Damaged profile questions

[Beadmaster]

Hi, I'm working on a computer that has had a lot of problems, mostly rebooting. The reboots damaged my profile, but I've been waiting until the problems are solved before I start a new profile.

Meanwhile, I'm having problems with ad blockers. They work for a bit...then give up. I've got only one ad blocker active at any time, but have tried seven different ones (individually, not at once). Six are good, one is terrible. I try to stay with my favorite two, but eventually with any ad blocker, I'll get nothing but 3-4 ads on a screen, all annoying blinking, moving, disruptive garbage. And yes, that's while the ad blocker is (allegedly) on. It's been particularly bad since there was a power outage early this morning while I was working on the computer. It used to be that I could reload a page and ultimately the ad blocker would kick in; now all it does is force ads on me, while it sits there with the ad-blocker icon looking as if it's working just fine, thanks.

If I change to a new profile now, if the computer keeps rebooting or the power goes out or whatever, I'm concerned the same problems will occur and I'll end up with another damaged profile.

Also, how do I change to a new profile, utilize the old one but not move a damaged one over to a new one? If I simply use the same files from the profile, aren't I then getting the damaged profile?

And how do I circumvent annoying ads when no ad blocker will work anymore?

Thanks for any insight.

[Brummelchen]

several solutions, but non is caused by firefox.

- use memtest to check memory
- use a harddrive check -> SMART values (CrystalDiskInfo)
- any cleaner working, tuneup, ccleaner, similar?
- check windows on health -> DISM
- which antivirus or more installed?

firefox wont lose anything when running in a vital environment, any of those above has impact.

[Beadmaster]

Thanks, Brummelchen!

I do know that memtest turned out fine and DISM did, too.

I don't know about the hard drive check...will have to ask my husband about that. (He's been testing the system extensively to find out what's going on, so he may have run the hard drive check.)

No cleaner, tuneup, ccleaner, etc.

One antivirus...McAfee.

Problems with the browser specifically started shortly after the rebooting problems began. Cause of the rebooting is still unknown. The only solution (a very bad one) thus far has been to turn off Windows updates. As soon as Windows gets the tiniest update, the rebooting begins again and occurs on about an hourly basis.

I was able to finally stop the ads by disabling my favorite ad blocker and enabling my second favorite. But the second favorite didn't last long, as it has a problem...when enabled, opening things in new tabs in Firefox doesn't work anymore. So I quickly changed back to my favorite ad blocker and until the next time it fades out, there are no more ads. This will be temporary, though. I've been here many times.

[malliz]

Why are you running McAfee? Its an awful AV you would be much better of using Windows Defender. If I had a bet it would be either on a Virus or the Hard drive with an outside chance of a dead cooling fan somewhere

[Brummelchen]

to notice - the latest windows 10 updates now, cause all (bigger) antivirus to fail
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/04/14/micro ... 0-updates/

i only use windows defender > nothing.

[kerft]

Yes, windows crashes leading to restart often will corrupt a firefox profile. Yes, if you just copy everything from old profile to new you will usually have copied the corrupt parts and not fixed it.
A conflict with recent windows updates and some antivirus software could be a possible cause of problems. In a good profile, either adblock plus or ublock origin should block most ads successfully. There are quite a few popups now that say "turn off your adblocker" - those do get through the blocker often. There are also videos that play sometimes in the lower corner or sometimes overlay on top of a page as they scroll - adblockers often do not block those either. But, almost all other ads should be blocked, if you have the most recent version of either of those, turn off "acceptable ads" in adblock plus, and a good profile.

Until you fix the crashes and rebooting, you could use a different browser. Several of them can use adblock plus or ublock origin. Even Microsoft says you should not use Internet Explorer https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft ... r-default/

[Brummelchen]

"often will corrupt"!?
Not here. thats is one reason why firefox uses like windows temporary files for all important files and merge them when shutting down. no merge -> ask to continue session after a crash! if those temporary files are damaged, firefox wont use it.

[kerft]

For most files in Firefox, you are right. The bookmarks and history places.sqlite database writes changes to temporary files and can detect if the computer crashed and recover. Maybe the data for ublock origin is not journaled in a similar way. Hopefully that gives an idea for an easy fix. Try to remove ublock origin, and install it again. All of its data should be gone and it should work normally once it gets its filters updated.

[Beadmaster]

Thanks for the help, everyone!

Kerft, I actually haven't ever used ublock origin, but am thinking of trying it out. It's AdBlock Plus that keeps quitting, which it now is doing every day. To be clear, I'm not getting pop-ups, but rather at least one ad on the left side, one or two ads at the bottom and an ad or two on the right. These ads blink like crazy and seem to be interfering with the operation of various sites; for the one, I was in an input area and the ads kept changing, throwing the cursor out of the input section while I was in the middle of typing.

As for IE, this is Windows 10, which has Edge instead of IE. I use a variety of browsers for different purposes. Firefox will no longer work with Flash on some sites, so I've had to go to Edge or Chrome for those sites.

Malliz, until the rebooting issues are resolved, I'd be afraid to use anything related to Windows, as all updates are turned off. The second Windows updates are turned on, the reboots start again. Guessing the Windows Defender on this computer is woefully out of date and could leave the computer more vulnerable to issues than using McAfee, which at least isn't dependent on the Windows updates to be up to date.

[malliz]

Defender updates in the background like any other AV and is not on the same update cycle as the operating system. I will also add that some of the nastier Viruses block or corrupt OS updates.