Hello,

Please see the articles:

• Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles
• Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data
• Recovering important data from an old profile
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup

In short, your profile is stored in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\, separate from the Firefox installation folder - so a reinstall of your Firefox application should still keep your settings.

If you want to backup your profile you can easily access the files by typing about:support in the address bar or going to:

• Help (or > ) > Troubleshooting Information

And click the Show Folder button beside "Profile Folder". So you can backup your files to make sure that your settings and configurations are safe in the event that something goes wrong when you reinstall.

If you don't have the latest Firefox, you can download the latest version (33) here:

• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
• (or if you need a different localization): https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

Your user agent shows that you are using version 31, if you intended to use ESR, you can grab the latest copy here:

• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Use these add-ons to save your current profile and settings. Then Download Firefox Full Installer For All languages And Systems {web link} Installing over the current program should not change the settings that are stored in your user profile. However, if you Reset Firefox {web link} (a LAST RESORT ! !) you would lose everything.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences

Thank you both for your replies!

So wait, I should NOT UNinstall FF before reinstalling it? So I just run the installer for v33 WITHOUT uninstalling my current FF first? (I am understanding this correctly?)

I've backed up my profile just in case.

Generally the installer can upgrade to the latest version of Firefox if it detects an older version installed. However, if you are having problems with your current application, it might be safer to uninstall as there might be a damaged file in Firefox application folder that might get carried over if you perform the upgrade. So after uninstalling from the Control Panel > Programs and Features, delete all of the residual files from your Mozilla Firefox folder in the program files:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox (in most cases this one)
• C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

After deleting that folder, reinstall Firefox using the installer you downloaded. Your profile is stored in a separate folder as mentioned in my last post, so your customizations should still be saved once Firefox finishes installing. In case something happens you at least have your backups, and can follow the articles posted earlier to restore all of your settings.

You can choose to uninstall that older version to avoid registry issues and (re)install the current release, but you have to make sure that you do not remove personal data when uninstalling as that will remove all Firefox profiles.

Note that a system restore affects some files (.ini and .js) in the Firefox profile folder, so you may have lost some data in prefs.js and sessionstore.js.

Thank you!

I did what you said and uninstalled + installed seemingly successfully. The customization transferred correctly without me having to manually restore the profile.

However, upon uninstall, I did *not* get an option asking me to keep or remove personal data.

I've been test-driving it, and this is what I've noticed with updates:

Oct 24: uninstalled old and installed FF v33.0. Went to Help -> About Firefox and it said it was up to date. Later that day, I went to Help -> About Firefox again and v.33.0.1 had been released. However, I did not get the popup notifying me that a new version had been made available.

Oct 25: After 24 hrs of v33.0.1 having been released, I still had not received a popup saying an update was available. I tried updating via Help -> About Firefox -> Update to 33.0.1 and that worked successfully.

Oct 28: Checked Help -> About Firefox again and found out that v.33.0.2 is now available. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/33.0.2/releasenotes/ Says it was released today. I did not click on Update to check how long I can go until I get the notification popup.

Are releases pushed gradually? I don't know if that's the right term - should I be experiencing a lapse between the time a version is released and the time I receive an update notification popup, and I just haven't waited long enough to go through that period, or is there something still not working right with my updates?

Settings are to "Check for updates, but let me choose whether to install them," which is how I've had it for years and I'd always gotten the popups before.

Thanks again for your help! :D