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Using windows7 profile on Ubuntu12.04

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  • Last reply by Excelsior

Excelsior
Excelsior
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I am trying to use my firefox profile on Windows7 in Ubuntu12.04(installed using Wubi). I created a new profile and pointed it to the correct profile folder but I keep getting the message:

Firefox cannot use the profile because it is in use.

I tried to change just the files containing passwords and cookies. No change. the old profile in Ubuntu works fine. Also checked the profiles.ini. Tried on Ubuntu in VirtualBox too.

Thanks.

I am trying to use my firefox profile on Windows7 in Ubuntu12.04(installed using Wubi). I created a new profile and pointed it to the correct profile folder but I keep getting the message: Firefox cannot use the profile because it is in use. I tried to change just the files containing passwords and cookies. No change. the old profile in Ubuntu works fine. Also checked the profiles.ini. Tried on Ubuntu in VirtualBox too. Thanks.

Chosen solution

It is better not to use the same profile with different Operating Systems because the file paths that are used in some files aren't compatible.
Also Ubuntu may not be able to lock the profile in a correct way (Windows and Linux use a different method and files).
Current Firefox versions no longer remove the lock file to make it possible to detect startup crashes by looking at the time stamp.

You can try to use hard links or soft links to specific files (sqlite databases and some other files).

See these pages for a description of the files.

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All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

It is better not to use the same profile with different Operating Systems because the file paths that are used in some files aren't compatible.
Also Ubuntu may not be able to lock the profile in a correct way (Windows and Linux use a different method and files).
Current Firefox versions no longer remove the lock file to make it possible to detect startup crashes by looking at the time stamp.

You can try to use hard links or soft links to specific files (sqlite databases and some other files).

See these pages for a description of the files.

Excelsior
Excelsior Question owner
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Thanks a lot Sir. It was very helpful. I was able to get it to work flawlessly on my Virtualbox.