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Firefox 102 Renaming .exe files

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I've noticed that with Firefox 102 when I download an exe file, in this case Thunderbird Setup 102.0.exe it is renaming it to Thunderbird Setup 102.0.exe.bin.

Why is that happening now? I know the "potential risk" or downloading an .exe file but shouldn't it ask or at least warn you instead of just deciding to rename it

I didn't see a setting to disable this "feature". Is there one?

Thanks

I've noticed that with Firefox 102 when I download an exe file, in this case Thunderbird Setup 102.0.exe it is renaming it to Thunderbird Setup 102.0.exe.bin. Why is that happening now? I know the "potential risk" or downloading an .exe file but shouldn't it ask or at least warn you instead of just deciding to rename it I didn't see a setting to disable this "feature". Is there one? Thanks

Isisombulu esikhethiweyo

AZBigDog said

There was ONE instance of it in that file and this is what it says (sorry the screenshot is so small)

Hmm, that shouldn't be there. Even if it is there, Firefox should ignore it. I think *not* ignoring it is a bug.

Can you match that up with any visible listings in the Applications list on the Settings page? I guess even if you can, there isn't a way to delete the handler from there.

Traditionally, we would suggest renaming the handlers.json file (while Firefox is closed) to something like handlersOLD.json. At the next startup, Firefox should create a new one with a few default handler definitions. Recently, some users are not getting Gmail back when they do that, so if you rely on Firefox opening Gmail for links like mailto:boss@example.com then I wouldn't recommend that approach at the moment.

That said, editing the file by hand is a bit painful....

Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 0

All Replies (5)

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There was ONE instance of it in that file and this is what it says (sorry the screenshot is so small)

Ilungisiwe ngu AZBigDog

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Your Firefox settings and info are kept in a folder separate from the Firefox program, called your profile folder. Try creating a test profile, to see if the problem still occurs. See Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles.

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Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo

AZBigDog said

There was ONE instance of it in that file and this is what it says (sorry the screenshot is so small)

Hmm, that shouldn't be there. Even if it is there, Firefox should ignore it. I think *not* ignoring it is a bug.

Can you match that up with any visible listings in the Applications list on the Settings page? I guess even if you can, there isn't a way to delete the handler from there.

Traditionally, we would suggest renaming the handlers.json file (while Firefox is closed) to something like handlersOLD.json. At the next startup, Firefox should create a new one with a few default handler definitions. Recently, some users are not getting Gmail back when they do that, so if you rely on Firefox opening Gmail for links like mailto:boss@example.com then I wouldn't recommend that approach at the moment.

That said, editing the file by hand is a bit painful....

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After playing around with it, BIN files were associated with PowerArchiver which was not surprising. EXEs from only Mozilla sites being renamed to BIN was though.

Still not sure what is different about EXEs from there to trip that flag. Anyway I figured I have nothing to lose by renaming that handler.json file (worse case scenario I could rename it back). So, when it created the new one, THAT fixed it.

Thanks

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AZBigDog said

After playing around with it, BIN files were associated with PowerArchiver which was not surprising. EXEs from only Mozilla sites being renamed to BIN was though. Still not sure what is different about EXEs from there to trip that flag.

That's what I've been going on about:

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer said

I notice there is a difference between how these sites characterize the file in the headers sent with the download:
  • Thunderbird download: Content-Type = application/x-msdos-program
  • WinMerge download: Content-Type = application/octet-stream
  • 7-zip download: Content-Type = application/octet-stream
  • Notepad++ download: Content-Type = application/octet-stream
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