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Prevent Firefox from deleting ".part" files after failure

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 26 views
  • Last reply by TheFish1

TheFish1
TheFish1
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When you download a file - let's say it is a video file - and you start watching before the download has finished, Firefox will not be able to rename the ".part" as supposed when the download is complete. This is expected behavior, because the file is locked by another application.

However, Firefox seems to think that the *download* has failed, not the *rename*. Problem is that Firefox will delete the absolutely correctly downloaded ".part" file on the next start, which is pretty annying.

Question: Can we prevent firefox from deleting ".part" files? Firefox should never delete a ".part" file.

Irrespectively if this is possible or not, FiIrefox should distinct between "failed download" and "failed rename". In the latter case, Firefox should only try to rename the file again on next startup (instead of re-downloading, which will kill the .part file).

Regards, Till

When you download a file - let's say it is a video file - and you start watching before the download has finished, Firefox will not be able to rename the ".part" as supposed when the download is complete. This is expected behavior, because the file is locked by another application. However, Firefox seems to think that the *download* has failed, not the *rename*. Problem is that Firefox will delete the absolutely correctly downloaded ".part" file on the next start, which is pretty annying. Question: Can we prevent firefox from deleting ".part" files? Firefox should never delete a ".part" file. Irrespectively if this is possible or not, FiIrefox should distinct between "failed download" and "failed rename". In the latter case, Firefox should only try to rename the file again on next startup (instead of re-downloading, which will kill the .part file). Regards, Till

All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Hi Till, the problem that comes to mind is that Firefox may not have a way to determine whether the .part file is complete at startup; I don't know whether enough contextual information is retained (for example, whether all the bytes promised by the server were received).

You can submit your suggestion in a number of ways, including:

TheFish1
TheFish1 Question owner
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I've filed a bug report. Firefox should remember the kind of the error together with downloaded files so that it can handle more sensible on next start.

Regarding my main question: Is it possible to prevent ".part" file erasure using a setting? Couldn't find anything in about:config but maybe there is something?