Question | Firefox Help

posted by rlchism 3 months ago

Starting Firefox writes a zero byte file to my desktop.

A few weeks ago I downloaded a file called Spanish Piece.wmv from a trusted source. It was a guitar instruction video. I have since deleted it. However, every time I start Firefox on my Windows 7 64-bit desktop, a zero-byte file named Spanish Piece.wmv gets written to my desktop. It will create a new one every time, and sometimes I have to go and delete a dozen or so of these files. Is there a batch file or startup file of some kind that this might have been written into? What do you suggest that I do to determine the cause of this problem? I would rather understand why it is happening rather than just make it go away by reinstalling and deleting all of my settings.

↓ Show more ↑ Show less

All posts
Helpful Solutions

owner
post
post
owner
owner
helpful

rlchism 3 months ago

FYI, I already deleted and reinstalled Firefox, but saved my preferences, but the problem was still there.
cor-el 3 months ago
Try to delete the sessionstore.js file and possible sessionstore-##.js files with a number and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Open Containing Folder
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost, so you will have to create them again (make a note or bookmark them).
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Multiple_profile_files_created
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved
You can also try to delete the downloads.sqlite file in the profile folder.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_save_or_download_files#Manually_delete_download_history
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox
0
Tylerdowner 3 months ago

Please update to Firefox 18.0.2 as well.

0
rlchism 2 months ago

I tried all those things, but now when I start up Firefox it writes five 0-byte files to my desktop, all bearing the names of old downloads.
rlchism 2 months ago

I am using Firefox 19.0.2 on a Widows 7 64 bit machine.
rlchism 2 months ago

Problem solved. Another user had a similar issue. Disabling the Add-On "Download YouTube Videos" made the problem disappear.

2