Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

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AndyTampa
Posts: 48
Joined: December 19th, 2013, 2:26 am

Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by AndyTampa »

I have a Windows Vista desktop and a Windows 8 notebook. Today, Firefox messed up on both with slightly different but similar symptoms.

On the laptop, FF appears to be opening the previous session from Session Manager and then replacing those tabs with 13 other tabs that all thank me for installing an add-on. These add-ons have been in my FF for years and have not been recently added. It appears that 1 or 2 of my menu bars are also missing and the layout of my menu bars is unfamiliar. The icon placements are not where I left them.

On the desktop, FF was left open for today with my 30 tabs opened, but when I returned, those same 13 tabs were added more than 8 times each. I stopped counting after that. The toolbars appear to be there, but the icons are shuffled. I just opened FF on the desktop and the only tabs that opened are the 13. The 13 tabs are:

https://ffchrome.binaryturf.com/installed?v=2.3 404 page
http://mybrowseraddon.com/useragent-swi ... pe=install
http://www.downloadhelper.net/welcome.php?version=6.1.1
https://flashgot.net/?ver=1.5.6.13
https://www.addongenie.com/fr/colorfult ... ated-a.php
http://fvdconverter.com/page/welcome-firefox
chrome://searchbyimaggext/content/install.html?to=1.2.0.1-signed.1-signed
http://www.foxlingo.com/help/ (Problem Loading Page, but the installation dialog has started)
Mozilla Firefox Start Page
https://getfirebug.com/firstrun#Firebug%202.0.18
http://fireftp.net/donate.html?installed=true
http://tabmixplus.org/version_update2.h ... on=0.5.0.1
New Blank Tab

Each time I open FF on either machine, I get the same 13 tabs. Sometimes I see the previous session restored before the tabs take over, and sometimes I don't. I assume the overwrite is happening faster than can be displayed.

I tried logging into Sync, but that just clocked without letting me in. I don't really know how to describe the problem.

I need my add-ons and layout back since I don't remember what was where. Is there a backup from which I can retrieve them?

Obviously, I'll keep googling for a solution, but it's tough to find a solution to a problem you can't adequately describe in a search box.

ADDENDUM: I just noticed another thing, but I don't know if FF always did this, but when I close FF with tabs open, it says there is 1 more tab that I don't see on the tab bar. It's off 1 tab on both computers.
AndyTampa
Posts: 48
Joined: December 19th, 2013, 2:26 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by AndyTampa »

Update: The reason for the multiple sets of tabs has been discovered. I have a Time Restart add-on that is restarting FF every 30 minutes. Since I had it set to prompt me every 1 hour instead of restarting, this is another issue. I went to disable the timer in add-ons and my add-ons page has changed. It seems all add-ons have just rendered themselves disabled, but a restart is needed for some of them. I can't manually move my icons to customize my FF with them disabled. A faster solution would be very beneficial right now.

Now that FF restarted, all add-ons say that they're disabled, but some of them are still active and none of the Enable buttons work.
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dfoulkes
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Joined: June 28th, 2008, 10:31 pm
Location: Mesquite, Nevada

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by dfoulkes »

Not sure I'm going to be able to help you here... but are you on the ESR version?

You might want to start with posting a list of your extensions to here...
See: Posting_a_screenshot_on_the_forum.
Posting a screenshot on the forum - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
Use a compressed image format like .png or .jpg and please do not post large images that break the forum layout, use thumbnails instead or only post a link.
If you need a place to host a screenshot... Note the "Uploading for general use" section of the document.
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
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therube
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Joined: March 10th, 2004, 9:59 pm
Location: Maryland USA

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by therube »

Only guess...

Backup.

Exit FF.
Remove extensions.* from your Profile folder (so I guess that would be; extensions.ini & extensions.json).

Restart FF.
I'd expect it to prompt you to install your extensions.
Do so.

Quit & restart again & see if they're all there & working.

