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Multitudes of problems with 4.0.1 : How to revert to prior version?

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  • Last reply by Allaur

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Upon updating my Firefox, I have to say that I've never been so disappointed in Mozilla in my 10+ years of use. The new 4.0.1 version is currently at such low functionality that I've switched back to Safari until either 1) current bugs are fixed, 2) a new version comes out, 3) I can revert back to prior version.

Issues I have include some superficial issues such as: - Unhappy with new tab placement (prefer below address bar) - Unhappy with new refresh button placement - Tabs rarely save upon closing FF as they have in previous versions - On my Mac, can usually use touch pad to zoom in and out of pages, which is helpful with small text or when I'm trying to view many pictures at once in thumbnail form. This no longer works with the new version.

However, the problems that have forced my switch over have been on a more serious level: - Noticeably slower loading pages - Refresh seems to 'time out' as does clicking links sometimes, so that clicking a link or refreshing a page must be done two or three times before it will actually load

And the largest problem: - FF now locks up my Mac very frequently so that I have to 'force quit' it. When I say 'very frequently' I mean that it's not uncommon for me to have to force quit two to four times in a period of an hour. When I pull FF back up and it's at the page to restore tabs, I now just create a new session. If I try to restore tabs, it tends to lock up again immediately.

Information to revert to previous version appreciated. However, I've seen some complaints that doing so may erase bookmarks, &etc which I would really rather avoid.

Upon updating my Firefox, I have to say that I've never been so disappointed in Mozilla in my 10+ years of use. The new 4.0.1 version is currently at such low functionality that I've switched back to Safari until either 1) current bugs are fixed, 2) a new version comes out, 3) I can revert back to prior version. Issues I have include some superficial issues such as: - Unhappy with new tab placement (prefer below address bar) - Unhappy with new refresh button placement - Tabs rarely save upon closing FF as they have in previous versions - On my Mac, can usually use touch pad to zoom in and out of pages, which is helpful with small text or when I'm trying to view many pictures at once in thumbnail form. This no longer works with the new version. However, the problems that have forced my switch over have been on a more serious level: - Noticeably slower loading pages - Refresh seems to 'time out' as does clicking links sometimes, so that clicking a link or refreshing a page must be done two or three times before it will actually load And the largest problem: - FF now locks up my Mac very frequently so that I have to 'force quit' it. When I say 'very frequently' I mean that it's not uncommon for me to have to force quit two to four times in a period of an hour. When I pull FF back up and it's at the page to restore tabs, I now just create a new session. If I try to restore tabs, it tends to lock up again immediately. Information to revert to previous version appreciated. However, I've seen some complaints that doing so may erase bookmarks, &etc which I would really rather avoid.

Chosen solution

Credit Tony E

To downgrade to Firefox 3.6 first uninstall Firefox 4, but do not select the option to "Remove my Firefox personal data". If you select that option it will delete your bookmarks, passwords and other user data. See https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Uninstalling+Firefox

You can then install the latest version of Firefox 3.6 available from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html - it will automatically use your current bookmarks, passwords etc.

To avoid possible problems with downgrading, I recommend going to your profile folder and deleting the following files if they exist - extensions.cache, extensions.rdf, extensions.ini, extensions.sqlite and localstore.rdf. Deleting these files will force Firefox to rebuild the list of installed extensions, checking their compatibility, and reset toolbar customizations.

For details of how to find your profile folder see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles

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Chosen Solution

Credit Tony E

To downgrade to Firefox 3.6 first uninstall Firefox 4, but do not select the option to "Remove my Firefox personal data". If you select that option it will delete your bookmarks, passwords and other user data. See https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Uninstalling+Firefox

You can then install the latest version of Firefox 3.6 available from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html - it will automatically use your current bookmarks, passwords etc.

To avoid possible problems with downgrading, I recommend going to your profile folder and deleting the following files if they exist - extensions.cache, extensions.rdf, extensions.ini, extensions.sqlite and localstore.rdf. Deleting these files will force Firefox to rebuild the list of installed extensions, checking their compatibility, and reset toolbar customizations.

For details of how to find your profile folder see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles

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Happily back to FF 3.6 until 4.0 is fixed/improved. Thanks for your help, Andy!