@ macahi

I thought you had abandoned this thread since your last post was over 5 months ago. Of course, as the original thread owner you should mark the answer that solves it ... it's just that your original solution (Problem Solved: ... I reinstalled version 6) isn't the right answer for others who find this thread. Firefox 6 is obsolete and an insecure version of Firefox.

As it stands now, this thread is unsolved so I hope you will test out the solution that cor-el posted (see his last post and the one before that) and confirm that it works for you.

The solution posted earlier works but this should be the default option.

Hi mangerarc,

Maybe this was not one of the best changes in Firefox, although the preference option was added to allow users to modify the behaviour. This forum is not the place to discuss such changes we only deal with support questions and problems here, bt I am not sure where you could discuss that, other than adding a comment as input feedback.

"This forum is not the place to discuss such changes we only deal with support questions and problems here"

You're not from PR are u? He makes a valid point. The way I see it is that its broken by default and users need to fix it. With such a simple change it is worthy of pointing out how ludicris the situation is.

How is the default behaviour supposed to be helpful? Why isn't there an option dialog exposed already? Default or fixed behavior.

I am merely pointing out that this is the wrong place for such comments. There is nothing wrong with expressing an opinion, but as I say it is unlikely to be productive in making changes. (You could file a bug making a request for a change, but I think it is more usual to discuss matters first with developers)

Developers are unlikely to see the comments made because this is the support forum not a developers forum. We try to assist with Firefox problems, but do not petition for changes or improvements. Maybe someone else could point you to a more suitable location or maybe one of these links would help you.

• Feedback
• forums listing

• Also rules and etiquette

Posts in the Firefox support forum or in Live Chat must be either questions about the use of Firefox or answers to those questions.

I've been using Firefox for a long time. I'm also a fairly conservative person, so once I try something and like it, I tend to stick with it. That's why I stuck with Firefox although this problem has been extremely annoying for some time to me.

I finally got annoyed enough that I decided to try Google Chrome. This post is not a 'Pointing fingers at Mozilla' post, for not fixing my problem. It's just a heads-up because I know for a fact that this problem is making you shed users. I'm quite pleased with Chrome and I can't see myself switching back to Firefox, anytime soon, or until Chrome makes some application breaking bug.

Why do I bother typing up all this when I've already switched to Chrome? Because I like Firefox and wish you well. I like what you're doing. I like that you're an independant among giants. Maybe I will switch back to Firefox sometime down the road.

I hope you will fix this before you loose too many users.

- former Firefox user.

taffelost,
Thanks for the polite reply and goodluck with using Chrome. I am sure some do agree with your point of view.

Any reader of the thread using Firefox
Note the explanation above posted by cor-el of how to apply the current solution.

It may be worth remembering systems do not normally limit you to using only one browser. If there is something Firefox (or whichever) does not do well consider use of a different secondary browser for that task

I have been contemplating moving on as well, been running mozilla seems like forever. usually im running under linux , used to download the source and compile it :) But this sort if thing should not have to be fixed by arcane config settings thru about:config. Its like sync there's f*** all setting available to adjust it , fortunately im running a local sync server so i just turn apache off when i want to use my bookmarks ( it updates imediateley i change a bookmark) Its sad but these days its all about image . Its like games they have to be HD but gameplay still bloody sux, but at least we have pretty visuals to look at <sigh> maybe im just getting old and wiser . Anyway i wont be using google browser ive classified it as malware, its sneaked onto pc's ive reloaded uninvited via 3rd party apps to often, i loath that Here's hoping ( note i wont hold my breath, i don't think i look good in blue though i like blue :)

I've done my assessment of FF 11 over the last 5-6 days, and there is absolutely no way I can endorse this version as the solution to the problem I originally posted.

Yes, the config change does appear to override the bug introduced 6 months ago in version 7, but version 11 is so unstable, it is not a solution to anything. It crashes on me constantly.

This is the type of crappy product released through the 'rapid development' process. As long as they keep this up, they will never have a stable product.