(That "Time Restart" (URL?) extension, you might want to manually move out from the /extensions/ directory ahead of time?)
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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the-edmeister
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Joined: February 25th, 2003, 12:51 am
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by the-edmeister »

AndyTampa wrote:I have a Windows Vista desktop and a Windows 8 notebook. Today, Firefox messed up on both with slightly different but similar symptoms.
Were you using Sync when that started?


.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Mine has wandered off and I'm out looking for it.
AndyTampa
Posts: 48
Joined: December 19th, 2013, 2:26 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by AndyTampa »

Thank you all for responding. I hope you can help.

@dfoulkes

I was not using the ESR version. My Vista desktop was using v42. I didn't want to upgrade and lose access to my LastPass Toolbar. Unfortunately, when this problem appeared, I went to About Firefox in the Help menu and it automatically updated to v43. Now my toolbar is disabled.

I don't know what screenshot you wanted me to post. I've tried to get a list of all plugins and extensions. I had to download another extension to get a list of my extensions.

Application: Firefox 43.0.1 (20151216175450)
Operating System: WINNT (x86-msvc)
Toolbars:
TorrentFinder Toolbar, VirusTotal Toolbar, LastPass Toolbar, and FoxLingo Toolbar as well as the Bookmarks and Additional Toolbars.

Plugins:
OpenH264 Video Codec, Primtime Content Decryption Module by Adobe, Adobe Acrobat, VLC Web Plugin, Google Update, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Microsoft Office Live Plug-in, Silverlight Plug-in, Java(TM) Platform SE 8 U131, Java Deployment Toolkit, Google Earth Plugin, Canon image Gateway, iTunes Application Detector, Shockwave Flash, Facebook Plugin, Citrix Online Web Deployment Plugin, and Coupons, Inc. Coupon Printer.

@therube

It's funny you should mention a backup. This was discovered because I had problems with my system backups. Backups on my spouse's computer weren't working and in the process of fixing them, I somehow got them to continuously backup which completedly filled and corrupted the backup drive. All backups are lost. I finally got that drive usable again, but the data is gone. I have nothing to restore from. I was hoping for a way other than starting from scratch. I can never remember all the settings for each of my extensions. I've already backed up the profile folder.

@the-edmeister

Yes, I did have them synched. I've now removed the laptop FF from synch and am working to correct the desktop. Then I'd like to use synch to get the laptop set up correctly. It is using v52.0.1 (32-bit). [Is there a 64-bit?]
AndyTampa
Posts: 48
Joined: December 19th, 2013, 2:26 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by AndyTampa »

From what I just read, after 2017, FF will be abandoning the current API and rendering most of my extensions invalid. Without my extensions, FF will be no different from IE or Chrome and I will be forced to consider abandoning FF. IE is already on my Windows machines and will continue to be. Why would I need another of the same browser?

Is there an ESR version 42 so that I can keep my add-ons?
Brummelchen
Posts: 4480
Joined: March 19th, 2005, 10:51 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by Brummelchen »

get rid of that old crap which is not compatible with your firefox. you wont get any support for an outdated and vulnerable browser, current state is 52esr or 54.0.1. and some of the bugs are worth a CVE, there were several serious issues which all were solved with at least v52.

omg firefox must crash with this profile.
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dfoulkes
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Location: Mesquite, Nevada

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by dfoulkes »

Extension List Dumper 2 1.0.2

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... 2/?src=api
Firefox 17.0 - 52.*
SeaMonkey 2.26 - 2.46
Thunderbird 31.0 - 45.*
{8de7fcbb-c55c-4fbe-bfc5-fc555c87dbc4} 27.0 - 27.*
Dumps a list of the installed extensions.
Interesting that your list shows that the above ext. is good for 52.* ... but the info on AMO shows this..
Version 1.0.2 Released January 14, 2017 72.3 KiB Works with Firefox 17.0 and later, SeaMonkey 2.26 and later, Thunderbird 31.0 and later. Added compatibility with Pale Moon 27 and later
...not sure where your list gets its info from.

