Cannot copy files from or change permissions in AppData in my profile

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Try3 said:
I thought the profile was in
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
[which can be copied without incident]
but this discussion seems to be about the Roaming folder.

Denis

The Mozilla profile folder is here.... according to Mozilla...

C:\Users\XP\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default-release

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Try3 said:
I thought the profile was in
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
[which can be copied without incident]
but this discussion seems to be about the Roaming folder.

Denis

The internet says the profile should be in roaming. In %appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
Windows Defender service is completely uninstalled. It looks like a new security feature (tamper protection) but I cannot switch it off because I cannot enter the Windows Securityr GUI.

P.S. No. Tamper Protection is off:

Code:

FullScanStartTime : InitializationProgress : ServiceStartedSuccessfully IoavProtectionEnabled : False IsTamperProtected : False IsVirtualMachine : False LastFullScanSource : 0 LastQuickScanSource : 0 NISEnabled : False NISEngineVersion : 0.0.0.0

Like I said... I use Bitdefender (paid). It takes control of Windows Defender... so I can't test any Windows Defender things.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Windows Defennder is off, and the service is uninstalled.

Try3 · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
The Mozilla profile folder is here.... according to Mozilla...
C:\Users\XP\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default-release

I've spent five years backing up the wrong thing then.

I'll have to start again with studying whatever guidance exists these days.

Thanks for telling me,
Denis

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Try3 said:
I've spent five years backing up the wrong thing then.

I'll have to start again with studying whatever guidance exists these days.

Thanks for telling me,
Denis

You can easily see for yourself... "look" at what's in the Profiles folder in LOCAL. (mine is under 1GB)
Then look at what's in the Profiles folder in ROAMING. (mine is 3.7GB)

Also... when we add the "Chrome" folder to alter Firefox... we have to add it to this folder...

C:\Users\XP\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default-release

Maybe the one in LOCAL is... "only the stuff you need to copy, or syncing stuff" ??
It would be a lot faster to just have to copy 800MB. ??

But the one in ROAMING is the "big boss", the "head honcho", the "grand poobah", the "Spanish Inquisition".

They both have the same 8 character prefix.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

@Anixx

It might be time to do an In-Place Upgrade... to get Windows back to normal... then see if you can do what you want in the Mozilla profile.
An In-Place upgrade will definitely set Windows defender back to how MS wants it.

Right after a clean install OR after an In-Place upgrade, is a good time to start using backup software. ^^
Then you can experiment all you want. If you break something... just restore from a backup.

An In-Place Upgrade "compares" what is installed on the computer, with the Windows ISO image.
Then, it overwrites any corrupted Windows files, with clean copies from the ISO image.
This is how it "repairs" Windows while allowing you to keep your programs and personal files.

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

Here is the short version of the In-place upgrade tutorial...

DISABLE non-Microsoft:
a) antivirus software
b) firewall software
c) drive encryption software

Make a full OS backup with a program like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper Standard
Making a backup is optional, but always a smart move.
Macrium Reflect
AOMEI Backupper Standard (free)
Hasleo Backup Suite (free)

Get the Windows 11 ISO (Option #2), and save it to your desktop...

Right click the ISO image and choose: MOUNT
Open File Explorer and you will see a new drive letter. It will "look" like a DVD optical drive.
Double click the new drive letter to open it.
Find setup.exe and double click it to start the in-place upgrade.

Choose the Keep personal files and apps option.

After it's all done... to UNmount the ISO image, right click the new drive letter and choose: EJECT.

The ONLY thing you will lose is some of your personalizations.
Your drivers, programs and data will be intact.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
@Anixx

It might be time to do an In-Place Upgrade... to get Windows back to normal... then see if you can do what you want in the Mozilla profile.
An In-Place upgrade will definitely set Windows defender back to how MS wants it.

I did in-place upgrade just recently. While Windows Defender service is restored, the Windows Security GUI is not.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
I did in-place upgrade just recently. While Windows Defender service is restored, the Windows Security GUI is not.

Are you running a 3rd party antivirus?

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
Are you running a 3rd party antivirus?

No.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
No.

I don't know, then.

Maybe try re-installing Windows defender? If that's possible.
If you can't, you may have to do a Clean install of Windows 11..

I can't think of any other options.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
I don't know, then.

