Choose User Profile
Iv been using FF on my lappy for years, now suddenly, when I try to start FF it asks me to select a user profile between the following options: -
- default - default-<number>
This has annoyed me to no end, its bad enough that FF does update checks and installs on startup, but now this????
Has it occurred to FF developers that when users pop open a browser we need it to snap open, we dont always have ridiculous amounts of time to wait for it to start. What if Im checking the bus timetable - Id miss the bus. Or the times Iv been in conference and needed a quick webpage - embarrassed! So many times Iv need FF and she couldnt be there for me in time. If I wanted a massive delay and/or additional tasks between clicking open and it opening then Id of course look for some ridiculous adobe product instead.
Anyways as much as I love and adore FF I have sadly closed her because of this, and will use Chrome instead. Ill check every now and then to see if the Choose User Profile error has gone away.
Thanks for breaking my heart.
Chosen solution
I solved my issue by changing to Chrome. Thanks for your highly technical and befuddling answers to the simple question of why is my browser always letting me down when I need it in a hurry by doing updates or some other rubbish at startup.
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (7)
Are you starting Firefox with the -P command line switch or is there a profile set as Default=1 in the profiles.ini file that is no longer present?
You get a default profile with a time stamp in case you reset (refresh) Firefox and create a new profile.
The start command (in the windows shortcut) is C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
My profiles.ini looks like ... [General] StartWithLastProfile=1
[Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/7dw0wemd.default
[Profile1] Name=default-1423642621149 IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/p420h8s3.default-1423642621149
Thanks
As you can see, there is no profile marked as Default=1. The most likely cause is that you haven't started Firefox with one of the currently available profiles. Another possible cause is security software that protects the profiles.ini file against changes.
Modified by cor-el
Thanks. So what do I do? I use FF every day, and have for years. Now I have to use Chrome until someone can tell me what to do to make FF work again :?
My suggestions: Initially let's keep it simple instead of editing profiles.ini directly use the profile manager dialogue that is appearing.
- Please confirm Firefox actually works ok ?
(Other than offering you a choice, and a slow startup.) You are able to progress past the profile choice and use Firefox as a browser ? - Have you identified differences between, and tried Firefox with both of the profiles ?
- You need to decide which profile you need to keep. Unless they are very close copies/clones they will differ in for instance the bookmarks & login details they provide. (Will include; potentially years of; History also)
- From the profile manager dialogue you should be able to choose which profile to use AND then choose not to ask in future.
That is the simplest and safest way of dealing with this problem. If that method does not work something is going wrong. As mentioned by cor-el possibly security related software is aggressively protecting against settings changes.
It should be sufficient to start the Profile Manager via "-P" and select one of the two profiles that you want to use. That should mark that profile because "use the selected profile without asking" is selected.
Chosen Solution
I solved my issue by changing to Chrome. Thanks for your highly technical and befuddling answers to the simple question of why is my browser always letting me down when I need it in a hurry by doing updates or some other rubbish at startup.