Hi guys.

Hopefully there's a quick solution to this one.

I'm running Firefox 3.0.3 and the search field simply will not retain any of my previous searches.

Under Tools > Options > Privacy, I've got Keep my history checked for 90 days
Remember What I type in Forms and the search bar is also checked.
I do NOT have "Always clear my private data" checked

Is this a quirk of 3.0? as this problem seems to coincide with my download of this version.



Many thanks for any help on this!!

No chance you have an add-in like "PurgeFox"?

Hey! thanks for the quick response.

But no, that one's not listed.

Under Tools > Add-ons I can see:

BitCometAgent
Java™ Platform SE 6 U2
Microsoft@ DRM (2 instances)
Mozilla Default Plug-in
Quick Time Plug-in 7.2
Shockwave Flash
Virtual Earth 3D 1.01 plug-in for Mozilla
Windows Media Player Plug-in Dynamic Link Library

Although you do not have "Always clear my private data" checked, did you click the "Settings..." button and unclick anything that may be checked? I have it unchecked in mine, but I also have the "Ask me before clearing" box checked just in case as I can clear Private Data via my Web Tools add-on (under "Miscellaneous") or Tools menu's "Clear Private Data..." (Ctrl + Shift + Del".

Possibly check to make sure you have sufficient Cache space alloted. Still searching for this problem listed, but haven't come across anyone reporting this problem.

Have you got the box checked that says "Show Search Engine Options"? Click Search Icon and select "Manage Search Engines...". This may be related since you said "...search field simply will not retain any of my previous searches".

Tips & Tricks
Power User's Guide to Firefox 3

This post has been edited by Major Payne: Oct 3 2008, 03:24 PM

Right - everything now unticked, apart from the "Ask me" box
Found the manage search engines page - everything there is ticked - Save Search History, Suggest Searches etc

I have 50Mb alloted for the cache - should be more than sufficient yes?


So basically my browser is still not retaining any search history.

50Mb is plenty. Still trying to find others with this problem. Not sure if it is related to the "New" "Awesome Bar" (Location Bar) or not. This from a site to turn it off might lead to a way to turn it on again: Browser.urlbar.maxRichResults

States:

Also, stated on this page is Known Issues with Beta 3 that may be still present: "Privacy > History > Remember visited pages to "0" has no effect (bug 366075)"

Might look over these: Category:Issues (Firefox). Especially this: Lost bookmarks after Firefox 3 upgrade

Wonder if you have this problem when running FF3 in its Safe Mode and seeing if Search History is saved?

Thanks for those suggestions.

I'll check them out tonight when I'm home.

Incidentally, I had to open up Internet Explorer last night, and this browser is remembering all the previous searches, so it's defnitely a Firefox problem.

Ok - everything seems fine in safe mode.

Any clues as to what this indicates????

Are you running some program like CCleaner as a startup?

No, not as a startup.

I run ATF about once a week - I USED to run CCleaner but I gather from this site that ATF is the preferred option these days.

Safe Mode is a debugging startup mode where all added extensions are disabled and the default theme and toolbar settings are used. Note, however, that all available plugins are used and any changes made to options and preferences remain in effect. In Firefox, Safe Mode includes troubleshooting options such as the ability to reset toolbars, bookmarks and preferences.

In Safe Mode, you can reset some settings or disable extensions and themes that might be the source of the issue. By comparing Firefox behavior in normal mode to its behavior in Safe Mode with various items disabled, you may be able to diagnose issues.

Source 1
Source 2
Firefox Safe Mode: How To Use It

Maybe try running FF in normal mode, but turn off all extensions and see if it works correctly. Then turn them on one by one, restart FF, and check again.

Yeah that makes sense - process of elimination type thing.

I'll give these a try tonight and report back.

Thanks for your time.

This post has been edited by Jonesey: Oct 8 2008, 07:10 AM

Keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck.

Good news bad news.

I restarted Firefox several times, checking one further option as I went, and even when all were checked - FF is retaining the history

The bad news is that I've inadvertently lost all of my bookmarks, of which I have many.

Not an insurmountable problem as I recently did a full backup - my only question is, where do they live in the file structure?

I've looked under the Mozilla root folder, and several sub-folders but can't find them anywhere.

Help!!!!!

Go Start>Run, type in:
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
Click OK.
bookmarks.html, and bookmarks.bak, should be there.

For the future reference, install FF add-on, FEBE: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2109
It'll back up your whole profile automatically, daily.