Why did Firefox auto delete and replace my profile?
Firefox crashed, and when I restarted it it was sluggish. So I restarted it again and then my profile was missing (default location Win 8). It was like Firefox deleted the old profile and created a new one. The new profile folder is a different name from the old one also. I have my profile backed up, so I copied the contents back to the new profile folder, and everything is ok.
However, this is a dangerous behavior on FF's part--auto deleting a users profile. I've never seen this before and I've been using FF since ver 1.
Solution choisie
Thanks for checking that. It's possible that Firefox mentioned something about solving problems through a Reset but the message was unclear. Reset does look a lot like Restart but in Firefox-speak it's significantly different!
If your backup was up-to-date then the folder on the desktop is no longer necessary. If there was a gap between the two and you are missing bookmarks, for example, or want to restore the open windows and tabs from that time, then we could describe how to extract those.
If you still have a problem with crashing after the Reset, then you will accumulate crash data that you can submit to Mozilla. Please check the support article "Firefox Crashes" (especially the last section) for steps to get the corresponding crash report IDs, and then post some of the recent ones here. I'm not sure how far back that data goes, i.e., I don't know whether you can see the cause of the earlier crash.
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Firefox should never delete the profile folder except during uninstall with that option selected.
Firefox might perform a Reset and move the profile folder to the desktop inside a folder named Old Firefox Data. I'm not sure of the circumstances when that could happen.
This can happen if the profiles.ini file gets corrupted or can't be accessed for some reason.
If you have submitted crash reports then please post the IDs of one or more recent crash reports that have a "bp-" prefix:
- bp-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
You can find the Report ID of recent crash reports on the "Help > Troubleshooting Information" page (about:support).
- Click the "All Crash Reports" button on this page to open the about:crashes page and see all crash reports.
If necessary then you can open about: pages via the location/address bar.
See:
jscher2000 is correct in that Firefox should NEVER delete personal information via the profile. FF did crash just before that happened also.
As stated, I had a backup copy and copied it back into the NEW FF AUTO created profile.
This behavior should be changed. I consider it a huge security issue.
This behavior isn't any kind of normal behavior, so fixing it would require first figuring out what actually happened. Would you mind checking a couple things that might provide more information about that?
(1) Do you have an Old Firefox Data folder on your desktop? If so, does the profile folder in there match your backup? If so, Firefox performed a "Reset" for some reason TBD.
(2) I think you already would have checked whether your old profile folder was "orphaned". If not, you can open your current Firefox profile folder using either
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button to launch the folder in Windows Explorer.
From there, navigate up one level to the Profiles folder. Any other folders there?
Okay I see the folder on the desktop and it has my old profile information in it. I never look on my desktop for folders. It might be better to copy it to the profile folder?
As stated earlier, yes, FF did crash before orphaning the original profile to the desktop.
Solution choisie
Thanks for checking that. It's possible that Firefox mentioned something about solving problems through a Reset but the message was unclear. Reset does look a lot like Restart but in Firefox-speak it's significantly different!
If your backup was up-to-date then the folder on the desktop is no longer necessary. If there was a gap between the two and you are missing bookmarks, for example, or want to restore the open windows and tabs from that time, then we could describe how to extract those.
If you still have a problem with crashing after the Reset, then you will accumulate crash data that you can submit to Mozilla. Please check the support article "Firefox Crashes" (especially the last section) for steps to get the corresponding crash report IDs, and then post some of the recent ones here. I'm not sure how far back that data goes, i.e., I don't know whether you can see the cause of the earlier crash.
Naw, I don't use bookmarks. It's mainly for FF's layout, as use some extensions, and my passwords--which I do have encrypted. So,the older backup was fine. Thanks for in input.
It would be nice when FF does this to open the next time with a text explaining that it reset and that the old profile is in X location.