I caution anyone reading this thread, if you decide to install version 11, do so separately from your current version, whatever it may be. You may wish to keep your earlier version, regardless of the issues it has.

@AliceWyman, As you can see, I did not abandon the thread, it's just that it took 6 months between the time they realized they introduced a nasty bug, until they brought out what they call a fix.

There wasn't much for me to do in the mean time.

If they'd stuck with version 6, put it through a proper SDLC and worked on point releases for stabilization and fixes, we would most likely have a viable application right now. As it stands however, version 11 is bad. They've once again introduced a bunch of unnecessary changes, and they've made it unstable. In the ~5 days I've been running this version, it crashes on me many many times per session. It does not recover from these crashes. It does not offer to reload the pages I had open when it crashes. This version, like all of the versions under the 'rapid development' process I suspect, did not go through anywhere near the appropriate level of testing.

The original bug should have been back out of the code immediately. Furthermore, this type of behavioral change should be offered as an option, not made to be the new default behavior, and certainly not introduced in such a way as to require a config update to bring the product back to proper behavior.

I can not and will not flag this thread as resolved until there is a stable version which can fix their bug.

Macahi,

Save Location behaviour  
I do sympathise in that I agree the change seemed rather odd, and not necessarily well thought out or correctly publicised before or after the change. All I am able to do is point out the current situation and possible workarounds.

(For the record some related change documentation is { also see}

• Bug 536503 - Last downloaded-to directory should be remembered on a site-by-site basis
• Bug 672817 - site-by-site last downloaded-to directory is not always remembered
• {RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 702748} Bug 693153 - "arbitrary" selection of download directory in multiple tabs (tabs with different server name)
• Bug 702748 - Use a pref for disabling per-site remembering of download directory

The last bug permits creation of an optional preference as discussed in this thread)

Workarounds

• Create and use the preference browser.download.lastDir.savePerSite (not user friendly to set)
  see cor-els post <-- clickable link -- for instructions.
• Consider utilising the Windows OS file picker see my post {in a separate thread)
• Use an earlier version of Firefox
  (CARE this puts your personal data and computer security at risk
  - NOT recommended, especially as by the nature of the problem involves downloads over the internet) see installing a previous version of firefox but be aware support for Firefox 3.6 ceases anytime now.
• Use another browser (or petition for changes to Firefox; or for an add-on to solve this - but such discussion is not an appropriate subject in this support forum)

Crashes
May I suggest to anyone experiencing crashes that you start a separate thread, {follow links and prompts from /questions/new } after reading Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly). This is a different problem and with luck will have a solution, but the reasons for crashes vary and depend largely on the settup used.

@sgtsixpack: “How is the default behaviour supposed to be helpful?”

It's useful for people who don't save all images in a single folder. I save mine in separate folders depending on content. When Firefox suddenly remembered the folder based on the site, I found this a pleasant surprise, because image content often depends on the source.

@macahi

Firefox has hundreds of millions of users. It is simply not possible to have default settings that will please everyone, which is why they're intended to be adequate for the majority of users. As repeatedly pointed out previously, it takes only a few moments to change a hidden preference to restore the old behavior: /questions/887248?page=2#answer-324109

Also already pointed out but worth mentioning again, the fact that Firefox is crashing for you is unfortunate, but it has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. If the Firefox crashes support article hasn't helped, you should start a new thread describing the problem.

See this is where you are assuming too much. I too do not use a single folder, but would not assume the user wants every image from one site in one folder.

" it takes only a few moments to change a hidden preference to restore the old behavior: /questions/887248?page=2#answer-324109"

It takes googling and a complex BUG workaround. Its not ideal.

Also I have crashes and errors when uploading files to certain filesharing sites. I have to resort to using internet explorer.

Additionaly why do you and your other PR execs keep worrying about the thread going off-topic.

We've just uncovered 2 MAJOR FLAWS with firefox which needs fixing. I'm just the messenger.

sgtsixpack.

