Browser World

Ever since I’ve used Firefox (or back in those days, Firebird) the support forum has had a steady trickle of users complaining that their bookmarks vanished after a computer crash, their profile was wiped out randomly and over such issues.

The problems still remain today, and largely (I think) because it’s either not known what the problem is, or isn’t considered frequent enough to devote a lot of time to. We may be able to change both of those, but only if it’s done in a helpful and constructive way that developers can use as a basis for researching the cause. Please share your experiences here.

Where can I get help?

The support forums here are the place you’re most likely to find people who can give you guidance if you’re suffering from this sort of problem. Reading this post might also prove beneficial.

What can I do to prevent this happening in the future?

I think the problem remains largely because there isn’t a whole lot of quantitative information on the subject which would point developers in the right direction. But bluntly, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. Telling us about your Firefox install, your computer, your usage patterns and suchlike may reduce that stack of hay to a handful.

I want to help, what are the rules of this thread?

1. Only post if you’ve actually had this problem. Your worries and concerns about this bug might be justified, but please start your own threads for that (I can hear moderators cringing at this suggestion, but hey, I want a clean thread for a change).

2. Post objective, useful and related comments. This is not a thread to complain, this is a thread to provide information so that the problem can be fixed.

3. No evangelism. This is a Firefox forum, a Firefox thread and a Firefox bug which I’m willing to get people talking about. I’ll ask for anything other than on-topic discussion to be split off, but it wastes less of everyone’s time if you don’t do this.

4. Don’t immediately run to the bugs reports I’ve linked and add comments. Bugzilla is for providing testcases, patches, discussing the fixes that developers suggest and tracking. It is not a place to say “I had this problem too”, complain or generally say anything that doens’t help the bug get fixed.

5. This thread is not about problems upgrading from old profiles caused by installed extensions. This problem has been resolved since Firefox 1.0 and to a certain extent Firefox 0.9… upgrading from pre-0.9 profiles may still be an issue, but that’s an issue for another thread.

6. This thread is also not about locked profiles. If your profile still exists on your hard drive and your data is in tact, you’re posting to the wrong thread!

What information do you want from me?

Anything that is helpful! At a minimum, though, I’d say something along the following lines. It may be even better if you simply copy out the list below and fill in the blanks.

—
Which problem did you experience… profile corruption/loss or only bookmark loss?

Did this happen after a Firefox crash?

Did your computer crash, or did this occur after a normal shut down?

Was Firefox open when your computer crashed or was shut down?

What operating system do you use (and which version)?

What is the filesystem of your hard drive(s)? (how to find out)

What version of Firefox/Firebird were you using when your bookmarks were lost or your profile was corrupted?

If you upgraded Firefox versions, did you create a new profile or upgrade using the old one? (if you don’t know, chances are you upgraded, but please say that you are unsure)

If you upgraded an old profile, what version of Firefox/Firebird did you originally use?

Did you lose other files or settings in other applications (including non-Mozilla)?

Do you use or have you installed any bookmark-related extensions?
—

I don’t remember all of those things / am unsure how to find out!

If you don’t remember, missing out details is ok. Just give whatever info you can. If you are unsure how to find out, feel free to ask.

Where can I view the bugs that track this problem?

You can view them by clicking the links below. Please don’t comment in them. Non-development comments in bug reports are worse than no comments at all, since they put developers off of reading the report and fixing the problem.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=193749
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=260553
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=289615

Anything else?

This problem won’t go away on it’s own or without help from end-users that have seen it happen. Help us to prevent unnecessary data loss in the future.