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Not able to recover previous session after Firefox update and crash

JaVe94
JaVe94
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Hello, my problem is as follows:

I had a session open when i updated Firefox. It closed the browser however Firefox didn't show me any indication that it was updating so i tried open it again. Right that moment the update window showed up and somehow Firefox crashed. When i opened it again, my previous session was lost and i have no way of retrieving it. There is no option popping up in the menu that says 'Restore Session' and other methods that i have seen online are a bit difficult to understand.

Also the sessions i can recover are all after Firefox kinda crashed/Firefox updated so i don't know how to get my old session back. The session i want to recover is before i updated to Firefox 62.0 on the 10th, September. (Time stamp would be around 5:30pm CEST)

Oh and i have seen this thread (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1204253) and i tried doing it, but the session i want back is not there.... does that mean worst case scenario happened and i won't be able to get my session back? ;____;


This may be a dumb question but would reseting my windows version to 9th, September help? I mean it would erase the update i did for Firefox and should (as much as i know <.<) also reset the setting for Firefox to yesterday's ones correct? But would that help since my problem is on the net surface and not a computer problem >.>


ps: i wanted to upload pictures but it somehow doesn't let me, so if you need them, please tell me and i will try to send them.

Hello, my problem is as follows: I had a session open when i updated Firefox. It closed the browser however Firefox didn't show me any indication that it was updating so i tried open it again. Right that moment the update window showed up and somehow Firefox crashed. When i opened it again, my previous session was lost and i have no way of retrieving it. There is no option popping up in the menu that says 'Restore Session' and other methods that i have seen online are a bit difficult to understand. Also the sessions i can recover are all after Firefox kinda crashed/Firefox updated so i don't know how to get my old session back. The session i want to recover is before i updated to Firefox 62.0 on the 10th, September. (Time stamp would be around 5:30pm CEST) Oh and i have seen this thread (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1204253) and i tried doing it, but the session i want back is not there.... does that mean worst case scenario happened and i won't be able to get my session back? ;____; This may be a dumb question but would reseting my windows version to 9th, September help? I mean it would erase the update i did for Firefox and should (as much as i know <.<) also reset the setting for Firefox to yesterday's ones correct? But would that help since my problem is on the net surface and not a computer problem >.> ps: i wanted to upload pictures but it somehow doesn't let me, so if you need them, please tell me and i will try to send them.

Modified by JaVe94

Chosen solution

Hi JaVe94, sorry to hear about this problem. I'm not sure what we'll be able to salvage, but let's go through it. Please do NOT use the Windows system restore feature because that could cause worse issues.

After following my backup steps in the other thread, did you find anything in the latest "update" snapshot, or was it of the empty session and nothing useful?

If there's nothing helpful in the latest "update" snapshot or "previous.js" then please try this:

Accessing Shadow Copies on Windows 7

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Double-click into sessionstore-backups and right-click recovery.js > Properties, then click the Previous Versions tab

Windows should query restore points for older copies of this file, and you can use Copy... to back up the previous one to a safe location such as your Documents folder or Desktop.

(You also could check previous.js and other files.)

Then you can inspect the contents of that file using the Scrounger tool.

Anything promising?

Accessing Shadow Copies on Windows 8, 8.1, and 10

(1) Set Windows to show hidden files and folders:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files

(2) Download and run one of these programs:

Within the most recent restore point shown in the program, you can explore along this path to see whether you can find a recent shadow copy of your profile:

\Users\your-user-name\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

(3) Within the seemingly most recently updated profile folder, double-click into bookmarkbackups and Export any recent files you want to check to a convenient location such as your currently live desktop (not the desktop inside the restore point).

Then you can inspect the contents of that file using the Scrounger tool.

Anything promising?

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All Replies (1)

esmetozerbezan
esmetozerbezan
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jscher2000 said

esmetozerbezan said
Maybe I have to uninstall and then reinstall FF to get things sorted.

You can if you like. I'm not recommending it. If you think there is a problem with your settings, you can try a Refresh. Please read carefully: Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings.

Do you know how can I backup my current "bookmarks toolbar" and "active login" information in a way that I can reuse it later?

A Refresh should preserve this data, but if you plan to do a full deletion:

Your bookmarks on all 3 "containers" (toolbar, menu, other) can be backed up using these two methods (I recommend using both):

Hopefully you'll only need one of those if you are creating a new profile. These articles describe how to restore/import the files:

I'm not sure what you mean by the term "active logon" but most sites use cookies to recognize that you've logged in, and if the cookies are removed, you'll need to log in again. There is no easy export/import for cookies, but you can preserve the cookies.sqlite file and introduce it to your new profile in place of the new empty one. More generally: Recovering important data from an old profile.

Hi jscher2000

I made backup of my bookmarks and am ready to fully delete and reinstall Firefox.

I also got the HTML file for my lost sessions so I won't bother you anyway.

Thanks for your helps.

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