Your old Firefox settings should have been moved to your desktop, into a folder named Old Firefox Data. Can you find that?

Before restoring things from that folder, what was the problem that caused you to use Reset? We may need to be selective in what is restored.

For troubleshooting this issue, you may need to change two Windows settings. These settings make it hard to find your Firefox data and to work with files accurately:

(1) Show hidden files and folders: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

(2) Show file extensions for all file types: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/865219

Some programs install extensions globally and you may need to check the Windows Control Panel to access the setting of such programs.

I have the old firebox data folder but it doesnt do much. most files cant be opened and nothing imported itself into the reset firefox. the reason i reset firefox was because i got a pop up window saying , if you're having issues with firefox just reset it and everything will be perfect! so far from it. i also did the whole show hidden files and deleted any good search app related items and i still cannot install it again on firefox because it still says it exists. this is the pop up that comes up when i try installing it:

Firefox could not install the search plugin from "http://www.goodsearch.com/opensearch.xml" because an engine with the same name already exists.

Hi violetsun3, perhaps Firefox was detecting slow startup or slow operation. I think those might be the situations where a reset is suggested. That's a bit drastic in my opinion, but... it's not my call.

The standard reset carries over your bookmarks (presumably that part worked) and a lot of other data as described in this article: Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings. Definitely most extensions are not copied over (Firefox will only recognize the ones that are installed at the system level, such as security software toolbars).

Regarding the search engine plugin, in case you haven't checked recently, could you drop down the list from the "g" icon at the left side of the search bar to see whether it's at the bottom of the list or shown in the Manage Search Engines dialog?

One option at this point would be to restore your earlier settings folder as a second profile. (Each settings folder is independent and represents a different Firefox profile.) Even if the old profile still has some performance issues, it probably would be worth troubleshooting them a bit compared with re-setting up the new profile.

To do that, you can copy the profile folder from inside the Old Firefox Data folder to the standard location for profile folders. I will assume you have Old Firefox Data open in one window. To open the other location, use either:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

Click the "Open Folder" button and then navigate up one level (click the word Profiles in the address bar). Here you should see your currently active profile folder. Without disturbing that folder, copy the old profile folder from Old Firefox Data alongside your current one. They may or may not have similar names; the names are partially randomized.

The next step is to introduce Firefox to this folder. This will create an entry in the profiles.ini file and set Firefox to default to the profile you copied in.

First, copy the address of your Profiles folder from the address bar (typically C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles). This will save a lot of clicking.

Exit out of Firefox and start up the profile manager using Start > search box (or Run):

firefox.exe -P

Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

You'll click the Create Profile button. On the next screen you should get a "Choose Folder" button. Click that, then paste the location you copied above and select the old profile folder you placed there. Finish creating the "new" profile, then start Firefox in that profile.

Does it work?

Note: You might be tempted to return and use the Delete Profile button for the profile you're leaving behind. But... it's a bit too easy to accidentally delete your "real" profile, so I recommend resisting the temptation. If you do want to clean up later, I suggest making a backup of all your profiles first in case something were to go wrong.

You can disable this slow startup notification by setting the browser.slowStartup.notificationDisabled pref to false on the about:config page.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config