FF3 - Upgrade or clean install?

afx114 · Post by **afx114** » May 30th, 2008, 12:15 pm

Hi,

I've been using Firefox since ye olden tymes, and I'm still rocking my 6 year old profile from the Phoenix days, upgrading all along the way. I've got various versions of files laying around from over the years: bookmarks.html, localstore.rdf, signons.txt, cookies.txt, etc. My questions is, for FF3, is is better to upgrade, or run a clean install? Is there any drawback to an upgrade? I have years and years of stored passwords, bookmarks, config tweaks, etc, and I'm wondering how much of that cruft may hinder FF3's performance. Performance is my #1 concern here.

Does anyone out there have experience on FF3 with a migrated profile that has been migrated numerous times in the past? Is it better to start fresh? Or is an upgrade just fine?

Toppo · Post by **Toppo** » May 30th, 2008, 12:24 pm

FF3 is still far from stable and not designed to upgrade v2, upgrading will definatelly destroy your cookies, plugins, formdata, bookmarks, and other stuff.

You need to install clean, otherwise your good old v2.0.0.14 is foobar.

MechR · Post by **MechR** » May 30th, 2008, 12:33 pm

Toppo wrote:FF3 is still far from stable and not designed to upgrade v2, upgrading will definatelly destroy your cookies, plugins, formdata, bookmarks, and other stuff.

You need to install clean, otherwise your good old v2.0.0.14 is foobar.

That's... overstating a bit. At least for one of the Betas, I was able to alternate between it and v2 on the same profile without apparent damage.

That said, a backup and clean install is probably the best option. FYI, uninstall doesn't remove profiles. For that you want Firefox's profile manager, which is called up by closing Firefox, going to Start -> Run, and entering "firefox.exe -p" (Yeah, I wish it was more discoverable too. Like making it part of the install/uninstall process or something.)

a;skdjfajf;ak · Post by **a;skdjfajf;ak** » May 30th, 2008, 12:47 pm

Toppo wrote:FF3 is still far from stable and not designed to upgrade v2, upgrading will definatelly destroy your cookies, plugins, formdata, bookmarks, and other stuff.

You need to install clean, otherwise your good old v2.0.0.14 is foobar.

That statement is far from being the truth. If your scenario plays out there are going to be millions with issues, and I don't think that is going to happen at all.

Where did you see/hear (back up evidence please) that Firefox 3.0 is NOT Designed to upgrade for 2.0.0.x ?

Sorry, but your statement sounds like 'troll-bait' to me!

hhh · Post by **hhh** » May 30th, 2008, 12:48 pm

From the Release Notes...

Installing Firefox 3

Please note that installing Firefox 3 will overwrite your existing installation of Firefox on Mac OS X and Linux. On Windows, Firefox 3 installs in a new folder. For all systems, you won't lose any of your bookmarks or browsing history, but some of your extensions and other add-ons might not work until updates for them are made available.

Meol · Post by **Meol** » May 30th, 2008, 1:03 pm

this antique your profile is, is too valuable to be discarded

bomfog · Post by **bomfog** » May 30th, 2008, 4:00 pm

As long as you save aside a copy of your old profile, why not experiment to your heart's content? Testing, innit?

I'd suggest starting the new build with your old profile, letting it import as it sees fit, deleting any no-longer-needed files, and seeing what's missing. If something is, then you can work on getting it transferred over.

That said, there's also a lot to be said for also starting a clean profile, and only adding what and as it is needed. Tagging, the awesomebar, et al have the potential to seriously alter some old browsing habits, and I think they tend to work best starting from scratch.

Personal suggestion (I get these promotional obsessions): Start fresh with the addons Tweez and TagSifter installed, tag liberally as you browse awhile (leaving everything Unfiled^WUnsorted), and see what you think of the tag cloud thing in the tagsifter sidebar. Brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye, it did. Oh, get the Enter Selects urlbar addon too. Makes adaptive learning that much slicker.

OK, I'm done now.

Edit: added links

Toppo · Post by **Toppo** » May 30th, 2008, 4:11 pm

Littlemutt wrote:
Toppo wrote:FF3 is still far from stable and not designed to upgrade v2, upgrading will definatelly destroy your cookies, plugins, formdata, bookmarks, and other stuff.

You need to install clean, otherwise your good old v2.0.0.14 is foobar.

That statement is far from being the truth. If your scenario plays out there are going to be millions with issues, and I don't think that is going to happen at all.

Where did you see/hear (back up evidence please) that Firefox 3.0 is NOT Designed to upgrade for 2.0.0.x ?

Sorry, but your statement sounds like 'troll-bait' to me!

Before you start shouting about trolling, first do your homework.
Just click some link in your prefered email program or some .html file in explorer, and see what happens !

jsal0318 · Post by **jsal0318** » May 30th, 2008, 4:23 pm

Toppo wrote:
Littlemutt wrote:
Toppo wrote:FF3 is still far from stable and not designed to upgrade v2, upgrading will definatelly destroy your cookies, plugins, formdata, bookmarks, and other stuff.

