Firefox won't ask to remember passwords.

I recently built a new pc. After installing FF, I copied the contents
of my profile directory into the new profile, overwriting the existing
new files. This loaded all my old extensions & bookmarks, but not my
passwords. Since I was mostly worried about having to reinstall &
config all the extensions, I figured the missing passwords were no big
deal, I'd jut re-nester them as needed. But the new FF install is NOT
asking to remember passwords, even though it is set to do so. I'm
wondering if the old password file (presumably copied over with the
profile, I'm not even sure what file it is) might some how be blocking
the "remember" dialog, even though it's not providing passwords itself.
How can I either activate the old password file in the new install, or
get the new install to ask to remember passwords?

TIA

Dan

Dan

Dan wrote:
> I recently built a new pc. After installing FF, I copied the contents
> of my profile directory into the new profile, overwriting the existing
> new files. This loaded all my old extensions & bookmarks, but not my
> passwords. Since I was mostly worried about having to reinstall &
> config all the extensions, I figured the missing passwords were no big
> deal, I'd jut re-nester them as needed. But the new FF install is NOT
> asking to remember passwords, even though it is set to do so. I'm
> wondering if the old password file (presumably copied over with the
> profile, I'm not even sure what file it is) might some how be blocking
> the "remember" dialog, even though it's not providing passwords itself.
> How can I either activate the old password file in the new install, or
> get the new install to ask to remember passwords?
>
> TIA
>
> Dan

Passwords are in signons.txt. That file, and key3.db must be copied
over for the passwords to be available.

As to why FF is not asking to remember passwords, I don't know, it does
here.

Forgive me for asking, but you did check
Tools>>Options>>Privacy>>Passwords, and check the box. Try unchecking,
close FF, then reopen and check. See if it works.

Lee

Leonidas Jones wrote:
>> Dan
>
> Passwords are in signons.txt. That file, and key3.db must be copied
> over for the passwords to be available.
>
> As to why FF is not asking to remember passwords, I don't know, it does
> here.
>
> Forgive me for asking, but you did check
> Tools>>Options>>Privacy>>Passwords, and check the box. Try unchecking,
> close FF, then reopen and check. See if it works.
>
> Lee

Thanks for the reply. Yes, save passwords is checked. Unchecking it,
shutting ff, then rechecking it did not make a difference; FF still does
not offer to remember passwords. Unfortunately, I no longer have access
to the original FF installation from which I copied the profile
(formatting a drive will do that... The only signons.txt and
key3.db files in the current installation are in my Tbird profile. I'd
really like to get this function back, any other ideas? Reinstall, maybe?

Dan

Leonidas Jones wrote:
> Dan wrote:
>> I recently built a new pc. After installing FF, I copied the contents
>> of my profile directory into the new profile, overwriting the existing
>> new files. This loaded all my old extensions & bookmarks, but not my
>> passwords. Since I was mostly worried about having to reinstall &
>> config all the extensions, I figured the missing passwords were no big
>> deal, I'd jut re-nester them as needed. But the new FF install is NOT
>> asking to remember passwords, even though it is set to do so. I'm
>> wondering if the old password file (presumably copied over with the
>> profile, I'm not even sure what file it is) might some how be blocking
>> the "remember" dialog, even though it's not providing passwords
>> itself. How can I either activate the old password file in the new
>> install, or get the new install to ask to remember passwords?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Dan
>
> Passwords are in signons.txt. That file, and key3.db must be copied
> over for the passwords to be available.
>
> As to why FF is not asking to remember passwords, I don't know, it does
> here.
>
> Forgive me for asking, but you did check
> Tools>>Options>>Privacy>>Passwords, and check the box. Try unchecking,
> close FF, then reopen and check. See if it works.
>
> Lee

Since a reinstall does not affect your profile, that's unlikely to help.

First try opening FF in Safe Mode:

Start>>Programs>>Mozilla Firefox>>Mozilla Firefox/(Safe Mode)

This disables extensions. If you can save passwords in Safe Mode, we
know its a problem extension.

If that does not help, try creating a new profile for test purposes:

To open Firefox's Profile Manager, click Start>>>Run, type firefox.exe
-p in the field, and click OK. Note the space after exe, it is important.

