask"

and the most annoying issue:

  • selecting "open with.." in the "always ask"-triggered what-to-do-dialog (e.g. to open a PDF in okular, or an ICA file with citrix) produces a warning popup "<the file> is an executable file. Executable files may contain viruses or other malicious code that could harm your computer. Use caution when opening this file. Are you sure you want to launch" (even for JPG)

I tried closing Firefox, deleting handlers.json, but this behavior did not change.

I just updated from Firefox 96 to 98. This introduced the following problems: * all known file types were set to "save file" (so I had to go through the whole list and reset it back to "always ask" for like 30+ file types * downloading an unknown file type for the first time gets automatically set to "save file" instead of "always ask" and the most annoying issue: * selecting "open with.." in the "always ask"-triggered what-to-do-dialog (e.g. to open a PDF in okular, or an ICA file with citrix) produces a warning popup "<the file> is an executable file. Executable files may contain viruses or other malicious code that could harm your computer. Use caution when opening this file. Are you sure you want to launch" (even for JPG) I tried closing Firefox, deleting handlers.json, but this behavior did not change.
Attached screenshots

All Replies (3)

My_unique_username
My_unique_username صاحب السؤال
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Ok, on further searching I found out that the first two "errors" are actually intended behavior.. I am literally speeachless! So not only do you think you know better than me, what I would like to do with my downloads, you also felt free to break my existing (and since more than a decade) working config!?

Who in their right mind would agree to release such a "feature"? Firefox lost a lot of users over the past years. Obviously you are trying really hard to increase that number.

(btw: I am using Firefox since its first day of release and I just created a Firefox account an hour ago only to report this [still in my opinion] bug. Just to give an idea on how annoying this behavior is for me compared to all other bugs over the past decades.)

/calming down/

Well, for the first to points there are workarounds:

  • config messed up by update -> recreate config (thanks for wasting my time)
  • no option to default to "always ask" -> download something, abort download, go to preferences, set new file type to "always ask" (anything but user-friendly, but "works for me")

So, I only need a solution for point no. 3 then - how to get rid of the [incorrect] warning on every download?

jonzn4SUSE
jonzn4SUSE
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Try downloading another copy of Firefox from Mozilla. Run it from the folder and see if you have the same issue. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release

My_unique_username
My_unique_username صاحب السؤال
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"turning it off and on again" didn't help