firefox already running, can't find profile
I got the msg posted in my question, created new profile(3.6.19), the old one is not listed in my profile folder. Its still listed in the "profiles.ini" notepad text though. I've done all the help suggestions here & on mozillazine site, but no luck. Is there anyway to recover that old profile now? If there is then i w0n't have to start all over with setting up the new one to be like the old one. Thank You for your help.
Isisombulu esikhethiweyo
-> Close Firefox (ALT + F -> Exit). Delete all Firefox User Profiles as mentioned below:
-> Start the Profile Manager
Firefox - Choose User Profile window will appear. Select a Profile and Delete it. It will ask for your confirmation to delete profile, click "Delete Files". Similarly DELETE ALL PROFILES one by one mentioned in the window and Exit the Profile Manager.
-> Click the Windows Start button, select Run.... Type
APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
and click OK. A window will open containing profile folders. Delete All Folders inside Profiles folder (though none of them should still be there since you have deleted all Firefox user profiles). Restart your computer.
-> Start the Profile Manager again and CREATE A BRAND NEW USER PROFILE.
Check and tell if its working.
Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 0All Replies (12)
Thanx for the reply, but unfortunately like i said in first posted question, the old profile does NOT show up in the profiles. I've already been to the page you posted a link to and none of it helps me. When i try to create a 3rd profile just to check the folder to put the new profile in, i click on the profiles & my first profile is not listed. It still says its running, so i can't copy any prefs to move to another profile, or even try to delete the parent.lock profile if thats whats causing this. Its so frustrating. I had to reformat my xp system yesterday because of some corrupt files causing strange problems. After i reinstalled everything, i reinstalled ff and only a few programs & firefox was really slow. Now it seems to take forever to load pages. I only have a few extensions, the same ones before the reformat that never caused any problems. I can't figure why its so slow now. Anyway, thanx for your help.
Managing Profiles
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing-profiles#w_starting-the-profile-manager
Recovering Important Data from an Old Profile
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Recovering%20important%20data%20from%20an%20old%20profile
Check and tell if its working.
Ilungisiwe ngu Hasan
Don't get me wrong, I REALLY APPRECIATE you checking back for my replies, but i've been to the links you posted already & the 1st profile is still running. I can't find or open any file that has to do with the still running profile. Its still listed in the "ini" file & I've done a search for it on the pc but no luck. I have no way to stop it from running, so I can't copy any prefs from it to transfer to a new profile. I need to have 2 profiles on here & I just got through restoring my bookmarks to my 2nd profile & am still setting it up to be like my 1st profile. Now I'm going to create a 3rd one to add other saved bookmarks to create it to be like my original 2nd profile before the reformat. I know this sounds confusing to you with all these profiles. It looks like I'll never recover the 1st profile since I can't get it to stop running. Thank You for your time and help.
Ilungisiwe ngu sophie9
you needed to make just 1 change so i am writing the steps for you to follow:
-> Starting the Profile Manager
Important: Close Firefox (ALT + F -> Exit)
-> Open the Windows Start menu.
- Windows 7 and Vista: In the Search box at the bottom left of the Windows Start menu, type:
firefox.exe -ProfileManager
- Windows XP and 2000: In the Windows Start menu, click Run... and, in the Run dialog, type:
firefox.exe -ProfileManager Press Enter (Windows 7 and Vista) or click OK (Windows XP and 2000)
Note1: If the Profile Manager window does not appear, you may need to specify the full path of the Firefox program, enclosed in quotes; for example:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -ProfileManager
Note2: If the Profile Manager window does not open, Firefox may have been running in the background, even though it was not visible. Close all instances of Firefox or restart the computer and then try again.
Firefox - Choose User Profile window will appear. Now select your newly created profile and click "Start Firefox". Now Firefox will always Open with your new profile.
Check and tell if its working.
Ilungisiwe ngu Hasan
Thanx for the reply again. I have no problems opening the profile mgr., I've always used "firefox -p" with no problems. After I hopefully get this mess straightened out, I'm going to use a desktop shortcut to open the p-mgr. Since i reformatted, added a few of the same programs, the same 4 extensions, it takes forever to load pages. I thought it would be faster since my pc is like new again. I tried to create a 3rd test profile this morning, & typed it in to the "profiles ini" notepad text to save it, but it wouldn't open up. I wanted to add my bookmarks from my 2nd profile to see how fast the pages loaded without any extensions or more plugins than the default one has. My pc is setup the same way before the reformat, same internet connection, same firewall, but I updated from 3.6.18 to .19 after I got everything setup like the old xp. This profile I'm on is the only one that opens. Usually a newly created profile opens right up, but not this one. I wish there was a way to get my 1st profile to stop running. I've searched & clicked on so many websites to no avail. Everyone has the same standard answers/links in the mozilla support help pages that don't work for me. I don't want to have to reformat again either. Would the 1st still running profile cause this 2nd profile to load pages slowly. I can't take the slow loading pages very much longer, I might have to try out google's plain-jane chrome. SORRY for the LONG post, I guess I'll just have to use this one profile. THANX again for the help.
I found the 1st profile thats still running in a search of all + hidden firefox files. Is there any way to kill it from a file in the folder?
Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo
-> Close Firefox (ALT + F -> Exit). Delete all Firefox User Profiles as mentioned below:
-> Start the Profile Manager
Firefox - Choose User Profile window will appear. Select a Profile and Delete it. It will ask for your confirmation to delete profile, click "Delete Files". Similarly DELETE ALL PROFILES one by one mentioned in the window and Exit the Profile Manager.
-> Click the Windows Start button, select Run.... Type
APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
and click OK. A window will open containing profile folders. Delete All Folders inside Profiles folder (though none of them should still be there since you have deleted all Firefox user profiles). Restart your computer.
-> Start the Profile Manager again and CREATE A BRAND NEW USER PROFILE.
Check and tell if its working.
Ilungisiwe ngu Hasan
If the profile folder is no longer present on your hard drive because it was deleted then that profile data is gone. The entry in profiles.ini is only used in the Profile Manager to link the profile name to a physical location on the hard drive and if the profile is missing then you get the message that Firefox is already running.
You can try an undelete program like Recuva that get the deleted folder back, but no guarantees.
Thank You cor-el for the reply. With so many people posting here, I'm lucky to get a reply especially when contributors like you & mha007 are doing this on your own time. I understand your explanation now. I've been on here trying to sort this out this morning & decided to do what mha007 suggested about deleting all profiles. I did & am in the process of recreating my 2 former profiles. Since I have all my bookmarks from the 2 former profiles, its not that bad, just a pain to have to go to all my previous sites & retype all my info again. I was thinking of upgrading to ff5, but with so many people on here complaining about it, I might just stick with 3.6.19 for now. Like I mentioned in my above posts, I can't figure why ff3.6.19 is so slower to load pages than ff3.6.18. Before the reformat, when I clicked on a bookmark, the page opened alot faster. THANX again.
You're welcome
A possible cause is security software (firewall) that blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.
Remove all rules for Firefox from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.
See: