This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

is there a way of reverting back to previous firefox version

  • 3 replies
  • 4 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by TonyE

GJarvis101
GJarvis101
more options

I use firefox extensively for development. I use firebug and dojo. It seems that the new version (Firefox 4) is far slower than the previous version and sometimes hangs completely. I believe this may be caused by Firebug doing a lot of work but it never used to happen. Also firebug doesn't quite seem to work as well with dojo script. Previously if you did a dojo.require to drag in a js script file then you could automatically see it through firebug. Now have to put files I want to debug with script tags. Is there a way of reverting back to previous firefox version?

I use firefox extensively for development. I use firebug and dojo. It seems that the new version (Firefox 4) is far slower than the previous version and sometimes hangs completely. I believe this may be caused by Firebug doing a lot of work but it never used to happen. Also firebug doesn't quite seem to work as well with dojo script. Previously if you did a dojo.require to drag in a js script file then you could automatically see it through firebug. Now have to put files I want to debug with script tags. Is there a way of reverting back to previous firefox version?

All Replies (3)

TonyE
TonyE
  • Moderator
more options

To downgrade to Firefox 3.6 first uninstall Firefox 4, but do not select the option to "Remove my Firefox personal data". If you select that option it will delete your bookmarks, passwords and other user data.

You can then install the latest version of Firefox 3.6 available from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html - it will automatically use your current bookmarks, passwords etc.

To avoid possible problems with downgrading, I recommend going to your profile folder and deleting the following files if they exist - extensions.cache, extensions.rdf, extensions.ini, extensions.sqlite and localstore.rdf. Deleting these files will force Firefox to rebuild the list of installed extensions, checking their compatibility, and reset toolbar customizations.

For details of how to find your profile folder see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles

GJarvis101
GJarvis101 Question owner
more options

Thanks for that. Assume will need to then reinstall plug ins. Is there a way of coexisting versions. I.e will want to test against ff4 also once everything ironed out using the faster previous version.

TonyE
TonyE
  • Moderator
more options

No need to re-install plugins or extensions.

You can install them both but there are a few steps to take.

When you install the second version of Firefox use the custom installation option and choose a different location to install Firefox.

In order to use both versions, you need to create a new profile for the second version of Firefox (Firefox stores user data in the profile). Using the same profile with different versions can cause problems. Once you create a new profile you can copy certain data such as bookmarks and passwords between them. You can also use Firefox Sync to keep the profile synchronized. Finally, you will need to set up shortcuts to launch the correct profile for each version.

The following links show how to do this:

An alternative way of testing Firefox 4 is to install the portable version on your hard drive. It will use its own profile folder and not interfere with the other version of Firefox. You can get the portable version from http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable