Firefox 3 Bookmarks Corrupted.

Editing everything relatable to these bookmarks doesn't benefit me any, except, maybe, allow me the superficial pleasure of giving these rogues an existential crisis. Excellent.

New question. Since this clearly isn't the right place, where can I actually Get Satisfaction?

What I meant is, after you give a name to the no-name tag, the rogue bookmark(s) stop the bizarre behaviour and you can delete them if you wish. Did you try my suggestion? Was there a no-name tag as I described? Your reply didn't say.

Specifically:

Go to Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks
Go to the left column and click the arrow next to Tags to expand it
Find the tag with no name, it's in brackets [ ] and says something like [not specified] or [unnamed]
Click that tag and go to the right column to the Name field and type anything, i.e. Test
Go back to the left column and click the word Tags
The [unnamed] tag should now be called Test
All bookmarks under the Test tag, now shown in the right column, should now be deletable or you can modify them as you wish.

Yes, tried it. Recall: "editing everything relatable to these bookmarks doesn't benefit me any", which would include editing the tags.

And their is no bizarre, nameless, unspecified, or otherwise odd looking tag in the tags column.

And more, there is no tag line in any of the corrupted bookmarks themselves - there is no location line, no description line, no keyword line, nothing shows when selecting said bookmarks in the Library except the name.

Update I (of a possible eschatological many): HTML templates are rebelling. Many sites which I visit frequently (and which I happen to have bookmarked) show up with only a barren white background and disordered text.

Firefox itself, not merely the bookmarks, appears now to be corrupt. I should say, the firefox profile I'm using is corrupt (a product of the way FF3 profiles interact with bookmarks no doubt).

I'm expecting e-Jesus to descend from my cloudy browser window and snatch up all the faithful bookmarks... before unleashing his zombie wrath.

You are not alone I can't delete these bookmarks either no matter what I try!!
Alfie

Caveat, sounds like your problem is different from mine. Sorry my idea didn't work.

Another idea, to help determine how much of the problem is Firefox corruption and how much is corruption of your actual bookmarks database:

1) Re-download the Firefox setup file (in case your original setup file got corrupt)
2) Uninstall Firefox
3) Run the Firefox setup file you just downloaded and let it create a new profile
4) Does the new profile seem to be working okay, including bookmarks? It should, unless something more serious, such as a virus or spyware, is going on with your system.
5) If the new profile works: close Firefox - then go to the new profile's folder, rename places.sqlite to places.sqlite_old and bookmarks.html to bookmarks.html_old, then manually copy places.sqlite and bookmarks.html from the old profile.
6) Launch Firefox again. Does it still work? If not, then it's your bookmark database that is corrupted and not Firefox. Which brings me to the next point:

Especially if you're running Windows, mysterious corruption problems can be caused by viruses, spyware and the like. I recommend installing all 3 of these. They all have free versions that work great and I've been using them on customer systems for years (I'm a computer tech):

Spybot Search & Destroy (antispyware)
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/do...

Ad-Aware (antispyware)
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008...

AVG (antivirus)
http://free.avg.com/

Run scans with these, as many times as you have to until no more infections are found. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the reply I have all that protection but fault still exists. I did get rid of it by deleting the profile using profile manager starting a new one and importing my html file but after 2 days it's added some untitled boolmarks that I can't delete! This also means I can't save new item or make an html file. Maybe its time to changer Browsers!
Alfie

I am unable to even select this bookmark to edit it. When I try, nothing is displayed, or if I had selected another bookmark first, it's details stay when I select the faulty one, and the edit affects that not the faulty bookmark

I found a way for me.
If you have an HTML backup (You need a backup) of the bookmarks then reboot the pc and type into the search box firefox.exe -profilemanager.
This will bring up the Profile box and you can delete the faulty profile. Then create a new profile (or just leave blank as firefox will produce a default one)
re boot, open firefox and import your bookmarks.html file.

I found some discussion along the lines of what you describe. It's a lot of reading, so I'll summarize below. NOTE: Before you start any of these solutions, close all programs especially Firefox. Modifying Firefox files while Firefox is still open can cause problems (that's true of any program), and disk scans can't access your files to fix them if they're in use.
http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_...

Several Windows users have been able to fix this issue by running chkdisk, a Windows utility that checks for corrupted areas on your hard drive. Here are detailed instructions from Microsoft's website:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=31...

Some Linux users have fixed it by updating the sqlite package. Usually this is done from the package manager, such as Synaptic or YUM. Click refresh to get the newest list of packages, search for sqlite3 and mark it for installation. It should automatically uninstall the old sqlite 2.x version. Apply the changes.

