Restore FF v60.9.0esr (v61.0.2) bookmarks Remove auto-update

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BretMan
Posts: 252
Joined: November 20th, 2006, 9:44 am
Location: USA

Restore FF v60.9.0esr (v61.0.2) bookmarks Remove auto-update

Post by BretMan »

Some of my most resent posts are about preserving my many years of valuable accumulated bookmarks with my included comments in most of them. v60.9.0esr was the last "esr" version to offer this bookmark feature. The last standard FF version was v61.0.2 to have this feature and this fix may also apply to it as well.

This forum recommended I preserve my bookmarks for access in a new profile for v60.9.0esr with the "Ask me first" option selected regarding auto update and then never update it. This set-up has been working fine for some time until the last time I opened v60.9.0esr, when it auto updated to v.72.02 on its own. Now my entire v60.9.0esr is gone. It's just the virgin v72.02 - no prior settings, no bookmarks.

I believe I have a backup of v60.9.0esr. Before I start to try and restore v60.9.0esr, is there a way to simply revert back to v60.9.0esr from v72.02? Also, if there's some executable file in v60.9.0esr that controls the auto update function, I'd like to delete it to prevent this from happening again. What file would this be and what's the path to find it?

Thank you.
Last edited by BretMan on February 23rd, 2023, 12:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
BretMan
Posts: 252
Joined: November 20th, 2006, 9:44 am
Location: USA

Re: How to revert to FF v60.9.0esr and delete update fil

Post by BretMan »

It's been almost 2 weeks with no help from here but after many hours of trying, I was able to restore v60.9.0esr.

I first tried creating new profiles in the FF profile manager, then using MozBackup 1.5.1 to restore the latest backup into the new profiles. Even though they started as new and empty profiles, the restores always resulted in v72.02 opening up which contained my old bookmarks buy none included any comments.

I eventually strategized that doing a fresh install of v60.9.0esr, then restoring into it might work. So I set a restore point, then using Windows I uninstalled FF v72.02, rebooted, then installed v60.9.0esr. Upon opening it, it included all my original settings, bookmarks and comments. No restoring with MozBackup was needed. I have no idea why it worked but I guess the updated original v60.9.0esr was still in the PC somewhere despite the uninstall.

Important: Mozilla.org 's list of legacy versions for download include v60.9.0esr. This is an update from Aug 2022 and is Win 64. This one is NOT the one which includes the comments window in bookmarks or the "Never update" option. The one you want is v60.9.0esr Win 32 from Sept. 6 2019 and can be downloaded here: https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/rel ... n64/en-US/

I also searched about removing the update file from FF and found this: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Windows_Service_Silent_Update The file to look for is "updater. exe" Path: C:>ProgramFiles(86)>Mozilla>Updater.exe I deleted it and immediately got a warning error message so I left it alone. If anyone knows how to delete it without creating issues please let me know. v60.9.0esr Win 32 has the settings selection for update as "Never update". It seems to be the last version to offer that feature too. So it's set to that but that's how I had it set before all this and it updated to v72.02 on its own anyway.

I hope that helps out researchers who used the comments in bookmarks window. I've been using Vivaldi browser which has the same comments window feature and also allows the update file to be deleted.
semigeek
Posts: 322
Joined: April 16th, 2014, 8:54 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: How to revert to FF v60.9.0esr and delete update fil

Post by semigeek »

I too used and miss the Comment field in bookmarks. My rudimentary solution has been to enter brief notes in the Keyword field instead, using "_" for space so as not to create thousands of spurious keywords.

As I watch Firefox get ever stupider, I wonder whether part of the problem is that Mozilla gets misleading feedback on feature (non)use because all the expert users turn that reporting off.
BretMan
Posts: 252
Joined: November 20th, 2006, 9:44 am
Location: USA

Re: How to revert/restore FF v60.9.0esr (v61.0.2?) bookmarks

Post by BretMan »

That could be.

I've gotten used to Vivaldi and it has good reviews regarding security. It doesn't offer as many add-ons as FF but it does the job. All your FF bookmarks can be imported into it including the contents in the comment windows. The community forum is pretty helpful. If you install it as "standalone" it's kept separate from the rest of your system. Although it offers the option to auto-update or not, the update file can be deleted, so you know it won't do it until you want to.
semigeek
Posts: 322
Joined: April 16th, 2014, 8:54 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: How to revert/restore FF v60.9.0esr (v61.0.2?) bookmarks

Post by semigeek »

Returning to your original question, starting with FF 60 it is possible to completely disable updating (subject to the usual caveats about the wisdom of that).
(1) go to directory \Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
(2) create the directory "distribution"
(3) in that directory, put a text file called "policies.json" containing this code:

Code: Select all

{ "policies": { "DisableAppUpdate": true } }
I've done this myself, though not with a version quite that old.
BretMan
Posts: 252
Joined: November 20th, 2006, 9:44 am
Location: USA

Re: How to revert/restore FF v60.9.0esr (v61.0.2?) bookmarks

Post by BretMan »

If FF ever re-integrates the comments into bookmarks feature again I'll give that a try. When it updated unexpectedly I suddenly lost over 10 years of bookmark comments, many of which were copy/pasted articles which the links to many of them are now dead. They served as a personal reference archive. All is ok now.
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