... I agree with Brummelchen, having junk laying around that now longer works can mess stuff up.... Maybe a new profile is needed... with 'only' updated extensions?
Creating a new Firefox profile on Windows - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
And,.... DON'T TOUCH THAT "Choose Folder..." BUTTON! ... unless you fully know all about it.

In case you do create that new profile... below is info on running it at the same time as your main one... makes it much easier to get the new one back to looking like the old one.
Opening a new instance of your Mozilla application with another profile - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
Brummelchen
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Joined: March 19th, 2005, 10:51 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by Brummelchen »

concerning "extension list dumper" - it is know as dead (2011) and causing trouble.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addo ... st-dumper/

2015 exists a another one:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addo ... startless/

but that ist also outdated.

current option:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... -dumper-2/

read here
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/a ... startless/

always recommended to read comments. a clean profile or safe-mode should have pointed out the solution

btw
is 404. maybe a counter page because of parameter but it does not exists. this is true, no accident

TMP is 0.5.0.4-pre, or 0.5.0.3 final - 0.5.0.1 is outdated and known as very buggy

no one can tell you what to use, you have to do most of research yourself, searching, reading comments, searching/reading forums for issues. myself usually only react when there is trouble with my firefox, and i read forums from time to time.
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dfoulkes
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Location: Mesquite, Nevada

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by dfoulkes »

Brummelchen wrote: current option:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... -dumper-2/
The above one that you pointed to is the same one that I and the OP use... and reading some info about it on AMO doesn't show that it has an end version for Firefox.
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
AndyTampa
Posts: 48
Joined: December 19th, 2013, 2:26 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by AndyTampa »

So many responses since last night. I'll answer each point as it was made (roughly).

"get rid of that old crap which is not compatible with your firefox. you wont get any support for an outdated and vulnerable browser, current state is 52esr or 54.0.1. and some of the bugs are worth a CVE" - It all still works with the versions of FF I have which is why I didn't want to upgrade. Also, what is a CVE?

"omg firefox must crash with this profile." - No. It didn't, even with 30 tabs open.

"Interesting that your list shows that the above ext. is good for 52." - Of course. I did say that I had to download another extension to get my list of extensions the way you see it above. That is the extension.

"I agree with Brummelchen, having junk laying around that now longer works can mess stuff up" - They all worked last time I used them.

"concerning "extension list dumper" - it is know as dead (2011) and causing trouble." - Extension List Dumper does not work. This is Extension List Dumper 2 and does work.

"btw...https://ffchrome.binaryturf.com/installed?v=2.3 404 page is 404" - That is a page that keeps opening itself that I'm trying to stop. I'm not trying to go there.

"TMP is 0.5.0.4-pre, or 0.5.0.3 final - 0.5.0.1 is outdated and known as very buggy" - Yes, there have been a couple of features that didn't work, so I don't use them.

"no one can tell you what to use, you have to do most of research yourself, searching, reading comments, searching/reading forums for issues. myself usually only react when there is trouble with my firefox," - Hence, why I'm here. Everything was going fine until my backup drive crashed and froze up my computer every time I tried to access it.

If I have to create a new profile, I will, and I will visit all the links you provided, but I really want to keep what I have and not spend the equivalent of a month of weekends getting my FF back to a configuration I'm familiar with and the tools I want to keep if I even can. FF has gone through so many versions, I don't want to keep replacing extensions every week.

All these negative comments about my firefox that worked fine until this weekend are getting me discouraged. I'm getting the feeling you're trying to talk me out of getting it the way I want. I can't be the only one who needs to keep what works. The computer is a Windows Vista computer and all these new improvements start outpacing the computer. Firefox is going to upgrade itself right out of my use if I can't keep what works for me.

