Closed Bug 434073 Opened 17 years ago Closed 17 years ago

Deleting a profile should not delete non-Mozilla files (Firefox can erase an entire hard drive by mistake)

Categories

(Toolkit :: Startup and Profile System, defect)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Startup and Profile System
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
critical

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 270705

People

(Reporter: VanillaMozilla, Unassigned)

Details

(Keywords: dataloss)

The Profile Manager should delete only Mozilla files. Now with Mork out of the picture, it should be easy to clean this up. It should be a simple matter to supply a list of Mozilla files and delete only those. No pesky UI change is needed. Is it worth another try? The problem has been mitigated in a crude way -- by saturating the Internet with warnings. I have no idea what happens in other corners of the Internet (such as the non-English-speaking world). Maybe it's time to fix it properly, at the source. This was supposed to be settled permanently by removing the Profile Manager UI. Years later, it hasn't gone away, and Mozilla Web sites, including support.mozilla.com and www.mozilla.org, continue to recommend its use. Steps to duplicate: 1. Create a directory and put files in it. 2. Create a new profile with the Profile Manager and choose this directory for the profile. 3. Run the Profile Manager again and delete the profile and the files. Observed results: The directory and all files will be gone. In the past, numerous users have reported deleted desktops and other extensive damage. In principle, a profile in the root directory could erase whole the hard drive. Please don't dupe this. If someone will agree to get this fixed, I'll be happy to go dupe all those abandoned bugs.
Keywords: dataloss
Summary: Firefox can erase an entire hard drive by mistake → Deleting a profile should not delete non-Mozilla files (Firefox can erase an entire hard drive by mistake)
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 17 years ago
Resolution: --- → DUPLICATE
Please consider reopening according to Ruderman's revised summary. This bug is about deleting only Mozilla files, as stated in the first sentence of the description. According to bug 270705, comment 12, that bug is invalid because of a "design decision". Surely it is not a design decision to delete users' files, is it?
Also per bug 270705, comment 12, the scary warning has been abandoned for unstated reasons. This bug is a chance to fix the problem simply, probably with a single "if" statement. No UI changes needed.
Dunno. bsmedberg, can you clarify what the "design decision" in bug 270705 comment 12 was, and mark this bug v dup if appropriate?
How about just removing the 'Delete Files' option totally... Just leave the user to delete the Profile Manually. What would happen if the user had inadvertently created the profile on the root directory... Would the whole root directory get wiped, including the whole of Windows ? Basically, what is being said, is that the Remove files option removes other files, and not just Mozilla ones, with no way of getting them back ... Also see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=434123 SeaMonkey data can be lost too if a Firefox Profile is deleted. Discussion here http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=656192 This discussion is being had here
Product: Firefox → Toolkit
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