"Restore Previous Session" unavailable
I found 2 similar questions from 10 mo. ago on forum, ea. w/ 25-30 additional people experiencing the prob. 2 weeks ago i asked about 2 problems, have been unable to repair them. Now focussing on this one only. Session restore does not function after quitting, and Restore previous session, recently closed tabs, recently closed windows all grey. I've tried everything short of uninstall/reinstall FF. Was suggested to create new profile w/o corrupted files, but I've no idea what's corrupted. I'm no geek, but can usually follow instructions. however, my concentration is impaired, so I'm really afraid of making things worse.
Chosen solution
I've eliminated all the items you specified. I've tested it opening a few pages and quitting, and restore session is available, though not automatic.
ALSO, now in original (default) profile, my bookmarks appear automatically, instead of needing to toggle in toolbar menu on each window. That's Success! AND, "Recently closed tabs" is now available in original profile. I've just updated Beta 12....; could that be why my bookmarks are now working correctly, and restore tabs...Well, I've just quit and reopened, another update took place, and now I can restore session. Maybe the problem was all along in the prior Beta release??? (The following questions were written before the restore session was available. Maybe they are no longer relevant.) And finally, I quit and reopened and the pages automatically re-loaded. Maybe the problem is solved. I'd still appreciate your opinion re probable cause of issues.
"redo all customizations of Firefox settings in Options and the toolbar customization. Also reinstall all extensions, so they can be initialized properly."
Will I need to download each extension at Mozilla, or can I copy and paste from former profile? Also, how can I get my history into new profile.
Or is the new profile just for troubleshooting, but not intended to replace the original?? Thanks
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We'll need some more info about your Firefox setup. Go to Help > Troubleshooting Information then click Copy all to Clipboard. Open a reply to this post, and go to Edit > Paste to paste the info from your Troubleshooting Information page.
Make sure that you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode.
To see all History and Cookie settings, choose:
- Firefox > Preferences > Privacy, choose the setting Firefox will: Use custom settings for history
- Deselect: [ ] "Always use private browsing mode"
It is also possible that there is a problem with the files sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.
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).
See also:
Hi Chris. I've pasted the info below. Today I've acquired a new issue w/ Thunderbird, which I've been unable to upgrade past V3.1, as after downloading, it doesn't open. Today, my inbox contents disappeared. I know FF isn't TB, but there's something wrong here. I spent a day investigating the Flashback Trojan, which I appear not to have, and quarantined 12 viruses in the process. Apple wasn't helpful in my initial troubleshooting for FF. Thanks for your help, I'll now try Cor-el's advice.
Application Basics
Name
Firefox
Version
12.0
User Agent
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0
Profile Directory
Show in Finder
Enabled Plugins
about:plugins
Build Configuration
about:buildconfig
Crash Reports
about:crashes
Memory Use
about:memory
Extensions
Name
Version
Enabled
ID
Adblock Plus
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true
{d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}
Add-on Compatibility Reporter
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true
compatibility@addons.mozilla.org
All-in-One Sidebar
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{097d3191-e6fa-4728-9826-b533d755359d}
Fasterfox Lite
3.9.5Lite
true
FasterFox_Lite@BigRedBrent
Modify Headers
0.7.1.1
true
{b749fc7c-e949-447f-926c-3f4eed6accfe}
NoSquint
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true
nosquint@urandom.ca
Page Zoom Buttons
1.1.5
true
54c7d9671b9eccd9e5686a73df34ab60@button.codefisher.org
Read It Later
2.1.4
true
isreaditlater@ideashower.com
ScrapBook
1.5.4
true
{53A03D43-5363-4669-8190-99061B2DEBA5}
Smartest Bookmarks Bar
1.0.1.3
true
{b442f4c0-c292-4998-aabe-48608a73ba75}
SpeedFox
0.9.11
true
jid1-uabu5A9hduqzCw@jetpack
Styles Tuner
2.0
true
Artem@Demchenkov.Colors
Test Pilot
1.2.1
true
testpilot@labs.mozilla.com
clicknlearn
2.5b2
false
clicknlearn@googlecode.com
DblClicker
1.6.1
false
dblclicker@byo.co.il
DivX Plus Web Player HTML5
Dock Progress
1.1
false
dockprogress@vasi.dyndns.org
Download Youtube Videos +
12.9.6
false
video.downloader.plugin@ffpimp.com
Load Tabs Progressively
1.6.1
false
loadTabsProgressively@ithinc.cn
Multiple Tab Handler
0.7.2012020901
false
multipletab@piro.sakura.ne.jp
Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar
5.0.1
false
{FBF6D7FB-F305-4445-BB3D-FEF66579A033}
Puzzle
0.5.2
false
puzzle@internauta1024a.pl
Sothink Web Video Downloader for Firefox
6.7
false
{FCAB6FDD-5585-425b-95C1-5ED856F3FD08}
Theme Font & Size Changer
4.7
false
{f69e22c7-bc50-414a-9269-0f5c344cd94c}
Important Modified Preferences
Name
Value
browser.cache.disk.capacity
1048576
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run
false
browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value
1048576
browser.history_expire_days.mirror
180
browser.places.importBookmarksHTML
false
browser.places.importDefaults
false
browser.places.leftPaneFolderId
-1
browser.places.migratePostDataAnnotations
false
browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion
2
browser.places.updateRecentTagsUri
false
browser.startup.homepage
about:home
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
20120403211507
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone
rv:12.0
browser.tabs.onTop
false
browser.tabs.warnOnClose
false
browser.zoom.full
false
browser.zoom.siteSpecific
false
extensions.checkCompatibility
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.10.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.10.0a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.11.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.11.0a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6b
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6b.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6p
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6p.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6pre
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6pre.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.7a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.7a.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0b
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0b.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0p
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0p.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0pre
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0pre.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2a.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2b
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2b.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2p
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extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2p.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2pre
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.4.2pre.previous
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extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0
false
