move of firefox profile has not worked

[LMHmedchem]

Hello,

I have tried to move my firefox profile from the default Windows location because I try to never have anything on the C: drive that would cause loss of data if Windows needs to be restored.

The default profile location was,

Code: Select all

C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
  \Profiles\j1d089t7.default

I used the following instructions to move the profile.

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1. Copy the profile directory to the new directory

   C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla
      \Firefox\Profiles\j1d089t7.default

   copied to

   E:\applications\firefox_profiles\Profiles\j1d089t7.default

2. Open the firefox profile manager

   Start > Run > E:\applications\firefox_install\firefox.exe -p

3. Create a new profile and select the new directory for the location

   Profile Name: Default User
   Location: E:\applications\firefox_profiles\Profiles
               \j1d089t7.default

4. Select the new profile and start firefox.

When my new profile opens, it is an empty profile lacking all of my information such as bookmarks and extensions.

When I look in profiles.ini, the following entries appear.

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[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/j1d089t7.default
Default=1

[Profile1]
Name=Default User
IsRelative=0
Path=E:\applications\firefox_profiles\Profiles\j1d089t7.default

The path for the new user is correct, so I have no idea why the new profile is not using the profile information. Should I change the name of the new profile parent directory or something like that?

LMHmedchem

[dickvl]

It might not be a good idea to transfer the full profile folder, but start with only copying some 'safe' database files.
It might also be a good idea to first start Firefox with the new profile to initialize it properly and ensure that it works and then start copying important personal data files.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_ ... _-_Firefox

[jscher2000]

If you open about:profiles, do the paths match what you expect?

Do you have a backup of that profile folder from before merging it into (or obliterating it with) a new profile?

[therube]

What version of FF?
Does not look to be Quantum (at least not > 66, aka profilemania).

In 3. above, just to confirm you manually "broke" the path when you made your post, i.e., in profiles.ini it shows correctly?

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E:\applications\firefox_profiles\Profiles
               \j1d089t7.default

Oh, 'Default' is set to your old Profile, on C:.
So if your shortcut does use the -P switch, & with that if you then don't manually select your new Profile on E:, then the Profile on C: will open.

Set the E: Profile to 'Default'.
(Or -p "default user".)

Otherwise, your steps look correct.


-------


In Quantum > 66 - without trying every scenario out, manually changing only the Path= path location in profiles.ini, that (path) change looks to automatically get picked up in installs.ini.

[LMHmedchem]

What version of FF?
Does not look to be Quantum (at least not > 66, aka profilemania).

The version is 52.9.0 (on an old XP install that I still need). I don't think I can update it.

In 3. above, just to confirm you manually "broke" the path when you made your post, i.e., in profiles.ini it shows correctly?

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E:\applications\firefox_profiles\Profiles
               \j1d089t7.default

Yes, I added the return and spaces to the post so that the path would be easier to read. Probably silly of me. Because StartWithLastProfile=0 in the ini, I always get the profile manager when I start firefox. The default setting doesn't really do anything except highlight a profile in the chooser.

Looking at the profiles.ini file, the default entry appears to use a linux style path.

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[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/j1d089t7.default
Default=1

Just to check, I changed my new profile path to the linux equivalent. I also changed the profile name

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[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0

[Profile1]
Name=default_user
IsRelative=0
Path=E:/applications/firefox_profiles/Profiles/default_user

This now works and the new profile opens with my data intact. Changing the name by itself did not fix the issue. I didn't check if I could change the name back.

This is quite odd since the path was created in the ini by firefox when I created the new profile and assigned it location with the file chooser. It's not unusual for applications to keep with linux style paths in their under-the-hood operations, but why would firefox write the wrong kind of path in its own ini? It is also odd the firefox would open in a new clean profile (that it stored somewhere???) instead of telling me that the profile can't be found.

I have always thought that profile management was much more complex than necessary in the mozilla family. Way can't you just say "use this profile" and point to it? What is the value of the process being any more complicated than that?

LMHmedchem

[therube]

(On my end, I have Windows installed on E:, & C: [& elsewhere] are where anything not Windows go.)

That's odd. Thing / or \ should not make a difference.
Do a search on your end for "places.sqlite" & see if you don't have a (newer) one in some odd location outside of where you're expecting to see it turn up.
IOW, maybe what you created & where you copied to ended up being different locations.

[therube]

Wonder if the issue was, Name=Default User, with a space between Default and User?

Quantum does not like "Name=1 or 2" (spaces between).
It should have opened "1 or 2", but instead, opened "1".

I started off with one Profile named 1, another Profile named 2, & just now created a Profile location (manually pre-created a directory) named "1 or 2".
Manually set 'Name=1 or 2' in profiles.ini.

Oops. I just confused two things there.

Name=Default User, should not matter (I'm thinking).

In my example "1 or 2", that is really the Path= parameter, not Name=.
Path= does matter if it contains spaces.

Eh, disregard ALL of that. It's entirely wrong.

(You know when you need to open something, say a browser, multiple times in succession, & it takes 5 SECONDS between iterations, & when said browser maker could care less, & said issues has gotten on your nerves for months & months & months, simply knowing that it is not fixed, even if it may not necessarily had been affecting you continuously [because you worked around it, in some rather asinine manner], really makes for a poor taste in one's mouth, that often can lead to ... the above post [in my case].)