FireFox - unable to restore profile. Help?

By Technique
in Web Browser Discussion & Support

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Technique

Posted
Posted

So based on the other thread I have here, i couldn't go into the drive & save bookmarks etc so i followed the advice on saving the Profile folder which I did.

 

I then formatted the hard drive, installed FireFox & came to restore the profile.

 

To do this i went to

 

C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox

 

There was a folder called "Profiles" which i renamed to "Profiles.old". There's also a "Profiles.ini" file in that folder which i left alone.

 

So i copied the backed up Profiles folder from my USB drive into this folder where it sat alongside the renamed "Profiles.old" folder.

 

Once it had finished copying there (347mb) i then opened FireFox

 

Only to be greeted with the message "Your FireFox Profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible".

 

1) What have i done wrong?

2) How can i fix it?

 

I'm not so bothered about the saved usernames & passwords, although it'd be nice. It's the bookmarks i want because there's so many of them.

Grand Master

Technique

Posted
  • Author
Posted
13 minutes ago, Gary7 said:

Do you sync Firefox?

Not that I know of? Sync FireFox with what?

 

Sorry if that sounds stupid but you lost me. You're going to have to hold my hand on this one i'm afraid. :)

 

11 minutes ago, Ned said:

You left the profiles.ini file alone.  You need to edit it in notepad and point it to the new profile folder name.

Except the 'new' folder is called Profiles. It's like this....

 

I access the folder & there's a folder which we'll call folder#1, it's name is "Profiles". 

 

I rename this to "Profiles.old".

 

I then get the Profiles folder that i want (we'll call this folder#2) & copy it across. 

 

The name of that folder is "Profiles".

 

So if the .ini is just pointing at a folder called "Profiles" then the new (Folder#2) folder should fit the bill right?

 

 

 

 

On a side note, i opened both Profiles folders, both the new & old & the content of each are very different. There's a lot more in the new folder (folder#1) than there is in the old one (folder#2 - the one that i want).

Grand Master

+Gary7 Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted

You can sync Firefox with a Firefox Account and it saves all of your data including your profile. If you ever got a new PC all you would have to do is install Firefox and sync it with your account and you would have everything back, pw-bm's etc and or whatever you choose to sync. I use it as there is not really a need to save Firefox with a program like Hekasoft Backup & Restore 0.53.

Grand Master

Technique

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Oh right i get you. 

 

No i don't do that.

 

Is there any way to get round this problem from the position i'm in

 

When i reinstalled Windows & then Firefox, i went to the profile folder of the 'new' FireFox profile. The contents were like so...

 

FireFox1.jpg

 

Like i said, plenty.

 

But when i went to the old profile which i had saved (basically from another hard drive which had Windows installed i was able to access the hard drive i couldn't boot to. I followed the advice in the other thread, going to the listed directory & just copied that Profile folder to my USB drive.)

 

The contents of the old Profile folder are like so...

 

FireFox2.jpg

 

Couldn't be any more different really.

Grand Master

+Gary7 Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted
7 minutes ago, Technique said:

Oh right i get you. 

 

No i don't do that.

 

Is there any way to get round this problem from the position i'm in

 

When i reinstalled Windows & then Firefox, i went to the profile folder of the 'new' FireFox profile. The contents were like so...

 

FireFox1.jpg

 

Like i said, plenty.

 

But when i went to the old profile which i had saved (basically from another hard drive which had Windows installed i was able to access the hard drive i couldn't boot to. I followed the advice in the other thread, going to the listed directory & just copied that Profile folder to my USB drive.)

 

The contents of the old Profile folder are like so...

 

FireFox2.jpg

 

Couldn't be any more different really.

Put all of the above in a folder called Profiles which should be located in C:\username\appdata\roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\ XXXXX  The xxxx is your Profile or profiles.

Grand Master

+Gary7 Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted
48 minutes ago, Ned said:

You copied files from C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\local  instead of C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Roaming.

 

If this is the case then you probably only have the firefox cache.

My entire profile is located there:

 

Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other ...

 

Profile folder - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

 

Profile folder - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Mentor

+Neyht Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted
12 minutes ago, Gary7 said:

My entire profile is located there:

 

Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other ...

 

Profile folder - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

 

Profile folder - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Judging by what he posted his backup is from C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxx.default,  which is firefox cache and whatever else.

 

The folder structure is pretty much the same except local instead of roaming.

