Closed Bug 277083 Opened 20 years ago Closed 17 years ago

Failed to save preferences / all changes will be lost

Categories

(Firefox :: Settings UI, defect)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
Settings UI
Version:
1.0 Branch
Platform:
x86
Windows XP
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: jessibean, Unassigned)

References

Details

A few days ago I loaded Firefox as always to see that all of my preferences had
been reset and my bookmarks had disapeared. When I went to change my
preferences, I received the error "Failed to save the preferences files. Any
changes will be lost at the end of this session." I have tried to uninstall and
reinstall several times with no luck. I have also tried to reimport my favorites
and bookmarks from IE with no luck.

I am using Windows XP SP1 and Foxfire 1.0. I was not visiting any specific site
when this happened.
Are you running firefox on a network? Firefox isn't able to write to the profile
directory, so this isn't a bug. It's a problem with your configuration.
(In reply to comment #1)
> Are you running firefox on a network? Firefox isn't able to write to the profile
> directory, so this isn't a bug. It's a problem with your configuration.

No, I'm just running it from my computer. We have no networking other than our
wireless internet.
Having same problem when trying to change home page as well as adding bookmarks.
 FF is not allowing me to add bookmarks.  What in the world is the problem?  How
can I fix this?  

The problem might be with my configuration, but I am not certain.  If so, what
do I need to change?  (I am not on a network) 

Please email with any help.  Many thanks. 

mk1210@hotmail.com      
*** Bug 272302 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 271147 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I`m having the same problem. 
Any solutions?
email: prothe0us@aol.com
In bug 270605, Mike suggested that files in your profile may be read-only, for
example if you copied them from CD.
*** Bug 270605 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 286524 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
As much as I love FireFox, I will discontinue using it if the problem is not
resolved. I see that I am not the only person having the problem, and no, I'm
not on a network, and I have changed my configurations several times, all with
the same outcome. Please HELP!!!!
Please make sure your profile is _not_ read-only.  This is the only reason that
has been found as a root cause for this error in these builds.

If you backed up your profile to CD, and copied it from the CD, your permissions
will inherit from the burned CD (read-only).  That's probably the #1 cause of
this error.
(In reply to comment #0)
> A few days ago I loaded Firefox as always to see that all of my preferences had
> been reset and my bookmarks had disapeared. When I went to change my
> preferences, I received the error "Failed to save the preferences files. Any
> changes will be lost at the end of this session." I have tried to uninstall and
> reinstall several times with no luck. I have also tried to reimport my favorites
> and bookmarks from IE with no luck.
> 
> I am using Windows XP SP1 and Foxfire 1.0. I was not visiting any specific site
> when this happened.



Im currently runn mandrake linux 10.1 and have the same problem or had the same
prob i should say. i over came it by opening the firefox folder, open the
browserconfig.preferences file (make a copy of this file in its original
condition to your desktop as a bit of insurance in case something goes wrong)in
linux kwrite is the editing tool. delete the mozilla home page url's and type in
your own. this should solve it for u. close down the editor saving the changes,
boot up your browser and it should go straight to your desidered home page. and
away you go. best luck, i hope it works for you as it did me.

regards,
Mark
australia
I just downloaded and installed Firefox 1.0.6.

I have never used mozilla/firefox, etc, this is the first time. I tried to
change cache, fonts, cookies, etc. Nothing saves. I get a:

 failed to save the preferences file. Any preference changes will be lost at the
end of this session

I have no profile... It hasn't asked for one. I don't see a profile in the tools
area.

Several other things which are annoying, and I consider a bug/s

Everytime I have opened FireFox it displays a window which asks to make firefox
the default browser. I don't want it as the default, I uncheck the box, and
click no.... There is no place to turn it off! It is very annoying

NEXT, the tool tip windows background is white, and the text comes in yellow. I
have windows xp sp2 preference set for tool tip background to be a  deep teal, a
with yellow font. When I change the font color in my windows xp preference's, it
corrects the yellow font to which ever color I choose. However, I then lose the
color palette I chose to use for windows tooltips.  How can this be corrected to
use the tool tip background and font color I choose? IE displays it correctly
and netscape as well. I don't want to be forced into changing the tooltip font
color because the tooltip background Firefox renders is white?


I have a similar problem as well.  I used firefox exclusively until my hard drive crashed...  loaded Firefox Setup 1.5.0.1, tried saving options, would not save, will not save imported favorites after the browser is closed.  Everytime I open this program I get the start screen that tells me that I am running the most up to date edition of firefox, yet nothing saves.  :(  Very disappointed and any help would be much appreciated!!!

mjc01974@msn.com
I had the same problem, personal settings not saving, I renamed the application data file in Docs and Settings in hard drive letter so mine was in C:\Documents and Settings\Paul\Application Data,  I renamed this file and then re-installed Firefox, hey presto it works, I reckon it was a conflict of downloads. 
sorry for bugspam, long-overdue mass reassign of ancient QA contact bugs,
filter on "beltznerLovesGoats" to get rid of this mass change
QA Contact: mconnor → preferences
Assignee: bugs → nobody
For the old Firefox 1.0.x Builds and the Problem with Preference, maybe a workaround was: Rename "prefs.bak" to "prefs.js"

Resolving works for me, since this works and Firefox 1.0.x Builds are really old now:

Works for me on: 
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.9a5pre) Gecko/2007052402 Minefield/3.0a5pre and also Firefox 2.0.0.4 / 1.5.0.12 Release Candidates.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 17 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
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