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Firefox 52-x error "Access Denied You don't have permission to access...this site...on this server. Reference#...

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February 13, 2022 - 10:04am
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hmp
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Firefox 52-x error "Access Denied You don't have permission to access...this site...on this server. Reference#...

This error shows only on Firefox 52 to the newest version, and happens whenever I click to check out on some shopping websites, like Costa.co.uk and currys.co.uk.
For troubleshooting purposes, I copied my portable Firefox setup and added a gift card and filled in my email address on Costa website:
https://gifting.costa.co.uk/home/gift-card/thank-you-little-gc.aspx
I checked to check out, but the error page shows instead of allowing me to proceed to payment.
Clearing cookies/history, disabling, add-ons/running Firefox in troubleshoot mode, updating to newer Firefox doesn't solve the problem.
I tried deleting misc files and folders from Firefox directories and noticed that the problem is caused by: "content-prefs.sqlite" and "prefs.js", but after deleting those files or the profile folder, the error doesn't show on first load, but if I try a second time after clearing history, the error message starts showing again.

How do I fix this?

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February 22, 2022 - 12:10pm
John T. Haller
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Try Current and Local

Please try a fresh install of Firefox Portable 97.0.1 to see if it works. If it fails, please temporarily install Firefox locally and try that on this machine. If that fails, the site simply may not support Firefox.

Additionally, what OS are you on, version and 32 or 64 bit?

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 22, 2022 - 12:25pm
(Reply to #2)
hmp
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Thanks. I'm on Window 7 64

Thanks. I'm on Window 7 64-bit Pro.
Site works on fresh portable.
I've taken a long time setting up my profile.
And the main reason I use portable is so that I don't have to start from scratch every time something breaks?
How can I fix this without starting over?

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February 22, 2022 - 12:37pm
(Reply to #3)
John T. Haller
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Safe Mode

You can try starting in safe mode to see if it's something in your extensions etc. Open a command line prompt within the FirefoxPortable directory and run FirefoxPortable.exe -safe-mode

That will help you figure out what's what. Also, you can try copying (make sure you don't move, you copy) your FirefoxPortable directory to your Desktop directory temporarily. Then delete the FirefoxPortable\Data directory to fully reset it. Then run FirefoxPortable in that copy. That'll start it fresh with no extensions and default settings. That will help determine if the site still works on this outdated version of Firefox.

Note that Firefox 52 is insecure and has multiple remote exploit bugs allowing any website to run anything they want on your local machine, so should not be used as your primary browser.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 22, 2022 - 5:48pm
(Reply to #4)
hmp
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To clarify, I have a

To clarify, I have a Firefox52 portable setup to use certain legacy addons, but my main setups are up-to-date. I just wanted to mention that the problem exists on version 52 also.
Truly, I want to prioritize fixing the up-to-date setup.
Loading with addons disabled (troubleshoot mode) didn't solve the problem on v97.0.1

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February 22, 2022 - 6:18pm
(Reply to #5)
John T. Haller
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safe mode

Did you try the manual safe mode on the command line? Did you try copying your 97.0.1 install to an alternate location, deleting its Data, and running it fresh?

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 22, 2022 - 7:52pm
(Reply to #6)
hmp
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After copying the portable

After copying the portable folder to alt location and then deleting the data folder, the problem doesn't appear.
I don't know how to launch manual safe mode within portable directory via command line

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February 22, 2022 - 10:38pm
(Reply to #7)
John T. Haller
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FirefoxPortable.ini

Ok, that means it's one of your settings or extensions that is breaking that site. Your old copy of Firefox Portable 52.x is still working. If you're uncomfortable with the command prompt, you can use the FirefoxPortable.ini file to enable safe mode.

If you don't already have a FirefoxPortable.ini file in the FirefoxPortable directory alongside FirefoxPortable.ini, explore to FirefoxPortable\Other\Source and copy the FirefoxPortable.ini to the FirefoxPortable directory.

Open FirefoxPortable.ini in your text editor. You'll see a line that says AdditionalParameters= with nothing after it. Change that line to be AdditionalParameters=-safe-mode and then save the file.

When you next run FirefoxPortable.exe, it'll start in safe mode. See if that works with that site. You can disable safe mode by changing that AdditionalParameters= line back to blank or removing the FirefoxPortable.ini if it wasn't already there because you changed another setting.