Grand Master

Technique

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I had a bit of a brainwave :)

 

I remember creating an image of the hard drive back in September with Acronis. 

 

I'll have saved some bookmarks since then i guess but not too many. So i went on to my USB hard drive & found it .. in "Roaming" this time.

 

Got the "places.sqlite" file, copied it over & voila .... plenty of bookmarks restored.

 

Are there any other key files such as "places.sqlite", such as a file for usernames/passwords & also extensions & themes?

 

  • +Neyht and +Gary7
  • Like 2
Grand Master

+Gary7 Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted
24 minutes ago, Ned said:

Judging by what he posted his backup is from C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxx.default,  which is firefox cache and whatever else.

 

The folder structure is pretty much the same except local instead of roaming.

The local profile has the cache the raoming profile has the PW's, BM's, Extensions, History...etc

 

LP.pngRp1.png

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Microsoft hides these secret Windows 11 performance boost settings available on every PC

      By ExPat · Posted

      Looking forward to the test results.
    • Audacious 4.6.1

      By Copernic · Posted

      Audacious 4.6.1 by Razvan Serea Audacious is a lightweight, open-source audio player that emphasizes simplicity, performance, and sound quality. Designed for Linux, Windows, and macOS, it supports a wide range of audio formats, internet radio streaming, and playlist management. Users can customize the interface with Winamp-style skins or modern themes, making it flexible for different preferences. Audacious also includes an equalizer, advanced audio effects, and a plugin system for extending functionality. Its low resource usage makes it especially suitable for older computers or users who value efficiency without sacrificing playback quality. Audacious key features: High audio quality – delivers clean, gapless playback with minimal distortion. Wide format support – plays MP3, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, WAV, WMA, and more. Internet radio streaming – supports Shoutcast, Icecast, and other online streams. Winamp skin support – classic, nostalgic look for users who prefer the old-school style. Modern GTK-based interface – clean, simple UI with a more modern feel. Customizable themes – change appearance through skins and themes. Advanced playlist management – organize, save, and edit playlists with ease. Equalizer – fine-tune audio output with a built-in graphical equalizer. Audio effects – built-in DSP options like crossfade, replay gain, and more. Plugin system – extend functionality with additional components. File metadata support – displays and organizes music based on tags. Drag-and-drop support – quickly add songs or playlists. Global hotkey support – control playback without switching windows. Bit-perfect output modes – bypass system mixers for pure audio output. ReplayGain support – normalizes track loudness automatically. Cue sheet support – play entire albums from a single audio file with .cue. MPRIS2 integration – integrates with Linux desktop environments for media controls. Advanced resampling options – adjust playback quality with different resampler settings. Gapless playback – seamless transition between tracks encoded properly. Crossfade plugin – blend one song into the next smoothly. Last.fm scrobbling plugin – track listening history online. Remote control support – control Audacious via command-line or scripts. Lyrics plugin – display song lyrics if available. Alarm / timer plugin – start or stop playback at set times. SOX resampler plugin – high-quality resampling for audiophiles. Spectrum analyzer / visualization plugins – visual feedback while playing music. Headphone crossfeed effect – simulates speaker listening for headphones. Customizable buffer size – tweak latency and playback smoothness. Audacious 4.6.1 changelog: Use XDG cache dir to store temporary files (#1817) Accept embedded lyrics in more cases (#1818) Bump .so and plugin ABI versions retrospectively (#1819) Include Georgian translation (#1820) Fix build on systems using musl instead of glibc (#1823) Download: Audacious 4.6.1 | 48.2 MB (Open Source) Download: Portable Audacious 4.6.1 | 69.8 MB View: Audacious Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By +DoctorD · Posted

    • Can't access the forum on mobile

      By Steven P. · Posted

      I really wonder if this has to do with the built in VPN or "private DNS" of browsers that trip up legal requirements like cookie consent and Cloudflare (to avoid all the botnet attacks we get). And BTW some botnets still manage to get past Cloudflare, we are constantly having to tweak it to block malicious traffic that ultimately cause a DDoS.
    • Microsoft hides these secret Windows 11 performance boost settings available on every PC

      By Eyevou · Posted

      CPPC states can also be messed around with in most UEFI settings but aren't as robust as the ones that the Windows Scheduler can provide! Make sure you look into what your motherboard also has before customizing for the Windows Scheduler.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      518
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      199
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      147
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      93
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      79
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!