Hi David, first, don't panic.

It sounds like unfortunately the Firefox 133 updater did not successfully replace all of the Firefox 132 files with Firefox 133 files, and that's why you got a mismatch message. This is probably not related to your problems with the Microsoft cloud feature, which I'm not familiar with.

Bookmark Backup Options

Do you have a USB hard drive or flash drive to use for backups? If so, you can do a comprehensive backup of your active Firefox profile as described in the following article: Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles. I think that's a good idea if possible because blue screen crashes -- if they are crashes and not sales promotions of some weird kind -- indicate a problem that might cause data loss.

If you don't have a USB hard drive or flash drive or you're in a huge hurry, here is how to "back up" your bookmarks. I am assuming you run a regular version of Firefox from Mozilla's website, and not the one from the Windows store.

(1) Open the "Profiles" folder in Windows File Explorer -- two options:

(a) Use a shortcut to jump in -- type or paste this in the Windows search box or the Windows File Explorer address bar:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

(b) Set Windows to show hidden files and folders, then click into Profiles by hand:

Set Windows to show hidden folders: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-97fbc472-c603-9d90-91d0-1166d1d9f4b5

Then click through:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

(2) Copy the latest bookmark backups to your desktop

The Profiles folder usually contains at least one folder that has default-release in the name. Double-click into that folder, then double-click bookmarkbackups. The files in this folder have their creation date encoded into the file name, for example,

bookmarks-2024-11-25_4805_gibberish=.jsonlz4

Right-click>Copy then right-click>Paste the latest two files to your desktop.

If you didn't find any recent files in the first profile you checked, check the others, they must be somewhere.

(3) Store the two backup files in the cloud, either:

(a) Upload to your OneDrive, Google Drive, or other personal cloud storage, or

(b) Create a new email message to yourself and attach the two backup files.

Fixing Your Firefox Installation

Okay, now, finally, re-run the "full" Firefox 133 installer from the following page. Do not uninstall first, the idea is to let the installer clean up its own mess. Only if this doesn't work, we'll suggest alternate steps.

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release

Success?

Hi JS, Thank you very much for your quick and very informative reply.

It is probably going to take me awhile to get everything set up right this evening, before I start. So, fingers crossed I will try and carry out your instructions tomorrow.

I have the instructions to get to the Bookmarks, the same as you wrote C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles I remember I used them when I updated WIN7 to WIN10. So that's good news for me, having used them before.

I do have a Seagate expansion portable drive & USB, just got to find the cables.

I am feeling a lot better since I read your reply.

I will let you know how I got on.

Thank you very much for your help. David

Hi JS,

Great news, I am very happy that everything is back up and running OK.

I want to thank you very much for your quick, accurate diagnosis and very helpful instructions.

All hail the new modern technological world, lol

I even backed up my pictures and Docs etc on to the expansion drive.

I don't know if I can ask another question regarding a different problem I have with Firefox. or do I have to set up a new thread. It is quite simple for you I expect.

When I tried to login to my Coventry Building Society account some months ago, it would not let me login. Then when I spoke to customer services etc they said they no longer support Firefox, which I think is wrong, I complained but to no avail. They had not sent any letters or emails informing me that they no longer allow Firefox Browsers.

This is Coventry BS reply to my complaint. “The reason why we don't support Firefox anymore is because it's classed as Open-Source software, which means you can alter the code in the background to customize/add new features to it. This could be a potential risk from a cyber security perspective - there's no way around it so we can't guarantee how well our site will perform if a member is adamant they want to use that browser. During a previous call with our Contact Centre we’d advised that you try using ‘private browser’ within Firefox to see if this allowed you access to OLS. As this worked successfully it would suggest that the browser settings are preventing you from using our website. Whilst we appreciate that you’d like to use Firefox, we wouldn’t be able to advise you to continue to use this. As previously explained, we don’t support Firefox as a secure browser. Our Preferred browsers that we recommend are Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.”

I thought you should at least know what they and perhaps other companies' attitude to promoting Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge over Firefox I don't want to change from Firefox, and I did not like private browsing, too complicated for me. Thank you once again, I am very grateful. David

Hi David, it is a weird complaint that you could modify Firefox in a way that might pose a thread to... them? Obviously burying one's head in the sand does not mean that their website will remain secure. I think it's ridiculous. But of course, it's their choice what connections to allow, assuming they can actually control that.

I think the most common reason sites stop supporting Firefox is that it costs them extra time to test site changes in additional browsers, and everyone is under relentless pressure to cut costs. Purely a business decision, not based on any fiction or misunerstanding about security.

When a site works in a private window but not a regular window, the most common reasons would be:

(A) Previously stored cookies/site data (these are continuously reused in regular windows, but freshly set in private windows).

To remove a site's cookies and locally stored data: While viewing a page on the site, click the lock icon at the left end of the address bar. After a moment, a "Clear Cookies and Site Data" button should appear at the bottom. Go ahead and click that. Firefox will ask you to confirm; go ahead and confirm.

Then try reloading the page and signing in again. Does that help?

(B) Mismatched files in the web content cache (these are continuously reused in regular windows, but freshly set in private windows).

See: How to clear the Firefox cache (only select Cached web content, don't clear all cookies and site data)

(C) Different add-ons in effect

Add-ons run in all regular windows by default, but when you install them, you have to affirmatively approve them to run in private windows. So there may be a difference in what content blockers or other privacy tools are modifying pages in regular and private windows.

Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix may block required elements on a site. Usually you can find a toolbar button for each add-on to manage blocked content in a page. There may or may not be a number on the icon indicating the number of blocked items; you sometimes need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.

Any improvement?

Hi JS, I followed your instructions above “click on Lock Icon and clear cookies and Site data” and it worked perfectly and I logged in OK. It is astounding that they could not have told me the same. You are a star and have been extremely helpful once again. I hope you have great day over there in the US. I am guessing San Frrancisco. I went there in 1981 and stayed in Mountain View. I had a great time. Take care of yourself and good luck in all you do. Thanks again David