I installed the latest update of Firefox today (release 
channel, 32.0.3).  (Windows 7 PC, fully updated).  Shortly 
after that, I tried to use a saved password, a feature I 
have been using for years.  However, the password did not 
show up in the dialogue box after I entered my user name, 
and Firefox did not save the password after I entered it 
manually.  I checked the Security Options, and "save 
passwords" was still checked, but the list of saved 
passwords had disappeared, as had the list of exceptions.

This happened with the previous update.  That time, I closed 
Firefox and reopened it, and the passwords were back.  This 
time, I did the same thing, and the passwords did not return.

I did a Google search of "lost passwords in Firefox", and 
the responses were about either lost master passwords or 
profile problems.  I do not seem to have lost my master 
password, and my profile seems to be otherwise OK, if 
bookmarks are an indicator (i.e., they are all there).

Has anyone seen this problem, and if so, do you have a 
solution?
I back up my app data nightly, and I should have good files 
to replace any files that got corrupt.  As an amateur, my 
instinct is to replace as few files as necessary, so if 
there are a couple of files for the passwords, please let me 
know.  However, if replacing the profile is the better 
procedure, I would appreciate a little help doing it.

Thanks in advance.

Neil

On 2014-09-30 2:02 PM, Neil wrote:
> I installed the latest update of Firefox today (release channel,
> 32.0.3).  (Windows 7 PC, fully updated).  Shortly after that, I tried to
> use a saved password, a feature I have been using for years.  However,
> the password did not show up in the dialogue box after I entered my user
> name, and Firefox did not save the password after I entered it
> manually.  I checked the Security Options, and "save passwords" was
> still checked, but the list of saved passwords had disappeared, as had
> the list of exceptions.
>
> This happened with the previous update.  That time, I closed Firefox and
> reopened it, and the passwords were back.  This time, I did the same
> thing, and the passwords did not return.
>
> I did a Google search of "lost passwords in Firefox", and the responses
> were about either lost master passwords or profile problems.  I do not
> seem to have lost my master password, and my profile seems to be
> otherwise OK, if bookmarks are an indicator (i.e., they are all there).
>
> Has anyone seen this problem, and if so, do you have a solution?
> I back up my app data nightly, and I should have good files to replace
> any files that got corrupt.  As an amateur, my instinct is to replace as
> few files as necessary, so if there are a couple of files for the
> passwords, please let me know.  However, if replacing the profile is the
> better procedure, I would appreciate a little help doing it.

There are changes to the password manager in the latest major update, so 
something may be preventing your previous passwords from being imported. 
The Remember Passwords extension is one possibility.

You can force Firefox to re-import your old passwords. Here's how:
1. In the location bar, type "about:config" (without the quotes) and 
press <Enter>.
2. Click [I'll be careful, I Promise!]
3. Search for the preference: signon.importedFromSqlite
4. Right click on signon.importedFromSqlite, and select "Reset".
5. Go to Help-->Troubleshooting_Information, then click on [Open 
Folder]. That will open Windows Explorer in your Firefox profile.
6. Close Firefox
7. In your profile folder, delete the file "logins.json".

The next time you start Firefox, it should re-import your passwords from 
your old passwords file.

-- 
Chris Ilias <http://ilias.ca>
Mailing list/Newsgroup moderator

Chris Ilias wrote:
> On 2014-09-30 2:02 PM, Neil wrote: <snip>
>>
> There are changes to the password manager in the latest
> major update, so something may be preventing your previous
> passwords from being imported. The Remember Passwords
> extension is one possibility.
>
> You can force Firefox to re-import your old passwords.
> Here's how:
> 1. In the location bar, type "about:config" (without the
> quotes) and press <Enter>.
> 2. Click [I'll be careful, I Promise!]
> 3. Search for the preference: signon.importedFromSqlite
> 4. Right click on signon.importedFromSqlite, and select
> "Reset".
> 5. Go to Help-->Troubleshooting_Information, then click on
> [Open Folder]. That will open Windows Explorer in your
> Firefox profile.
> 6. Close Firefox
> 7. In your profile folder, delete the file "logins.json".
>
> The next time you start Firefox, it should re-import your
> passwords from your old passwords file.
>

Chris,

	Thanks for the tip.  I checked my add-ons, and I do have 
Remember Passwords.  The funny thing is that it was not 
disabled, but it was marked for being disabled on restart as 
incompatible with FF32.0.3.  I restarted without changing 
the signon preference, and the passwords are back.  But I 
will save these instructions, as they seem like they could 
be useful for a lot of reasons.

	Neil