Firefox passwords gone after upgrade
I just upgraded Ubuntu to version 12.04 and now my saved logon and password file is empty. I tried using the instructions in the "Restoring a profile backup" but it did not work. I found the file "xxxxxxxx.default" in "home .mozillza Firefox" and copied it to the desktop. Then I closed Firefox and copied the file back to "home .mozillza Firefox" I reopened Firefox and checked the password file and nothing was there.
I also tried the same action, but copied the "xxxxxxxx.default" to the next higher directory - " home .mozzilla" and pasted it there. Reopened Firefox - still no passwords.
Then I went through the process and copied it again, pasted it into the Firefox folder. It showed both the old and new files, asked if I wanted to overwrite them. It went through the process, copied all 37 files, but when I rteopened Firefox - still no logons or passwords.
The rest of Firefox works except for this glitch - Can you help me fix this?
Thanks.
All Replies (3)
Have you looked at this article? Recovering important data from an old profile
Also, in general, it makes sense to use Profile Manager in such cases: Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles
Last but not least - for the future: setup Sync to have all the crucial data safe and sound, encrypted, on Mozilla servers:
How do I set up Sync on my computer?
hih
smo
Thanks for the attempt, but I used every permutation of those instructions and nothing worked. I'm in this process more than 8 hours and I don't know what else to do. I tried the reset - no I backed up my profile, created a new one - no I copied every file to the new profile - no Tried to merge profile folders - no I made several profiles, all with the original? information and files - nope. Made dozens of attempts to merge and/or make things work - nothing. I'm pretty sure that I'm douched on finding and fixing the password file that I depended on for so long. It's also very frustrating because after more than 10 years using Firefox, with many, many upgrades, I NEVER lost a file or a setting. This problem may be related to the Unity interface Ubuntu is forcing down our throats, but I have no idea how to regress to the old format. I intentionally waited to upgrade from 11.10 to 12.04 to avoid this kind of mess. Screw 'em all!
For saved names and passwords to restore from a backup or other profile you need to copy the two files key3.db (encryption key) and signons.sqlite to the active profile folder.
Copying a full profile folder will only work if that profile is subsequently registered in profiles.ini by creating a new profile and click the Choose Folder button and selecting that copied profile. That is easier and safer than editing the profiles.ini file.