Just out of curiosity, what extensions or add-ons do you have installed? Maybe you all have the same bookmarks add-on that manipulates the places.sqlite file or changes the way Firefox writes to this file. You can try temporarily disabling all your add-ons and see if that helps. It's called running Firefox in Safe Mode and there are detailed instructions for doing that in Windows, Linux, and MacOS here:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

I mentioned in the original post: "Deleting the profile does not help. Reinstalling firefox does not help." "...nor any of the other methods mentioned in mozillaZine" meaning that I already attempted reinstalling, deleting the profile and transplanting the sqlite's. Hence, your second suggestion has been tried, Ex-. Moreover, Alfier's way is just another version of this, except in that he has access to HTML's. For myself, there is no possibility, things being as they are, to use an html file to restore past bookmarks, since firefox3 auto-exports exclusively in sqlite format, and I cannot manually export html's from the organizer, as stated.

Further:
Multiple setup files have been used to install FF, even though it would be an off chance that that should be the problem.
New installations work fine since my problem pertains only to the bookmark database being corrupt (and my comment about firefox being quirky shouldn't be interpreted as my being confused about the origin of the problem, which is the bookmarks database).
And I'm aware of the joys of infection. I, in fact, have each of those programs and Commodo, atm. I ran each, and more, defragged, refried, c-sectioned, carbon-dated everything... a supercalafragalistizillion times.
I have also, already ran firefox both by disabling add-on's and by running it in safe-mode, which I forgot to mention. The only relevant add-on being used is Foxmarks. And since the problem began, I installed Sq-lite manager, which I've yet to use.

And though I doubt the issue has to due with bad sectors on my hard drive, I will try a chkdsk to see if anything comes up.

Notes:
1. It is the bookmark database which is corrupted.
2. It is not a matter of infection.
3. MozillaZine solutions still don't work.

A unique solution is to use Flock, which is built on the FF codebase, to import the FF profile and bookmarks directly from the browser and not from a backup. The problem here is that, at least for me, it doubled everything and erased every date added, each tag, etc, etc, and all secondary data of the bookmarks.

I consider the problem still unsolved.

Caveat,

We appear to have bit of a communication problem.

First, please remember that I am not being paid for this, nor am I with any organization. I am simply an individual trying to help in my spare time, as a gesture of good will. While I certainly understand your frustration with your situation, your angry demanding tone and sarcastic comments do nothing to encourage anyone here to help you in your plight. And when people take a lot of time and energy researching your problem, a simple 'thank you' goes a long way... even if they may not have found the solution to your problem just yet. At least they're trying to help.

Second, it would also help to remember that your problem is not the only one described here. I have answered in such a way as to cover a number of scenarios with basic instructions, not because I am ignoring your description of the problem, but because it may also help others in the same boat who have less knowledge than yourself.

Lastly, not everything you are asked to try is necessarily an immediate solution. I asked you to try uninstalling/reinstalling Firefox and creating a new profile to help ensure that, for example, your Firefox setup file didn't get corrupted. This was for my assurance, not yours. The person troubleshooting needs to use his or her own knowledge and understanding to troubleshoot the problem. No offence meant, but if yours had been sufficient to resolve the problem you would not be seeking assistance now. When efforts such as this to test the nature of the problem, are immediately shot down as failed solutions and proof that the troubleshooter is not listening (thus necessitating bold type and sarcasm), it simply discourages people from helping.

Mind you, most people would not have bothered to take the time explaining all of this to you; they'd simply have stopped answering you or never even started. While you may not think so, it is a testament to my willingness to help that, despite the fact that this should all be common sense, I'm still taking the time to explain how you are sabotaging your own chances of finding a solution.

All that said, I will continue to attempt to find solutions that work for your issue and that of others here. However, I am not convinced I can help you specifically, Caveat, under such conditions. No one enjoys spending their free time getting hit over the head for their efforts at a thankless task.

Well said Ex-Expat I appreciate what others do to help so please keep helping.
Happy Xmas. Alfie.

I’m merely being stative. If the statements sound harsh, it’s because the genuine answer to these ideas is harsh. Your feelings towards my supposed rudeness are placebo. I, and everyone, can only be grateful under condition of receiving benefits by very definition of the word, and as I haven’t, I’m not, nor could be. What I can be is appreciative and am, but for no other reason than that your intention is clear. In any case, and I say this not out of goodwill, but out of much preferred authenticity: by being generously honest – not rude, nor sarcastic, or exaggerative – but steadfastly truthful, I’m only doing what is, by necessity, rational and, as a fortunate byproduct, weeding out the sort of people who are least able to give me a veritable answer, that is, people who are offended by the truth.

