Accounts get erased when browser closed

[smaloney41]

Hi

I just starting using password manager.  newbie at this.  Was all excited and set up several specific accounts.  I had originally set up two accounts and exported and imported them between two computers.  Worked fine.

On my main computer I set up two more accounts.  To my horror they were both erased the next time today when I came on my computer.  One account I cannot get back into as I can't remember all the settings I put in to generate the password.  The other account thank god I figured out and wrote down the password.

I have tested several times now and everytime I close firefox 1.5 after setting up the account.  When I restart the new accounts are gone.  Just have two specific accounts?

any help would be appreciated greatly.  One account is an online investing company and I think I now have to call them to get back in as I can't remember the settings.  

thanks SEan Maloney

[Eric H. Jung]

Hello Sean,

First let me say that I am very sorry for the problems you've had. Calling a company for a password reset is always a big pain; I empathize.

No one has reported this kind of problem before, but clearly you're changes aren't being saved to disk. Can you tell me if you have more than one Firefox browser open when you create the accounts (that shouldn't matter, but I'd like the info).  What version of PasswordMaker and Firefox are you using?

Thank you,
Eric

[smaloney41]

passwordmaker is 1.4.3

firefox is 1.5

[Eric H. Jung]

Can you tell me if you have more than one Firefox browser open when you create the accounts

And...?

[smaloney41]

Hi Eric

Just tried it with one browser window open.  Still erases after browser is closed.  It is interesting that two accounts that I made initial and imported to this computer are present and have not been erased?

Sean Maloney

[smaloney41]

Hi Eric

I think some more troubleshooting may partially answer my question.  Went back to original computer where I created the initial exported file.  Indeed I can create whatever new account specific file I want there and it remains when the browser closes.  It is almost as if once you import settings to another computer it will not allow you to add and save a new account specific setting.  Hope this helps.

Sean Maloney

[Eric H. Jung]

Thanks for the info... that is very helpful. I tried a quick test: exported my settings. Created a new Firefox profile (to simulate a different PC), installed PasswordMaker to it and imported the settings. Created a new group and a new account in that group. Closed PasswordMaker and opened it. New group and account are both there. Restarted firefox with the new profile; new group and new account are still both there.

I'll keep testing--need to try a reboot and see if I get the problem. Can someone else also try.... tanstaafl, you around?

-Eric

[smaloney41]

Hi Eric

Yet another test.  First I deleted the two accounts that don't get erased of course copying the settings so I do not forget them.  I then restarted the web browser and low and behold they are back again?

Second I uninstalled and reinstalled passwordmaker and yet the two accounts are still there?

Sean Maloney

[smaloney41]

Hi

Still testing.  I cleared all my cache and uninstalled passwordmaker.   I then rebooted the computer.  Reinstalled passwordmaker and still the same two files repopulate the program with reinstallation.  Now I should let you know that my computer has a raid array which is set up for striping not mirroring.  I would not think it could store a copy of the program but just a thought?

Sean

[Miquel 'Fire' Burns]

Actually, the setting file is not being removed when you uninstalled.

[smaloney41]

Hi

Exactly the setting file persists and nothing else can be added as it is overwritten everytime you close the browser and reopen?

[Eric H. Jung]

Hi Sean.

As miquelfire pointed out, the settings file is not deleted when PasswordMaker is uninstalled. Among other things, this ensures the settings file doesn't get deleted if you upgrade to a new version of PasswordMaker. It would be tragic indeed if the settings file was deleted every time one upgraded.

Exactly the setting file persists and nothing else can be added as it is overwritten everytime you close the browser and reopen?

This should not be happening. Do you know how to find the settings file? From the FAQ:

Where is account information and other settings stored?

Everything is stored in %ProfileDirectory%/passwordmaker.rdf. If you don't know where your profile directory is, look here.

Please try the following:

• With Firefox open, go to windows explorer and navigate to the directory which contains passwordmaker.rdf. Note the "Date Modified" timestamp of the file.
• Create a new account in PasswordMaker.
• Switch over to windows explorer and see if the timestamp changed -- it better have!

The settings file is modified as soon as you press OK in the Account Settings dialog. It is not modified if you press Cancel.

Looking forward to your reply,
Eric

[tanstaafl]

Could this be a permissions problem with the imported RDF file?

[Eric H. Jung]

...doubt it. He'd see an error alert box if the file couldn't be written to. Still waiting to hear from Sean...

[smaloney41]

Hi Eric

Sorry took so long to get back but working all day.  I have solved the problem.  I attempted to check the file.  It did not modify initially and then I noted that it is checked as a read only file?  Why I do not know.  Unchecked this and it works fine now.  So I guess the only other detective work is to find out why that happened.  Is there something set up on my computer?  When I transferred the settings from the other computer I burned them to a disk and imported.  Would this make a difference?

Sean