Comments from users are good, and in this forum we try to answer them if they relate to a problem with a solution. What we do not do is discuss decisions relating to changes in Firefox.

Additionaly why do you and your other PR execs keep worrying about the thread going off-topic. 

I am only a volunteer answering questions but IMHO it helps if a thread has a single topic, it is then easier to deal with and to cross reference or search the related thread. If you wish to influence Firefox development, or provide feedback you are not in the correct forum.

It would not surprise me if this thread were to be closed, the initial question seems to have been addressed and answered.

@John99, I read all of that documentation 6 months ago. It doesn't change anything. The fix was for a bug that didn't exist. It was a feature-request entered as a bug and treated as a bug, but there was no bug. No browser in the history of browsers, and certainly no previous version of FF has ever worked the way the user in this bug report thinks it should. I'm not going to rehash all of that here again. We've done it in this thread and in another.

@Gingerbread_man, That you find the new feature useful is wonderful. This is exactly why I said it should be an option. It is certainly an interesting approach. If I, as I believe I remember reading one of the original requesters of this new feature does, spent 99% of my time pulling files from a handful of file-sharing sites, I might actually find it useful. However, I, like the majority of the browser using world do not work that way. We search the entire web for files, images and other, and pull them down as needed or wanted. This change is now forcing the browser to remember hundreds if not thousands of values instead of a single easily changeable value.

Perhaps you're unfamiliar with resource sharing on the web, but as I pointed out in one of my first posts in this thread while still trying to figure out what was going on with this sudden and unwelcome change, even though I may be on one website, a blogspot for instance, the files on that page may actually be distributed across many different sources. If I try to save files from the site, the first one may come from 3.bp.blogspot.com another image may be from 4.bp.blogspot.com or 7.bp.blogspot.com. This bug introduced to FF, now wants to remember the DL folder for each of these separately. Take the dog/cat image scenario introduced by another user, if I'm dl'ing pics of cats, and I've managed to point all of the save-file-as domain settings to my 'cat' folder, that's great. Now, I'm going to save pics of dogs. Some of those pics are going to be coming from the same servers, others from different servers. If I don't pay very close attention to each and every file I save, these images are going to end up all over the place, spread across many different directories. That is a huge pain-in-the-ass to users. This was not a well thought out, or tested decision.

All of that history now repeated, v11 is not a fix, not yet.

If my car is pulling to the left, I can still drive it if I pay very close attention to what I'm doing and I make sure to keep the car going in the right direction. If I don't, the car ends up going where I don't want it to go.

I bring the car into the shop and sure enough, they fix the problem. The car now does not pull to the left.

Instead, the car blows up. That's not a fix.

An unstable product is not a fix for anything.

@John99, You wrote, It would not surprise me if this thread were to be closed, the initial question seems to have been addressed and answered. ... and you're right. I'll mark the last post by cor-el as solving it (notwithstanding that the original thread owner is not happy with the solution) and then I'll close the thread.

Received in PM from macahi Today at 12:11 PM

Maybe I'm missing something, but not only did you choose a solution for me, and force the thread closed and locked, but you also seem to have removed it from the forum so that no one who doesn't have the thread bookmarked can see it?

Is that right?

Based on the above I unlocked this thread and asked an admin to take a look.

Well i think i kinda resolved the issue

Removed firefox completely (as in removing every single trace of it)

After doing so i installed the latest firefox beta 12.0 and so far i have been saving in the same folder i used previously

Do keep in mind that i had tried this several times before but it didn't work so may be there is something in the beta or they are actually working on solving this issue in beta...

Oh and john please stop forcing things on others an issue is resolved only when everyone having it says so

if its resolved for one or you then it doesnt mean it is for all this post of mine doesnt mean its actually solved for everyone so dont mark a solution as final, unless there is a proper one from firefox ...

Firefox saves the URL and file path as part of the Site Preferences if that pref is absent or is false, so if you've saved files before changing the pref then you need to clear the Site Preferences to remove that old data.

might have been better if you actually read the real problem before making a post