Lee

Leonidas Jones wrote:
> Leonidas Jones wrote:
>> Dan wrote:
>>> I recently built a new pc. After installing FF, I copied the
>>> contents of my profile directory into the new profile, overwriting
>>> the existing new files. This loaded all my old extensions &
>>> bookmarks, but not my passwords. Since I was mostly worried about
>>> having to reinstall & config all the extensions, I figured the
>>> missing passwords were no big deal, I'd jut re-nester them as
>>> needed. But the new FF install is NOT asking to remember passwords,
>>> even though it is set to do so. I'm wondering if the old password
>>> file (presumably copied over with the profile, I'm not even sure what
>>> file it is) might some how be blocking the "remember" dialog, even
>>> though it's not providing passwords itself. How can I either
>>> activate the old password file in the new install, or get the new
>>> install to ask to remember passwords?
>>>
>>> TIA
>>>
>>> Dan
>>
>> Passwords are in signons.txt. That file, and key3.db must be copied
>> over for the passwords to be available.
>>
>> As to why FF is not asking to remember passwords, I don't know, it
>> does here.
>>
>> Forgive me for asking, but you did check
>> Tools>>Options>>Privacy>>Passwords, and check the box. Try
>> unchecking, close FF, then reopen and check. See if it works.
>>
>> Lee
>
> Since a reinstall does not affect your profile, that's unlikely to help.
>
> First try opening FF in Safe Mode:
>
> Start>>Programs>>Mozilla Firefox>>Mozilla Firefox/(Safe Mode)
>
> This disables extensions. If you can save passwords in Safe Mode, we
> know its a problem extension.
>
> If that does not help, try creating a new profile for test purposes:
>
> To open Firefox's Profile Manager, click Start>>>Run, type firefox.exe
> -p in the field, and click OK. Note the space after exe, it is important.
>
> Lee

You might want to consider deleting (or renaming) the current
signons.txt and key3.db files. It's possible that they are corrupt.
Since you are not concerned so much with the old passwords, you're not
losing anything.

--
Andy Luddy
Perform appendectomy to reply

Leonidas Jones wrote:
>
> Since a reinstall does not affect your profile, that's unlikely to help.
>
> First try opening FF in Safe Mode:
>
> Start>>Programs>>Mozilla Firefox>>Mozilla Firefox/(Safe Mode)
>
> This disables extensions. If you can save passwords in Safe Mode, we
> know its a problem extension.
>
> If that does not help, try creating a new profile for test purposes:
>
> To open Firefox's Profile Manager, click Start>>>Run, type firefox.exe
> -p in the field, and click OK. Note the space after exe, it is important.
>
> Lee

Thanks, I'll give that a try. Again, the only signons.txt and key3.db
files are in the TBIRD directory. Is this where they would be for FF
(seems unlikely) or is this an error?

Dan

Dan wrote:
> Leonidas Jones wrote:
>>
>> Since a reinstall does not affect your profile, that's unlikely to help.
>>
>> First try opening FF in Safe Mode:
>>
>> Start>>Programs>>Mozilla Firefox>>Mozilla Firefox/(Safe Mode)
>>
>> This disables extensions. If you can save passwords in Safe Mode, we
>> know its a problem extension.
>>
>> If that does not help, try creating a new profile for test purposes:
>>
>> To open Firefox's Profile Manager, click Start>>>Run, type firefox.exe
>> -p in the field, and click OK. Note the space after exe, it is
>> important.
>>
>> Lee
>
> Thanks, I'll give that a try. Again, the only signons.txt and key3.db
> files are in the TBIRD directory. Is this where they would be for FF
> (seems unlikely) or is this an error?
>
> Dan

No there should be files in the Firefox profile folder as well. Their
absence may be symptomatic of the problem. One of the things to check
in the test profile would be the presence/absence of these files.

Lee

Leonidas Jones wrote:
>
> No there should be files in the Firefox profile folder as well. Their
> absence may be symptomatic of the problem. One of the things to check
> in the test profile would be the presence/absence of these files.
>
> Lee

Lee + Andy, thanks for the replies. When I set up a NEW profile, the
new one DOES ask for passwords. Copying the bookmarks file is easy, but
what is the best way to import my extensions & their configs into this
new profile?

Dan

Dan wrote:
> Leonidas Jones wrote:
>>
>> No there should be files in the Firefox profile folder as well. Their
>> absence may be symptomatic of the problem. One of the things to check
>> in the test profile would be the presence/absence of these files.
>>
>> Lee
>
> Lee + Andy, thanks for the replies. When I set up a NEW profile, the
> new one DOES ask for passwords. Copying the bookmarks file is easy, but
> what is the best way to import my extensions & their configs into this
> new profile?
>
> Dan

It can be done, but since we still don't know what was causing your
problem, it would be wise to reinstall your extensions one by one, and
test between. I know its a pain, but lets take the prudent course.

Lee

Leonidas Jones wrote:
>
> It can be done, but since we still don't know what was causing your
> problem, it would be wise to reinstall your extensions one by one, and
> test between. I know its a pain, but lets take the prudent course.
>
> Lee

Lee-I copied all the folders (adblock plus, bookmarkbackups, chrome, &
extensions) as well as all .rdf files from the profile which had working
extensions into the test one with no extensions but which asked
for/saved passwords, now this latter profile has all the working
extensions plus asks for passwords, which was my goal. Still seems like
there should be some way to transfer all that, including already entered
passwords, cookies etc to a new installation (after all, it offers to
import from IE) but I'm happy with this outcome.

Thanks for your assistance.

Dan