Why does Firefox regularly lose my add-ons and I have to reset and re-install (Download helper, Status-4-evar, Google Lite)
I lose the add-ons when Firefox automatically upgrades to the latest version but this is not the only time. It may work for 5-10 days without a problem then without warning or error, it just losess the add-ons, upgrade or no upgrade. This is most annoying as they will not re-download and re-install and all I can do is reset Firefox then re-customise the browser again to my look and feel, then have to download and re-install these add-ons again. It seems like I am doing this continually over and over again.
All Replies (3)
Do you have any cleanup or other security software running around the time when this happens?
Do the extensions actually disappear from the about:addons page?
Are you still running the same (default) profile?
You can check for problems with preferences.
Rename or delete the prefs.js file and possible numbered prefs-##.js and user.js files to reset all prefs to the default value.
It is possible that there is a problem with the file(s) that store the extensions registry.
Delete the extensions.* files (e.g. extensions.sqlite, extensions.ini) and compatibility.ini in the Firefox profile folder to reset the extensions registry.
New files will be created when required.
See "Corrupt extension files":
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_install_themes_or_extensions
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Unable+to+install+add-ons
If you see disabled or not compatible extensions in "Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions" then click the Tools button at the left end side of the Search Bar to check if there is a compatibility update available.
If this hasn't helped then also delete the addons.sqlite file.
It sounds like you have to do all the things they just asked about avoiding. For us people who are not geeks, it's very confusing. I DREAD downloading the newest version because I know it will cause me a migraine's worth of pain and take hours to get everything back to the way I want.! I just got everything all straightened out from the last update. And they come so often. It has been popping up and reminding me, but do I HAVE TO apply the update if I don't want to? Thank you, BJ
Thanks Cor-el but I am with azgirl7 that trying to follow the instructions is not easy. I have had some success by copying all my profiles from C:\Users\Brendan (my name) \AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles to a spare folder I have created. When Firefox updates or changes, I delete the profiles and copy them back from the spare folder. But this does not work every time. All in all, it is very time consuming and one that Mozilla should have an easier method to protect as well restore.