FF not saving form data

Ongoing problem, FF is not saving Form data
I have now unchecked every item in the Clear Private Data configuration.
I have tried a new profile.
This problem does not exist for me in N9, IE7, or SM1.1.5.

This is a biggie for me. I use my ISP's webmail utility all day long to keep my home email up to date. Previously, FF would save all the email addresses I had used so that I just typed in the first letter and then all of the choices would come up.

Speaking practically, I have no problem, as I just made N9 my default.

But FF should be repairable.

Several people on other forums have made suggestions (pacem, Ramona), but none have helped.

Any insights will be appreciated.

>>RSM

 

Richard,

I did find an unconfirmed bug on the problem you are experiencing:

Bug 325125 – firefox does not remember filled forms

Note:
In Comment #5 the suggestions are:

Which you have done...

What about passwords, are they retained, or is it only your web mail addresses that is the problem?

If I were having the problem, this is what I would do:

Uninstall Firefox using Add/Remove
Delete the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
(Save your plugins folder first)

Move the existing Firefox folder, to a backup folder.
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

User your Registry Cleaner, and remove all Registry Keys relating to Firefox.

REBOOT YOUR PC

Download a new full install of Firefox:
ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/2.0.0.8/win32/en-US

Create a new Profile
Open Firefox and Import your default Mail Client Address Book to your Web Mail Address Book, if that feature is available in your ISP Webmail. Try addressing and sending several messages, then close and reopen Firefox to see if the Addresses are retained, and auto-fill is working.

Let us know if this helps, and if it does correct the problem, which it definitely should, then copy the following files from the corrupt Profile folder:

bookmarks.bak
bookmarks.html
cert8.db
cookies.txt
hostperm.1
key3.db
persdict.dat
signons.txt
signons2.txt

Paste them into the new xxxxxxxx.profilename folder, overwriting the existing files. It is important that you copy ONLY the above listed files.

If passwords aren't retained either, in addition to the web mail addresses, then DO NOT copy the files which are in bold type, to the new Profile.

 

Hi Ramona-

Thanks for all of the material, I will give it a go.

>>RSM

 

Well, I followed everything, removed everything, got the new download.....

Same result.

So, I have removed FF completely from this machine and made N9 my default.

No problem with FF 2.0.0.8 on my other machine, so, I think it is not a bug, in my case.I think it is something I did. Strangely, SM1.1.4 and 1.1.5, same problem, so, they are gone.

I WILL LEARN, to not monkey with things, let them be, and they will let me be.

Thanks, any other insights will be gladly accepted, especially if they relate to user incompetence. I have the downloads for FF 2.0.0.8 and SM1.1.5.

>>RSM

 

Richard,
did you read about the regressions reported for FF2.0.0.8? One guy had three good machines, and one acting up.
I think that as the fixed problems with 2.0.0.8, they messed up something else.
I have no problem with FF2.0.0.8, but, I have an awful time with NS9.0.0.1.
And, no matter what they say it may be something as simple as a Theme.
As far as I know one can't use the FF theme in NS9, and vice versa.
They are working on FF2.0.0.9.
There is no sense to compare FF with anything else, but itself. When did the problem appear? If it was before 2.0.0.8, then, I don't know.

 

Hi

Thanks. Actually, that is the conundrum. FF2.0.0.8 is fine on my other Vista machine the one I am on right now at home. N9.0.0.1 is fine on both.

I don't know, it is all just too much of a hassle.

I think that I did this to myself. i don't think that there was anything wrong with FF on the machine where it gave me the trouble. I cleared private data-just once- and really had no reason to do it.

On this machine where FF works fine, I do it all of the time, and no problem. So, sure, maybe it is a bad utility in the other machine, in that installation, and if I had left well enough alone, the problem might not have arisen.

I just have too much other stuff to do. N9 is doing everything I need on that machine, and keeping me away from IE7.

So, I am not going to mess with it.

What do you think about loading an older release of FF? I am not worried about security, that is well taken care of.

>>RSM

 

By the way, at the beginning of my post, I had said that someone reported problems with one machine out of four. So, the fact that one machine works, and one doesn't is consistent with the reports which will lead to FF2.0.0.9.
If your problem was with 2.0.0.8, make sure that it is uninstalled, and wait for 2.0.0.9, which could be available as early as Monday.
Or you can use an earlier build.

 

Thanks, I will watch for 2.0.0.9

>>RSM

 

FormData problem solved

O.K., I am back with a good report.

I almost could not make this report, because despite the fact that I have been registered to this forum on two computers with three browsers each, all with saved user ID and password information, all of a sudden the forum did not know who I am. I had to literally re-register!!

Enough of that.

I did a search on "Remove Firefox" and "Registry Edits ". This got me to a blog, and the complete script for removal of FF was a reply to that blog, complete with the necessary registry edits. I followed the script, got a new download of FF2.0.0.9, installed, tested the one important site for form data retention through browser session, then log on session, and finally, re-boot. Everything is fine.

