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MS Windows 10, Firefox v.18.5.0.0 - "Changes not Saved. An unexpected error has prevented your changes from being saved."

  • 8 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Bud

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Sorry, I suspect this is an often asked question, but after endless searching on this site, and trying many old solutions, I still can not create, save, and use a User Profile. [See uploaded photo]

First, when I explore my C:\Users\Bud Parker\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles folder I find empty folders named for the many times I have attempted to recreate a usable Firefox profile. There is no JSON File or anything else in any of the folders. Hence, it appears I cannot save a created profile. Of course, if it isn't saved in the appropriate location - I'm dead in the water.

I tried saving one on my Desktop and using it, all to no avail. In past, I've run some aggressive maintenance programs cleaning up Windows, but I could always enter Firefox. Of course, that does not mean it didn't finally occur...

By the way, I can use a Portable version of Firefox, just not an installed version. I completely uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled it with the current version. Still nothing.

So, now I ask the Mozilla Brain Trust for assistance. Let me say in advance that I appreciate you reading and thinking about this,

Bud

Sorry, I suspect this is an often asked question, but after endless searching on this site, and trying many old solutions, I still can not create, save, and use a User Profile. [See uploaded photo] First, when I explore my C:\Users\Bud Parker\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles folder I find empty folders named for the many times I have attempted to recreate a usable Firefox profile. There is no JSON File or anything else in any of the folders. Hence, it appears I cannot save a created profile. Of course, if it isn't saved in the appropriate location - I'm dead in the water. I tried saving one on my Desktop and using it, all to no avail. In past, I've run some aggressive maintenance programs cleaning up Windows, but I could always enter Firefox. Of course, that does not mean it didn't finally occur... By the way, I can use a Portable version of Firefox, just not an installed version. I completely uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled it with the current version. Still nothing. So, now I ask the Mozilla Brain Trust for assistance. Let me say in advance that I appreciate you reading and thinking about this, Bud
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I suppose an Admin may as well close out this post due to no response.

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This is the first time I have seen your post. Sometimes we get swamped with calls for help.

A bug fix was just released. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version?cache=no Did you update Firefox to the latest version?

Version 95.0, first offered to Release channel users on December 7, 2021 Version 95.0.1, first offered to Release channel users on December 16, 2021


https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1359657#answer-1463359 and updated to 95.0. . . . I finally found where the plugin "Widevine Content Decryption Module provided by Google Inc." was not updating to the newest version of December 1, 2021. Ver #4.10.2391.0

cor-el; Make sure you have the latest Widevine version. You can toggle DRM off/on to see if that makes Firefox (re)load DRM components.

You can possibly check the XHR requests in the Browser Console if this doesn't work.

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Let's see if we can find your profile.

Look on your desktop. Do you see a folder called; Old Firefox? Look inside. Look for the folder with the latest creation date.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible


https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-user-data-missing-after-firefox-update

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Also, look in the profiles folder. Find out what files there are and their size.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox#Navigating_to_the_profile_folder

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles


Type about:profiles<enter> in the address bar. How many profiles are listed? How many should be there? Also, open the profile folder in your file explorer.


https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-user-data-missing-after-firefox-update

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This could be a problem with the profiles.ini file that registers al the profiles. The file could be read-only or some other software prevents Firefox from updating the file. You can try to remove the current profiles.ini.

You can find the profiles.ini file in a hidden location:

  • Windows: %AppData%Mozilla\Firefox\
    C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\

Note that Windows hides the .ini file extension.

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[Just a reminder that I am running on a Portable version of Firefox.]

I located the profiles.ini in the directory and confirmed it was NOT read only, then deleted it. All this after just upgrading to the latest 64-bit Firefox. As I start Firefox I get this popup: Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.

As I click the OK box the program simply shuts down.

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I don't know whether the portable version supports multiple profiles or if the profile is hard coded.

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The portable version works flawlessly. I am attempting to regain function in a corrupted regular hard drive installation on a Desktop.