Last thing to try is disabling your extensions one by one to see if it's a specific one. You may need to restart in between. Or disabling them all and seeing if it works, then enabling them one by one to find out the problematic one or combination.

That's about as far as I can take you myself since the issue isn't with our bits and I don't know the inner workings of that particular site or Firefox well enough to help beyond the above.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 24, 2022 - 7:33pm
(Reply to #8)
hmp
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Definitely tried deleting all

Definitely tried deleting all extensions, but that didn't improve anything. Will try the others.

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February 24, 2022 - 8:21pm
hmp
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52 works without editing the

52 works without editing the ini file.
But I also tried editing the ini file in the /other/source folder but it still launched Firefox in normal mode.

Can I similarly edit the firefox.ini in the /other/source folders of the latest versions?

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February 24, 2022 - 8:23pm
(Reply to #10)
John T. Haller
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Just Safe Mode

This is just safe mode to allow you to try with some of your settings reset. It's a trouble shooting method, not a solution. It works in all versions of Firefox Portable

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 24, 2022 - 8:35pm
(Reply to #11)
hmp
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Adding "safe-mode" didn't

Adding "safe-mode" didn't change the outcome, the error still showed.
I also remember resetting all settings manually, but the error still showed.

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February 24, 2022 - 8:44pm
(Reply to #12)
John T. Haller
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Directions

Be sure you're copying the file. Do not edit it within Other Source
https://portableapps.com/comment/249295#comment-249295

Unfortunately, there's nothing further I can assist with as I mentioned above. Something specific in your profile is interfering.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 24, 2022 - 8:51pm
(Reply to #13)
hmp
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Copy it from other/source,

Copy it from other/source, but paste to which directory?

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February 24, 2022 - 8:59pm
(Reply to #14)
John T. Haller
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Detailed Above

I detailed it in this above comment: https://portableapps.com/comment/249304#comment-249304

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 24, 2022 - 9:01pm
hmp
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Which FirefoxPortable

Which FirefoxPortable directory, the root directory?

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February 24, 2022 - 9:14pm
(Reply to #16)
John T. Haller
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Only One

There is only one FirefoxPortable directory used by the app.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 24, 2022 - 9:19pm
(Reply to #17)
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Yes, and that's called a root

Yes, and that's called a root directory.

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February 24, 2022 - 9:29pm
(Reply to #18)
hmp
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I pasted the ini file in the

I pasted the ini file in the root directory and added "safe-mode" to the line. Launched firefoxportable.exe, and there was no change.
I'm still not convinced that firefox loads the line from the .ini file correctly.

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February 24, 2022 - 9:32pm
(Reply to #19)
John T. Haller
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Works Fine

I just installed a clean copy of Firefox Portable 52 and followed my own directions and it works just fine. If you added "safe-mode", you may be typing it wrong. Copy and paste works better. It must exactly read:

AdditionalParameters=-safe-mode

With the FirefoxPortable.ini copied from Other\Source alongside FirefoxPortable.exe, it asks if you're sure you want to start in safe mode on startup as it should.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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February 25, 2022 - 10:59am
(Reply to #20)
Dominic Tey
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The exact parameter is

The exact parameter is

-safe-mode

Please note the hyphen in front of the letter s

Copying and pasting the entire line

AdditionalParameters=-safe-mode

is safer

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February 25, 2022 - 5:10pm
hmp
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Thank you I misread the

Thank you I misread the preceding hyphen because my browser zoom setting was too low.
I tried adding "-safe-mode" and was notified that I'd be starting in safe mode upon launch. But alas, the problem persisted.
Is it worth me asking somewhere else?

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February 28, 2022 - 1:11pm
(Reply to #22)
John T. Haller
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Specific Setting

Nothing is wrong with Firefox or any of your extensions. At some point, you or an extension you used set a specific setting within Firefox that is breaking that website. As you don't want to reset your profile or start from scratch, I'd suggest opening about:config and looking through every changed setting to try to determine what was set that's breaking it. You can also search that specific error to try to determine what setting relate to it. Either way, it's not some general problem you need assistance with in terms of Firefox or Firefox Portable. It's a specific thing set in your profile that's breaking it.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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