Missing profiles folder and files
Hi all,
I had the damn "snap-do" malware on my Firefox, so I tried uninstalling FF completely and then re-installing it to fix the problem... but that just led to the issue of Firefox now not being able to find my old profile.
I am currently getting the error message; "Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."
I know there are plenty of other threads regarding this issue but they all point to the direction of creating a new profile using the following method: "Launch the Run dialog box, type in: firefox.exe -p ...". When I try this though I get the same error as before.
In short, I absolutely cannot find the "profile.ini" file, and am assuming it no longer exists on my system.
Can anyone help?
Chosen solution
Hello,
Reinstalling Firefox doesn't normally solve anything, as most problems are confined to the profile. You can use the Reset Firefox feature instead, which preserves essential data like bookmarks and passwords.
- Press the Windows logo orb on the taskbar to bring up the Start Menu.
- In the search box, type the following then press Enter: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
- In the Windows Explorer window that opens, you should see the profiles.ini file.
- If the file is missing, you can create it manually in Notepad. The contents should look something like the following, substituting the example profile folder name with your actual profile folder name.
[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/2htx1693.default
Read this answer in context 👍 0
All Replies (3)
Chosen Solution
Hello,
Reinstalling Firefox doesn't normally solve anything, as most problems are confined to the profile. You can use the Reset Firefox feature instead, which preserves essential data like bookmarks and passwords.
- Press the Windows logo orb on the taskbar to bring up the Start Menu.
- In the search box, type the following then press Enter: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
- In the Windows Explorer window that opens, you should see the profiles.ini file.
- If the file is missing, you can create it manually in Notepad. The contents should look something like the following, substituting the example profile folder name with your actual profile folder name.
[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/2htx1693.default
In what location did you look for the profiles.ini file?
Note that the "AppData" folder in Windows Vista and later Window 7+ versions and the "Application Data" folder in XP/Win2K are hidden folders.
Note that Windows hides some file extensions by default.
Among them are .html and .ini and .js and .txt, so you may only see the profiles name without the .ini file extension.
You can see the real file type (file extension) in the properties of the file via the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer.
Manually creating the profile file worked. Thanks for your speedy help guys!
And btw, the snap-do malware is no longer and issue either! :)
Cheers
Modified by Musdogg