[HOME] 8:56 AM April-15-14

Seamonkey Browser Corrupted By Flash Update

Woke up this morning and turned on my computer and got the familiar Adobe flash update notice. So once my internet connection was established I clicked on the button to download and install.

Just a side note; I had received calls from people because this flash update box kept coming up every time they turned on their computer. The problem was they where clicking on the download/install button before their internet connection was ready. So make sure your connection to the internet is ready first otherwise the update will fail.

Anyway after updating I noticed something missing from my browser Seamonkey, the url or address bar. It wasn't missing so much as it turned into a solid bar. I tried to move it or adjust it. I went through the settings disabling it and enabling it but it didn't make a difference.

Assuming the flash player corrupted some setting I decided to uninstall Seamonkey and flash and re-install it. I backed up my profile using a program I've had a while now called MozBackup - http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

When I restarted the browser, after the install, the problem still remained. All of my settings and bookmarks and so on where still there. So I assumed the corrupted file was in my profile folder. In my case my profile is at the following path: "C:\Users\Terry\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\Profiles\4kbl2r7m.default". Your own name will appear on your account plus the weird number folder name at the end will be different on yours as well. I already had it backed up with MozBackup but I still copied it to my backup folder.

Then with Seamonkey closed I deleted my profile (after backup remember). Sure enough everything started working again . I went to http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=40 and signed up. You usually need to sign up for forums to ask a question. I wanted to find out what file I could edit to fix this problem.

I didn't ask a question but first decided to search to see if anyone else encountered such a problem. I found what look like a solution and that was to right click on the bar I wanted to fix and chose customize. Then click on Restore Default Settings button. It seemed to have worked but a few extension icons where still missing. So I tried to drag them from this customization box but it only made things worst again.

So I ran MozBackup not to backup but to restore my backup settings. I just chose the general settings and unchecked everything else and I also chose a backup from Mar 25 2014. For now everything seems to be back to normal. This is one of the reasons for backing up on a regular basis, because innocent upgrades can and sometimes well screw you over.

Speaking Of Backups Here Are My Choices:

  • For full system backups Macrium Reflect http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

    or just use the Windows backup by going to Control Panel then Backup and Restore then click on the left hand side Create a system image and while your at it also create a system repair disk by clicking on Create a system repair disc. Just follow through with the instructions.

    I use both.

  • Activation information can become corrupted - back it up http://www.softpedia.com/progClean/Advanced-Tokens-Manager-Clean-196989.html

  • Most routers will allow you to back up your system settings. Look for it in your router settings. Search online for how to do it with your brand and model of router.

  • You can back up your Facebook account on to your computer - log into Facebook, click on the little downward pointing arrow towards the top right hand corner of your screen (until Facebook changes it again) and click on Settings and in your settings look for Download a copy of your Facebook data. Follow through from there. They will send you an email when your backup is ready. You'll get a link to download a zip or compressed file that contains all your information, pictures, etc on Facebook.

  • Back up your browser favourites - FavBackup 2.1.3 - http://www.favbrowser.com/backup/

  • I use another program called Opera Settings Import Export but there website now seems to go nowhere. You can still download it from here - http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/Stu-s-Opera-Settings-Import-Export-Tool.shtml

  • Using the following in a batch file or just running the command from a prompt to back up your registry.

    REGEDIT /E "Full Registry Backup.reg"

    or if you prefer a backup utility http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

    Otherwise it's manually burning of all documents to a CD/DVD, again your choice.

    The above mentioned is what I do on a regulat basis, a least once a month. I copy all these backups to a single folder on my hard drive and then burn it off on a CD/DVD. You can also use a flash drive / external hard drive / online cloud service whatever. Just Do It. Backup.