How to erase old configuration data?
A website my wife went to was hacked and tried to install a virus which froze Firefox. I had to kill FF by using Task Manager. I did not want to restart it and have it try to restore the tab, so I searched for the session files as described in Mozilla support. I could not find the file described, so apparently Mozilla support is out of date. I decided to de-install FF, renamed the Mozilla folder (under \Users\<my wife>\AppData\Mozilla) to "_Mozilla.old" and reinstall it. I did that but somehow the new install found the old config files and tried to restore the bad tab!! So, my question is, how do I completely erase all previous configuration data so that when I install FF it thinks it is a brand new install? Related to that is why doesn't FF de-install all configuration data when you de-install the app?
The system is Windows 10 Professional. It is set up as multi-user, I am the admin.
Chosen solution
Thanks, that is helpful.
A little off topic, but what constitutes a regular shutdown? I have FF configured to restore the last session's tabs but most of the time it does not, it puts up what is configured as my home pages. For instance, doing an update and saying 'yes' when it asks whether the restart FF, it does not restore tabs most of the time, but does some times. Confusing.
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There are two different Mozilla folders:
- C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\... - this is the real data
- C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Mozilla\... - temporary files
Possibly you renamed the second one and not the first one.
But rather than rename again, here is how you can hide the previous session history from Firefox at the next startup. The reason I suggest hiding rather than deleting is so you can recover the other open tabs later if you like.
In the profile folder (under AppData\Roaming):
(1) Rename the sessionstore-backups folder to OLDsessionstore-backups (you can right-click the folder > Rename, then edit the name, and click a blank area of the Windows Explorer file list to save the change)
(2) Check for a file named sessionstore.js which usually does not exist after an irregular shutdown. If you find it (or a file name sessionstore of type JScript), you can rename it to OLDsessionstore.js
Note: by default, Windows doesn't show the .js extension or many other file extensions. You can set Windows to show you all file extensions using the steps in this article: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-show-file-extensions-in-windows/
When you start Firefox, it should just display the home page. Success?
Chosen Solution
Thanks, that is helpful.
A little off topic, but what constitutes a regular shutdown? I have FF configured to restore the last session's tabs but most of the time it does not, it puts up what is configured as my home pages. For instance, doing an update and saying 'yes' when it asks whether the restart FF, it does not restore tabs most of the time, but does some times. Confusing.
scott.maui said
A little off topic, but what constitutes a regular shutdown?
That's where Firefox cleans up its various open files in an orderly manner. For the best shot at that, I suggest using the "Exit" command from the menu. Either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
- (menu bar) File > Exit
Or if you're a keyboard shortcut person, tap and release these in sequence:
Alt f x
(That seems to work in a majority of Windows applications.)
scott.maui said
I have FF configured to restore the last session's tabs but most of the time it does not, it puts up what is configured as my home pages. For instance, doing an update and saying 'yes' when it asks whether the restart FF, it does not restore tabs most of the time, but does some times. Confusing.
When Firefox doesn't restore your session, is Restore Previous Session available on the History menu?
If that is grayed, perhaps there is an issue with Firefox or an add-on or an external program clearing your session history files?
For example, if Firefox is set to clear history when you close it, that also includes your open windows and tabs from your last session.
Aha, Clear History on Closing is enabled, which explains why it is not being restored some of the time. I wonder why the option to restore last session's tabs would be allowed if it won't work due to another setting?
I often shut down FF by Task Manager. It has a memory leak and it gets so slow and unresponsive it is quicker to shut it down with TM and restart it then to wait for it to gracefully shut down.