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I'm getting the "Using an older version of Firefox can corrupt bookmarks and browsing history" error when launching firefox.

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I did not update FireFox in any way, but suddenly I'm getting this error message when I attempt to launch FireFox. I accessed the "about:profiles" and set my original profile to be the default profile, but I just get the same error when I launch FireFox again. I'm running FireFox 68.7.0esr. Lot's of important bookmarks are now gone if I create a new profile.

Thanks,

Randy

I did not update FireFox in any way, but suddenly I'm getting this error message when I attempt to launch FireFox. I accessed the "about:profiles" and set my original profile to be the default profile, but I just get the same error when I launch FireFox again. I'm running FireFox 68.7.0esr. Lot's of important bookmarks are now gone if I create a new profile. Thanks, Randy

Chosen solution

That did the trick!! I installed version 75, then went to "About:Profiles" and made my old profile the "Default" profile and everything is back to normal. I have no idea if I was previously running v75 and somehow it reverted to v68? Or maybe my company pushed out some kind of change to FireFox of which I was not aware? Bizarre, but whatever happened, it is now back as it was!

Thanks everybody!!

Randy

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All Replies (13)

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Type about:support in the address bar and press Enter. Under the main banner, press the button; Copy Text To Clipboard.. Now in the Reply Box on the forum page, do a right-click in the box and select Paste.

If the data is too big, do not worry. It's the top part we need to look at.

This will show us your system details. No Personal Information Is Collected.

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You can check the compatibility.ini file in that profile folder to see what Firefox version and installation last used this profile.

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
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[Compatibility] LastVersion=75.0_20200403170909/20200403170909 LastOSABI=WINNT_x86_64-msvc LastPlatformDir=C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox LastAppDir=C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser

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Do you have also Firefox 75 installed on this computer?

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No other versions of FireFox are installed on this computer.

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The content of compatibility.ini you posted shows that this profile was last used with 64-bit Firefox 75. Firefox 68 will refuse to use this profile because some files have been upgraded to newer schemes that makes them incompatible with older version.

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cor-el Top 10 Contributor Moderator said

randy.dillinger Question owner said

No other versions of FireFox are installed on this computer.

The content of compatibility.ini you posted shows that this profile was last used with 64-bit Firefox 75. Firefox 68 will refuse to use this profile because some files have been upgraded to newer schemes that makes them incompatible with older version.

Check both the 32-bit and 64-bit program paths:

  • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox [Your compat info shows this path for Firefox 75]
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox [Maybe your Firefox 68 ESR is here?]
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I found "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox" but there is only a "plugins" folder. There is no executable located on this path. The only FireFox.exe is located in "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox". I'm not sure where the FireFox 75 entry came from, but should I try to install version 75 to see if it will use that profile?

Thanks,

Randy

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Hmm, I can't shake the feeling that it must be hiding somewhere. Unless it was already removed.

If you search C:\Program Files for firefox.exe do you find more than one location?

If you decide to search more broadly, it's helpful to set Windows to show hidden files and folders: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files

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I searched the entire "C:" drive and found "FireFox.exe" only in "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox".

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Hmm, where did it go?

If you want to install Firefox 75, you can download a "full" installer from the following page. If you specify a custom install, you should be able to choose whether to replace Firefox ESR in the normal program folder or install into a new program folder. In case you aren't sure about replacing.

Whoops, pasted the wrong link!

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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I think I will make a copy my profile folder in another location before I install.

Thanks,

Randy

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Chosen Solution

That did the trick!! I installed version 75, then went to "About:Profiles" and made my old profile the "Default" profile and everything is back to normal. I have no idea if I was previously running v75 and somehow it reverted to v68? Or maybe my company pushed out some kind of change to FireFox of which I was not aware? Bizarre, but whatever happened, it is now back as it was!

Thanks everybody!!

Randy