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How to restore all extensions after FF8.0 prevented them all?

  • 2 replies
  • 7 have this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by Hershmab

Hershmab
Hershmab
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After I updated to FF8.0 a few days ago, I noticed that the Back and Forward buttons did nothing... and then realised that opening a new URL in the same tab failed to leave any trace of the previous URL. Having had bad experiences with all the major FF upgrades from 4.0 onwards, I decided to reinstall 3.6.17 which had been working perfectly. Back/Forward were fine then, BUT (1) none of my add-on extensions worked at all, even though they were shown as enabled. (2) when I tried to access the options for any extension, the Add-on window locked up completely. (3) when I updated and tried to install extensions, the operation failed with a "203 error".

I tried reinstalling FF a couple of times without improving things and then did a Windows 7 Restore to the state before the FF8.0 upgrade. Still no joy!

I have checked my McAfee Security Centre and can find no problem there. What can I do to restore the correct operation without losing passwords, bookmarks, or plugins? I can accept losing all the current extensions as I can get them back once FF allows me to download and install them.

NOTE: ALL troubleshooting Information about extensions and print-related preferences deleted from box below - too big!

After I updated to FF8.0 a few days ago, I noticed that the Back and Forward buttons did nothing... and then realised that opening a new URL in the same tab failed to leave any trace of the previous URL. Having had bad experiences with all the major FF upgrades from 4.0 onwards, I decided to reinstall 3.6.17 which had been working perfectly. Back/Forward were fine then, BUT (1) none of my add-on extensions worked at all, even though they were shown as enabled. (2) when I tried to access the options for any extension, the Add-on window locked up completely. (3) when I updated and tried to install extensions, the operation failed with a "203 error". I tried reinstalling FF a couple of times without improving things and then did a Windows 7 Restore to the state before the FF8.0 upgrade. Still no joy! I have checked my McAfee Security Centre and can find no problem there. What can I do to restore the correct operation without losing passwords, bookmarks, or plugins? I can accept losing all the current extensions as I can get them back once FF allows me to download and install them. NOTE: ALL troubleshooting Information about extensions and print-related preferences deleted from box below - too big!

Modified by Hershmab

Chosen solution

It is possible that there is a problem with the file(s) that store the extensions registry.

Delete the files extensions.* (e.g. extensions.sqlite, extensions.ini, extensions.cache, extensions.rdf) and compatibility.ini in the Firefox profile folder to reset the extensions registry.
New files will be created when required.

See "Corrupt extension files":

If you see disabled, not compatible, extensions in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions" then click the Tools button at the left side of the Search Bar (or click the "Find Updates" button in older Firefox versions) to do a compatibility check or see if there is a compatibility update available.

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All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

It is possible that there is a problem with the file(s) that store the extensions registry.

Delete the files extensions.* (e.g. extensions.sqlite, extensions.ini, extensions.cache, extensions.rdf) and compatibility.ini in the Firefox profile folder to reset the extensions registry.
New files will be created when required.

See "Corrupt extension files":

If you see disabled, not compatible, extensions in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions" then click the Tools button at the left side of the Search Bar (or click the "Find Updates" button in older Firefox versions) to do a compatibility check or see if there is a compatibility update available.

Hershmab
Hershmab Question owner
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Thanks very much for your rescue! I did not have to adopt the extreme solution as I had fairly recent backup versions of my Profiles folder. So I moved out the files you mentioned and replaced them from a backup. And it looks as though everything is back in full working order again.

Now all I have to do is to try reinstalling FF8.0. I will leave that for a few days and backup my Profile first.