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extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0a
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extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0a.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0b
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0b.previous
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extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0p
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extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0p.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0pre
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0pre.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.6.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.6.0.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.6.0a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.6.0a.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.7.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.7.0.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.7.0a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.7.0a.previous
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extensions.checkCompatibility.8.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.8.0.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.8.0a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.8.0a.previous
false
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false
extensions.checkCompatibility.9.0a
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.nightly
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.nightly.previous
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.previous
false
extensions.lastAppVersion
12.0
layers.acceleration.disabled
true
network.cookie.prefsMigrated
true
network.http.pipelining
true
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8
network.http.pipelining.ssl
true
network.http.proxy.pipelining
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places.database.lastMaintenance
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places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages
53688
places.history.expiration.transient_optimal_database_size
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places.last_vacuum
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privacy.donottrackheader.enabled
true
privacy.popups.showBrowserMessage
false
privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs
true
security.OCSP.disable_button.managecrl
false
security.disable_button.openCertManager
false
security.disable_button.openDeviceManager
false
security.warn_viewing_mixed
false
Graphics
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0x1002
Device ID
0x9583
WebGL Renderer
ATI Technologies Inc. -- ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO OpenGL Engine -- 2.1 ATI-1.6.36
GPU Accelerated Windows
0
AzureBackend
quartz
Cor-el, I followed your suggestion re Preferences. Before and after selecting Custom settings, when I click on Start Private Browsing in tools, nothing happens, ie, select or deselect doesn't show. And returning to Preferences, Custom has reverted to Remember History.
I deleted sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak. When I restarted, the restore history commands are still grey, there still seems to be no response to clicking Private browsing in tools, AND, when I reopened Preferences, it had reverted to Remember History, instead of Custom History. I changed it again, restarted, and same behavior.
As I wrote to Chris, given that I have an ongoing problem w/ Thunderbird, and today a new TB issue, linked to history ( my 900 old mail inbox have disappeared) I wonder if there's something systemic. Thanks for your help.
Are you there?? I'm still suffering! Thx
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile":
There may be extensions and plugins installed by default in a new profile, so check that in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions & Plugins" in case there are still problems.
If that new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
See:
Thanks cor-el. I was going to attempt this tomorrow, will do and get back.
Cor-el, I created a new profile and added in bookmarks, history, the essential things. FX opens and restores session after closing. However, none of my bookmarks or anything else personal have transferred, just as if I'm installing FX for the first time. I know you offered me this suggestion when I posted about my problems earlier, and I began it then, before I went into overload. Maybe this will clarify a next step. Thank you very much, maveet
It might be easier to just transfer your essential info to the new profile. You can find instructions at Restore bookmarks, passwords, and data from an old Firefox profile
Chris, our posts might have crossed each other (both list 3 days ago). My attempts with transferring bookmarks and history did not seem to work, only created a feature-less FX. Are we talking about the same thing?? thanks very much.
Which files did you transfer to the new profile?
You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Open Containing Folder
New profile: bookmarkbackups; minidumps; permissions.sqlite; bookmarks-2012-04-03.json bookmarks-2012-04-12.json cert8.db chromeappsstore.sqlite compatibility.ini content-prefs.sqlite cookies.sqlite downloads.sqlite extensions.ini extensions.sqlite formhistory.sqlite key3.db localstore copy.rdf localstore.rdf mimeTypes copy.rdf places.sqlite places.sqlite copy pluginreg.dat prefs.js search.json search.sqlite secmod.db sessionstore.bak sessionstore.js signons.sqlite urlclassifierkey3.txt
The new profile, when opened, shows no bookmarks. History restore is till a problem. Thanks.
It is probably best not to copy the extension.* files (.ini, .sqlite) and prefs.js pluginreg.dat and search.* files (.json, .sqlite) and localstore.rdf and redo all customizations of Firefox settings in Options and the toolbar customization.
Also reinstall all extensions, so they can be initialized properly.
Thanks Cor-el, I'll try that next. Sorry this is so prolonged, I can only manage to deal with this trouble-shooting about every other day.
I notice that there are 5 others with this problem. So is there something more general going on?? BTW, I'm using FF 12.0, in the Beta testing program. Thank you.
Chosen Solution
I've eliminated all the items you specified. I've tested it opening a few pages and quitting, and restore session is available, though not automatic.
ALSO, now in original (default) profile, my bookmarks appear automatically, instead of needing to toggle in toolbar menu on each window. That's Success! AND, "Recently closed tabs" is now available in original profile. I've just updated Beta 12....; could that be why my bookmarks are now working correctly, and restore tabs...Well, I've just quit and reopened, another update took place, and now I can restore session. Maybe the problem was all along in the prior Beta release??? (The following questions were written before the restore session was available. Maybe they are no longer relevant.) And finally, I quit and reopened and the pages automatically re-loaded. Maybe the problem is solved. I'd still appreciate your opinion re probable cause of issues.
"redo all customizations of Firefox settings in Options and the toolbar customization. Also reinstall all extensions, so they can be initialized properly."
Will I need to download each extension at Mozilla, or can I copy and paste from former profile? Also, how can I get my history into new profile.
Or is the new profile just for troubleshooting, but not intended to replace the original?? Thanks
Modified by maveet