Even if I find current extensions to replace the ones I have, they will also become useless after v57 anyway and I'll be doing this all over again. This is what is making FF such a PITA. I just can't resist the flexibility of adding useful extensions. FF works fine, but they won't leave it alone. None of these upgrades have ever made a noticeable improvement in my experience with using FF. They've only always created more for me to do, except for one version that kept crashing back in the single digit versions.
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dfoulkes
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Location: Mesquite, Nevada

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by dfoulkes »

Also, what is a CVE?
CVE = Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE®)

You know... I'm kind of at a loss now as to what your specific issue with Firefox is. The 'main' problem in your first post was about a bunch of tab... and it seems that you found the problem... you also stated that some icons were out of order... fixed? ... as for your add-ons not getting enabled ... others here had suggested to you... what to do... I don't see that you tried that....

I'd say... stay away from Sync... seen too many problem posts around here on that.

'If' I were you (and I use 30 extensions here) ... I would keep that profile and do what I suggested about creating a new one. Out of date extensions that are not supposed to work properly 'after' their end version coverage 'can' mess up profiles... they may not crash your profile... but can cause other areas to be damaged... even it it looks like they work.

I would not rely on your using a 'system backup routine' for your profiles... In my case I use FEBE to make a backup every Friday... and then Monthly I put all of those backups on a thumb drive and rotate that drive every other month... it fits my needs... maybe not yours, so you should create your cycle as needed... see this...
Profile backup - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Here is a site my Mozilla that contains all releases... if it helps in any way...
Directory Listing: /pub/firefox/releases/

In summary.... you seem to have a number of expired extensions that can cause problem... till you realize that fact... you are still going to have problems...
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
AndyTampa
Posts: 48
Joined: December 19th, 2013, 2:26 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by AndyTampa »

At the time you wrote the above, you were mistaken. My main problem was that 1. tabs for pages I wasn't visiting would open up and replace my previous session, 2. my toolbars disappeared, and 3. settings wouldn't stick. I never found the reason for any of that happening. I said I found the reason it happens every half hour on my desktop, but not the reason it happens. There were only two suggestions. Brummelchen said (and I'm paraphrasing) to give up trying to fix it and you said to try a new profile. Then the two of you had a side conversation about Extension List Dumper. I haven't had time to complete a new profile. It isn't a new weekend yet. I got as far as creating one in Profile Manager.

Having responded to that, there has been a new development. On my Windows 8 notebook, FF decided to upgrade itself when I created a new profile. It is now v54.0.1. The mystery tabs have stopped and the settings stick. My toolbars are still missing but all the extensions appear to be working again. I haven't had time to check them all out yet. Many plug-ins are gone that let programs work within FF such as VLC and Acrobat.

Q1: Do I need to reinstall these programs to get the plug-ins back?

Q2: Once I get my Win8.1 notebook FF the way I want it, can I use Sync to copy it over to my Vista desktop FF and then disable sync again?

Q3: Is there a 64-bit FF yet?

Q4: What is FEBE?
Brummelchen
Posts: 4480
Joined: March 19th, 2005, 10:51 am

Re: Firefox corrupted simultaneously on separate computers

Post by Brummelchen »

dfoulkes wrote:The above one that you pointed to is the same one that I and the OP use... and reading some info about it on AMO doesn't show that it has an end version for Firefox.
my bad, i assumed the "2" for the version, not the rebuild, sorry.

plugins - since v53 only flash and even flash will die sometime, maybe 2018. who really need plugins? glad i never used some except flash and with opera and chromium i dropped it completely. by accident i got rid of flash for my Windows 8, no update or installation could cure it :-"

firefox 64bit is no gain, in special not for flash = buggy

FEBE - forget it, make regular file backups from
%appdata%\mozilla
but dont use mozbackup, buggy crap. use 7zip, or winrar, create a task with one of those, or any other decent file backupper.

when firefox is getting v57 i need to start from scratch with extensions, or i step back to v52 esr until 2018. i dont feel comfortable with this.

see my signature, this is chromium and it works close like firefox now (and in parts even better) - this is what firefox future will be here. not sure if going back sometimes.
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