I saved the whole script as a Word file, so I have it available to post here or any other forum which might want it, or I can email it, whatever.

Thanks to all.

>>RSM

 

Richard,
by the way this website does not have any username/password listed in the Password Manager, but, as long as cookies are saved, you can be in it. If you delete cookies, you have to renter the username/password. I can't think of any other site like this.

 

Hey Westside-

You know, I am in the new FF installation right now. When I installed it, I had to go through the business of opening web sites just to get the cookies or save the user id and password for each site.

This is, of course, one of the sites I saved.

So, seeing your comment, I checked Security|Passwords. Sure enough, it is there. But you are correct in that it did not fill the form to open the site. Once I typed in the first letter, the user id filled. In this case, it is "R ". But, as you know, for me, many are "M ". So, I need to remember it.
I guess I could use the Password bookmarklet, but who is to say I would remember that.

That is one of the benefits at SeaMonkey. You just toggle that wallet.crypto thing and SM will totally ignore the site's rules and save everything. Or, there is Roboform. I mean, you know, i resent having to pay for a function for one browser that is included in another browser. I bought Roboform when I got IE7, because it was the only way to make IE7 comparable with FF, and thus be able to compare other things, like speed, rfendering, and such.

Also, other sites, like the New York Times, like you said, use the cookies and the user id and password just appear as the site opens, and you just click in.

Well, my friend, are you a big shot on this forum? Go to the bosses and tell them we want that better sign-in experience.

>>RSM

 

Here is the answer to the FF removal question

Having had several PM's requesing this, I am going to here post the description which best helped me completely remove FF so that I could re-install and have FF saving my form data.

This is a copy of part of a response I found to a question in a blog. I had searched on "Remove Firefox" together with "Registry Edits ". So, this is what I used, and it in no way constitutes any sort of recommendation or guarantee that it will work on any other machine. The user should proceed at his or her own risk.

The writer refers to re-installing FF 2.0.0.6. As of today, it is 2.0.0.10 :

"...Here is the correct way to remove Firefox.
Uninstalling and cleaning out all the Firefox files including your profile(s) is an excellent way of resolving any extremely strange behavior or annoying problems you may get with Firefox. To completely remove all traces of Firefox from your system follow these steps:
1. Go to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs in XP or Control Panel>Programs & Features in Vista, and if a "˜Mozilla Firefox’ entry (or similar) exists, select it and click Change/Remove and uninstall it. Reboot if required.
2. Go to your Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla directory in XP, or the \Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Mozilla and \Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\ directories in Vista and delete the entire \Firefox subdirectory and all of its contents. Note that this will delete all of your bookmarks. Backup your bookmarks - I recommend using extension { Bookmark Backup 0.4.3 } download from FF add-ons.
3. Go to your \Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\ directory and delete it and all of its contents.
4. Using a registry cleaner like RegCleaner 4.3, find and remove all Firefox/Mozilla-related entries (usually there are several Mozilla entries to be found) and remove them. Alternatively you can use the Registry Editor (Start>Run>Regedit) and delete the following keys - that is, right click on their name in the left pane of Registry Editor and select Delete:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\firefox.exe]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MozillaPlugins]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\mozilla.org]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MozillaPlugins]
That will remove the bulk of the Firefox-related settings which can cause problems with newer installations if they have become corrupted (through overclocking for example). Note: If you also have Mozilla Thunderbird or any other Mozilla products installed, make sure to only uninstall entries under the keys above which relate directly to Firefox.
Install the full 2.0.0.6 package. This will prevent a wide range of problems down the track. Once Firefox 2.0.0.6 is installed, you can then use the automatic update feature to keep it up to date quickly and easily. Import your Bookmarks backup. Reinstall your extensions one at a time and observe if there is any slowdown. This will help solve and weed out problems with corrupt extensions. Some of your extensions may not be compatible with version 2.0.0.6 - to get around this problem install this amazing little extension { MR Tech Local Install 5.3.2.5 } Go here for details and D/L : http://www.mrtech.com/extensions/local_install/.... "

 

In addition to the Registry Keys you have listed, add these three:


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\firefox.exe]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Mozilla Firefox (2.0.0.x)]

 

Hi Ramona-

Should I add these keys into my saved document?

>>RSM

 

Richard,

Sure, those are existing Registry Keys.

BTW, please post the link to the blog where you found the "script ". I would be very interested in seeing what was posted.

 

I found it by searching on "remove firefox" and "edit registry "
I just looked for it again and could not come up with it. I am just back from vacation and do not have a lot of time.

If I can find it, I will put it up.

 

Thanks Richard,

Since you don't have the link, would you please post the "Script "?

 

I did. On the original thread.

 

Ramona-

What I posted was what you added to in your post of registry keys.

 

Richard,

O.K., I see that you are not using "Script" as in JavaScript, or an HTML code. I did find the Blog: http://mgopinath.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-uninstall-firefox-completely-and.html