Maybe try re-installing Windows defender? If that's possible.
If you can't, you may have to do a Clean install of Windows 11..

I can't think of any other options.

Windows Defender is NOT running. Why I cannot change the privilegies of the folder?

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
Windows Defender is NOT running. Why I cannot change the privilegies of the folder?

I didn't write the code for Windows Defender.

I doubt that it can be completely disabled, without breaking Windows.

I understand your frustration, but I can't think of anything else to recommend.
Remember, we don't work for MS... we're just volunteers.

Try3 · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
I tried to copy my FireFox profile

I also found that Permissions prevented my copying the whole of
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
so I don't think that, of itself, is an indication that you have a fault.

Denis

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Try3 said:
I also found that Permissions prevented my copying the whole of
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
so I don't think that, of itself, is an indication that you have a fault.

Denis

It was possible in previous versions of Windows.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Try3 said:
I also found that Permissions prevented my copying the whole of
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
so I don't think that, of itself, is an indication that you have a fault.

Denis

Anixx said:
It was possible in previous versions of Windows.

I just copied and pasted the entire Profiles folder to my Desktop.
The ONLY file it wouldn't copy is: parent.lock ...which for me, is 0KB

It took about 3 mins to copy/paste

I'm on FF 124.0 and I have it set as default browser, and set to NOT auto update.

Maybe it's something EDGE is doing?
I have msedge.exe and microsoftedgeupdate.exe blocked in my Bitdefender firewall.

I don't know if any of this makes a difference, but it is what happens on my computer.
Might want to try copying everything in:

C:\Users\XP\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default-release

...except parent.lock ??

Like "select" parent.lock then choose: Invert selection, and try to copy/paste that to a New Folder, on your Desktop?

My C:\Users\XP\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles ...is 844MB

Try3 · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
The ONLY file it wouldn't copy is: parent.lock

Parent.lock is what my copying failure was aswell. I stopped then, I didn't pursue the matter. I did not know it was the only failure.

Anixx said:
It was possible in previous versions of Windows.

It is not possible in my Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170

Denis

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Try3 said:
Parent.lock is what my copying failure was aswell. I stopped then, I didn't pursue the matter. I did not know it was the only failure.

That's why I let the copy run till the end... and that was the ONLY file it wanted to skip.

Which, I guess makes sense... IF that is where the Parental Control settings are saved.
I can't delete parent.lock either.

I CAN "unlock" that file with Emco Unlockit. (So, if I wanted, I could delete it)

Note: With that file "unlocked" I can copy/paste the entire Profiles folder, with no skipped files.

UnLock IT Free - Unlock a File or Folder Locked by the System

EMCO UnLock IT is a Windows file unlocker utility that allows you to unlock a locked file or folder and rename, move or delete locked resources.

emcosoftware.com

Note 2: The only way I could re-lock that file, is to re-install FF 124.0 over top of FF 124.0

First, I tried "Reset Permissions"... that didn't re-lock the file.

andrew129260 · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
Windows Defender service is completely uninstalled. It looks like a new security feature (tamper protection) but I cannot switch it off because I cannot enter the Windows Securityr GUI.

This is why you shouldn't mess with stuff like this. It unfortunately has consequences sometimes. Modifying windows in ways it's not intended can cause weird stuff to happen. Tamper protection is covered here.

You can use this to see if its on:

Code:

Use PowerShell to determine whether tamper protection and real-time protection are turned on
Open the Windows PowerShell app.

Use the Get-MpComputerStatus PowerShell cmdlet.

In the list of results, look for IsTamperProtected or RealTimeProtectionEnabled. (A value of true means tamper protection is enabled.)

I think a clean install is what your going to have to do unless someone else can think of something other than me. (Which is quite possible) I am not sure why you would make a backup of the firefox profile in the first place when sync exists, but that's also just me.

I remember a long time ago when I did use firefox (before sync existed), I used the extension FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension). If it still exists you could try that.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

andrew129260 said:
Use the Get-MpComputerStatus PowerShell cmdlet.

I have posted here the output of this command:

Cannot copy files from or change permissions in AppData in my profile

I tried to copy my FireFox profile to make a backup, and got an error: It seems, the error is 0x80004005. I tried to look up permissions but they all are greyed out: I cannot change them: I checked the ownership, and saw that I (User) am the owner, as expected. It seems, I cannot change...

www.elevenforum.com