InformAction Forums

Since the v2.3.4 was pushed out every time I start firefox the noscript update page comes up telling me noscript has been updated. This launches now each time firefox is launched. I tried removing no script and installing it again and the behavior is still there.

This usually means Firefox has problems in saving your preferences to disk and remember them when it is restarted.
Are other preferences affected?

Hi. I am having this very same issue. I believe it started with the new Firefox update, which came out at about the same time as the latest NoScript update.
Firefox does seem to have trouble remembering some of my preferences. I've tried re-installing Firefox and NoScript, but no joy.
Any solutions?

Thanks for the link.
Through multiple steps--including deleting the user.js file and undoing some privacy sweep settings--the NoScript homepage is not launching with every re-start. Huzzah!

I've found another curious issue, however: I keep un-setting the read-only attribute on the Profile folder, but as soon as I finish clicking "apply" and "close," the folder resets itself to read-only.
Any ideas how to remedy that?
Bomb it from space; it's the only way to be sure?

fictionfiend wrote:I've found another curious issue, however: I keep un-setting the read-only attribute on the Profile folder, but as soon as I finish clicking "apply" and "close," the folder resets itself to read-only.

May I ask why you need to reset that?

Mozilla's advice is to make changes via the GUI, about:config, add/remove Add-Ons page, etc.
And manual changes made to some files while Firefox is running, e. g., prefs.js file, will be discarded/overwritten when the browser closes anyway.

However, with Firefox not running, you can, for example, open prefs.js file with Wordpad, edit, save, and close the profile -- if you really need to.
You'll note that the prefs.js file does *not* have the read-only attribute set. (Clearly, because Firefox writes to it as you browse.)

Add-on installation or updates require a restart precisely because the folder is read-only (and some other reasons).

Came back to this bookmarked page because, guess what? I'm having this issue again after NoScript 2.3.6 came out. *sigh*
Delete user.js file, undo privacy sweep settings; rinse, repeat.

Thanks for answering my posts, btw.
And about the issue with the Profiles folder being set to "read only": The mozillazine article about "Preferences not saved" says to make sure the prefs.js file is not locked. This somehow translated, in my overly full pea-brain, to "Make sure the Profiles folder is not locked."
Yeah, so, nevermind. Carry on.

fictionfiend wrote:Came back to this bookmarked page because, guess what? I'm having this issue again after NoScript 2.3.6 came out. *sigh*
Delete user.js file, undo privacy sweep settings; rinse, repeat.

Per http://kb.mozillazine.org/User.js_file:

A user.js file is an alternative method of modifying preferences, recommended for advanced users only. Unless you need a user.js file for a specific purpose you should use about:config instead. The user.js file does not exist by default.

and

Important: Once an entry for a preference setting exists in the user.js file, any change you make to that setting in the options and preference dialogs or via about:config will be lost when you restart your Mozilla application because the user.js entry will override it.

A user.js file can make certain preference settings more or less "permanent" in a specific profile, since you'll have to first delete or edit the user.js file to remove the entries before the preferences can be changed in the application.

So the question is: Did you create this file deliberately, or did some add-on or app do it for you? Do you need it?

Not sure what exactly is meant by "privacy sweep settings", since there are various ways to prevent or delete storage of privacy-sensitive data. To which are you referring?

I searched my machine for user.js files in Fx 11, Fx 3.6, and even Fx 2.0.0.20 (still keep around for diagnostic, testing, and comparison), and as expected, no user.js anywhere. See if the article helps further - you may not need it, and if you didn't create it, find out what did.

And about the issue with the Profiles folder being set to "read only": The mozillazine article about "Preferences not saved" says to make sure the prefs.js file is not locked. This somehow translated, in my overly full pea-brain, to "Make sure the Profiles folder is not locked."
Yeah, so, nevermind. Carry on.

No worries. I've had my share of brain-fades -- we all do -- but please don't search the board for them.

Thanks for answering my posts, btw.

You're quite welcome. After reading the linked article, could you please post back and advise whether the issue is permanently fixed for you, so that we can mark this as "resolved"?

So the question is: Did you create this file deliberately, or did some add-on or app do it for you? Do you need it?

My laptop is a second-hand, former business computer, so god only knows how the user.js file got there.
But, come to think of it, I installed Firefox myself. So I still don't know how the user.js file got there. Huh.
Anyway, no, I don't need it, and it has been deleted. Perhaps it's time for a seek & destroy mission for user.js files on my entire machine.

Not sure what exactly is meant by "privacy sweep settings", since there are various ways to prevent or delete storage of privacy-sensitive data. To which are you referring?

I have a "cleanup" program that was very helpfully deleting all of my private data every time I closed Firefox. I have changed the program settings so that it won't do that anymore.

After reading the linked article, could you please post back and advise whether the issue is permanently fixed for you, so that we can mark this as "resolved"?

The first time this issue came up, deleting the user.js file solved the problem. This time around, I changed the name of the prefs.js file to prefsOLD.js, as per the instructions in the "Preferences not saved" article. The issue appears to be fixed. For now. As for "permanently fixed"....well, we'll just have to see what happens when NoScript releases its next version....

fictionfiend wrote:But, come to think of it, I installed Firefox myself. So I still don't know how the user.js file got there. Huh.
Anyway, no, I don't need it, and it has been deleted. Perhaps it's time for a seek & destroy mission for user.js files on my entire machine.

Sounds good, but it also sounded like it was being recreated with each update, IIUC? ... perhaps the S&D mission will stop that. (Do it while the browser isn't running.) Might, or might not, be interesting to know what was in it. Privately, should you like.

fictionfiend wrote:I have a "cleanup" program that was very helpfully deleting all of my private data every time I closed Firefox. I have changed the program settings so that it won't do that anymore.

I do that too, by running the browser inside a sandbox, with the sandbox set to dump *everything" when the browser closes. No adverse reactions, and if you don't do this somehow, you do lower your privacy protection. (There are user-configurable exceptions in the sandbox rule, for prefs.js, bookmarks, and other stuff one doesn't want dumped.)

So, careful config of whatever should dump the privacy-sensitive stuff while keeping your settings.

fictionfiend wrote:... The issue appears to be fixed. For now. As for "permanently fixed"....well, we'll just have to see what happens when NoScript releases its next version....

OK, we'll leave it as-is. When that update happens (and you've made those other changes first, of course ) let us know if it's Mission Accomplished? if not, something weird is going on. Let us know, thanks.