On another note, the problem spontaneously fixed itself. As a precursor, the keyboard stopped working. So I restarted the computer and all the corrupt bookmarks were no longer there. I can’t recall an FF update, but in any case, ... FREEEDDDOOOMMM.

Thank you Alfie. I'm so glad you found a solution. No worries, I know better than to let one person sour me from helping all the other great people out there, like yourself. Cheers and merry Christmas to you!

Caveat,

Tell yourself whatever you want about your behaviour. I didn't expect you to be able to learn from what I said. You have unfortunately proven my suspicion that explaining your boorishness would amount to nothing as you are beyond help in this regard.

>> the keyboard stopped working. So I restarted the computer

If you had taken my advice to run chkdisk, and followed the instructions to do a thorough scan, that process in itself would have necessitated a reboot. Your own statement above proves that you did not implement the suggested solution and continued to complain instead. Thus you are beyond help in a technical capacity as well.

Any initial incivility came from you as I was ever and always “merely being stative” (subtext: there is a difference between self-righteous crusading and being direct). It’s a normal reaction to fight what you don’t like to hear, like your own simple mistakes – such as interpreting me to have said a reboot solved the problem though I was quite evidently listing it as a precursor in case others might happen upon the same (subtext: do you ever listen?). Surely you can understand the desire to help others (subtext: Brutus). With that in mind, I’ve written this with a set of notes to guide you along the process of understanding meaning so that you can further help others in the future (subtext: I am cutting up the words and spoon feeding them to you; brrrrr here comes the airplane). The internet is a forum of information, for truth and idea-sharing (subtext: the internet is not for back-rubbing and salad-tossing ... at least not this portion, but I have links, if you want? Email me.). Revisiting each of my passages, there are two lines where a sensitive person may have been offended and none where a rational person would have been (subtext: O, snap!). Alas, this is a transaction of ideas, not of etiquette, where some ideas must be shot down (subtext: and some murdered). You’re “failure at communication”, as you’ve rightfully put it, is rather easy to solve, as each of your missteps has been due to a lack of taking the time to read and understand – like with the above failure (subtext: try basal readers such as the popular ‘See Spot Run’ by Dr. William S. Gray, or alternatively use your mind; “then” you can attempt to be syntoptical, like you actually have something to teach). Now that you’re aware of the problem, I hope you’re able to remedy it (subtext: wait, you don’t understand any of this...).

Caveat -

As a fellow information-seeker looking for a solution to this problem, I found your usage of "big words" to be obtrusive and frankly, annoying. Some may find beauty in such wordplay, but in this scenario I found it completely unnecessary and inappropriate. For the sake of concise communication, why not save the long-winded BS for English class? It is self-centered to impose such rubbish in everyday communication.

And don't bother writing a clever comeback to this - I am never going to revisit this site.

Jack

Caveat,
To me it is clear that, you have a problem.
I too have had this same issue, Like you the suggestions did not work so I was still looking for an answer. But due to the rather blunt responses you posted Caveat, this board has had no activity for 2 months.
Lets face it, you can tell someone they are wrong or, like in this case where their ideas failed, in a way which is constructive and a way which is downright offensive. Both can be equally direct. You seem to delight in the latter, offensive option and as a result this board is dead. I still do not have workable solution and have had to reformat and start again to correct the issue. Your behavior has effectively made a mockery of your earlier statement that this is supposed to be a transaction of ideas. What idea has been transacted over the last 2 months?
Disappointed shall we say.

I had the same problem. I couldn't delete a bookmark, nor move it. Also, I couldn't export the bookmarks to a .HTML file.

My solution was to download the SQlite Manager plugin for Firefox, and edit the places.sqlite file directly, deleting the affected bookmark(s) from the moz_bookmarks table.

Then I was able to export to a .HTML file.

having the same problem.
can't delete 2 of my bookmarks, can't edit them, can't even delete the folder they're in.

Goom, try my solution. It really did work for me.

um, i actually managed to fix it on my own, thanks though.
i used xmarks and synched my profile. removed the bookmarks that didn't exist.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fire...

if this happens again i'll try your suggestion.

to troy lambert: could you post details on how to use your add-on
to goom: X-marks might work. Not sure yet

to all: In X-marks, I found something interesting regarding the bookmarks I had that were unresponsive.
I did the preview function, and the corrupted bookmarks were actually of a different web site, not the site I had book marked. The sites were advertisement sites, something like pop ups that you see now and then, such as lose weight now, find a classmate now, make money from home, and so forth.