You need to install clean, otherwise your good old v2.0.0.14 is foobar.

That statement is far from being the truth. If your scenario plays out there are going to be millions with issues, and I don't think that is going to happen at all.

Where did you see/hear (back up evidence please) that Firefox 3.0 is NOT Designed to upgrade for 2.0.0.x ?

Sorry, but your statement sounds like 'troll-bait' to me!

Before you start shouting about trolling, first do your homework.
Just click some link in your prefered email program or some .html file in explorer, and see what happens !

Toppo is correct. If I put a shortcut of something on my desktop and when I open it up, it opens with the default browser setting instead of my customized browser settings. It is f!!cked. I am surprised no developer has noticed this.

Post by **steviex** » May 30th, 2008, 4:33 pm

@ jsal0318 Please do not use that language, even disguised....

@ ALL Can we please keep this polite, and without insulting anyone please.

File a Bug...That way the Developers will get to notice it.....

Firefox IS still in Development, with at least one more Release Candidate to be released.

If you think it is a bug in Firefox, then Bugzilla is the place to got to look to see what is being done to address the issue.

If you can code, you are welcome to try and tackle the issue, as unlike other Browsers, this IS an OPEN source project, where anyone can contribute...

Bugzilla can be found here... https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/
Please note these Bug Filing instructions here.... http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/bugs
and Bugzilla ettiquette..... https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html

The Mozilla feedback address is this... http://feedback.mozilla.org/

PS... From the Desktop, Windows WILL open whatever is currently set up as your DEFAULT Browser, to open Desktop Shortcuts.
You need to make sure that the Default Browser is set correctly, and that Firefox has remembered your Settings.
See this if Firefox has Forgotten your settings... http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved

pal-moz · Post by **pal-moz** » May 30th, 2008, 4:37 pm

hhh wrote:From the Release Notes...

Installing Firefox 3

Please note that installing Firefox 3 will overwrite your existing installation of Firefox on Mac OS X and Linux. On Windows, Firefox 3 installs in a new folder. For all systems, you won't lose any of your bookmarks or browsing history, but some of your extensions and other add-ons might not work until updates for them are made available.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=436188

Post by **steviex** » May 30th, 2008, 4:41 pm

Thanks

Helico · Post by **Helico** » May 30th, 2008, 9:05 pm

I would certainly backup a 2.* profile before trying out Firefox 3 RC1, but I find Firefox 3 RC1 very stable, more stable than 2.* was, and that it uses much less memory. However, I would use it with Flash 10 beta, not with Flash 9 - Flash 9 for me seems to not behave well with Firefox 3.
http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html

sheehan · Post by **sheehan** » May 30th, 2008, 9:06 pm

Upgrading is just fine. You may have problems with going back, but that can be avoided by backing up a copy of your profile folder. I would suggest upgrading directly and then cleaning/pruning your profile after finding out what you don't need in Fx3 (i.e. extensions, prefs)

the-edmeister · Post by **the-edmeister** » May 31st, 2008, 12:21 am

hhh wrote:From the Release Notes...

Installing Firefox 3

Please note that installing Firefox 3 will overwrite your existing installation of Firefox on Mac OS X and Linux. On Windows, Firefox 3 installs in a new folder. For all systems, you won't lose any of your bookmarks or browsing history, but some of your extensions and other add-ons might not work until updates for them are made available.

"On Windows, Firefox 3 installs in a new folder." I found that to be totally false on W2K. On 3 separate installations - install 3.0RC1, use it awhile, then uninstall 3.0RC1 & using "Remove all personal data & customizations" option - 3 different times over a few days to test for a potential Bug in the uninstaller; Firefox 3.0RC1 wanted to use the 2.0.0.14 installation folder every time which would have resulted in my 2.0.0.14 installation being overwritten each time. I went "back" and selected "Custom" to place 3.0RC1 into it's opwn folder. The 3.0 installer seems to look into the Windows Registry for the folder location of where an earlier version of Firefox is installed to very purposely overwrite that installation.
That attempt to overwrite 2.0.0.14 wasn't an accident, by any means on my W2K system, because the folder it wanted to use is C:\Program Files\InternetBrowsers\Mozilla Firefox\2.0.0.12_non-multimedia\ - the custom location that I installed 2.0.0.12 into when I reinstalled W2K back in October 2007. {The strange name for that folder is because prior to 3.0 versions I was having two separate Firefox 2.0 installations, one Program installation with all the multi-media plugins and one Program installation without any plugins - no need to 'block Flash garbage' and all those other plugins that really put a drag on old, slow PC's like this one. In 3.0 that isn't necessary, separate Profiles will suffice because all the multi-media plugins can't be turned off in the Addons Manager dialog window. If I want to see a multi-media presentation on a page I am viewing, I copy&paste the URL into the "multi-media" version. If it locks up Firefox I just kill that process and don't lose the other version I am was using.}

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=436188#c2

Ed