3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0

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So, I’ve had some more time to play with the latest build of Firefox, and I liked it so much that I couldn’t use the 1.5 version anymore. And this left me with a problem: hardly any of my extensions were compatible with the latest and greatest Firefox version.

I’ve made a bit of a research out of it, and here we are: I present you with the 3 ways to make extensions compatible with Firefox 2.0.

Firefox Books

If you like Firefox, you will find the following books extremely useful:

First though, I’d like to give you a few warnings:

  • not 100% of your extensions will work,some of the older ones would really be incompatible. But if you had Firefox 1.5, than I doubt you’ll have any problems.
  • if you update any of the “made compatible” extensions using the automatic update function of Firefox, you may easily end up with an incompatible version again. This means you’ll probably have to make it compatible once more.

That said, I hope you will find useful at least one of the following ways to make old extensions Firefox 2.0 compatible. I’ve also given you the main advantage and disadvantage of using each of the methods.

1) Making Extensions Compatible – THE EASY WAY

All you have to do is to go and download a wonderful Nightly Tester Tools extension. Not only it is compatible with your newest Firefox version, but it will also add a button to your Extensions manager (Tools->Add-ons):

Just click this button and restart your browser. Please note that this is a screenshot taken AFTER making all the xtensions compatible – so as you can see they’re all active already.

The advantage of this way is that it’s really easy to make all your extensions compatible with any Firefox until Firefox 3.0 (that’s what this extension puts as the MaxVersion for each of the extensions it fixes)

The disadvantage is that there is no equally easy way to revert the changes, so once “made compatible”, your extensions will stay this way – there is no button to make them uncompatible again. However, disabling the extension seems to restore the versions.

2) Making Extensions Compatible – THE FIREFOX GURU WAY

What you can do is open the configuration (about:config) in your Firefox browser, right click the list and create a boolean extensions.checkCompatibility option there. Set its value to false and restart the browser.

Most of your extensions should work now. If you go to the Add-ons dialog, it will look like this:

As you can see, extensions which would otherwise be incompatible, are flagged with the exclamation mark. You can also see a warning message which suggest you enable the compatibility check again.

The advantage of this approach is that it’s really simple to make the change which affects all the extensions.

The disadvantage is that this way can be used as a temporary solution only, as it may lead to unpredictable consequences (some really old or really new extensions may malfunction).

3) Making Extensions Compatible – THE HARD WAY

This is essentially a manual way of accomplishing the result of using the Nightly Tester Tools extension.

The advantage of this way is in total control over which extensions you’ll hack to become compatible.

The disadvantage is in the fact that every step of this method is rather hard: distinguishing extensions to make sure you’re changing the one you really want, and
manually changing the versions supported.

  1. Close your browser
  2. Go to the folder with all your Firefox extensions:
    C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\PROFILE\extensions In this line, USER is to be replaced with your Windows login, and PROFILE will be the name of your Firefox profile (weird looking folder name, usually the only one found in Profiles folder)
  3. You’ll see a list of folders there, 1 folder for each extension. The names of the folders are the unique identifiers for extensions, so they may seem scary at first:
    {34274bf4-1d97-a289-e984-17e546307e4f} – this is the Adblock extension GUID.
  4. Go to any folder, and open the install.rdf file for editing with your favorite clear text editor. Notepad works, but using it will make things even harder cause it doesn’t part rdf files properly. Your choice :) Now back to the business. You need to look for 2 things:
    • name of the extension, to make sure you’re editing the right oneJust look for the em:name, and try to recognize the extension from the description that follows:

      <!– Front End MetaData –>
      <em:name>Adblock</em:name>
      <em:description>Filters ads from web-pages</em:description>
      <em:creator>The Adblock Crew</em:creator>
      <em:contributor>Henrik Aasted Sorensen</em:contributor>

    • a block of minimal and maximum Firefox versions the extension will work on.
      Warning: there could be few similar blocks with versions, so make sure you’ll edit the one which has EXACTLY this em:id, the one which belongs to Firefox browser: ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384.

      • <!– FireFox –>
      <em:targetApplication>
      <Description>
      <em:id>{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}</em:id>
      <em:minVersion>0.7</em:minVersion>
      <em:maxVersion>1.5</em:maxVersion>
      </Description>
      </em:targetApplication>

  5. Edit the maxVersion parameter (shown in bold to make it easier), and change it from 1.5 to 2.0b2.
  6. Remove the extensions.cache file from the C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\PROFILE\ folder – this will make sure Firefox will read all the changes from install.rdf files and pick up the now “compatible” extension
  7. Restart your browser, enable the previously disabled extension you’ve just edited
  8. Restart your browser again to activate this extension

There you have it. Enjoy!

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September 2, 2006 · Filed Under firefox

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Comments

48 Responses to “3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0”

  1. Fakta Firefox - Bahasa Melayu » Make Old Extensions Compatible on September 11th, 2006 6:57 am

    [...] + Make Your Old Extensions Work Again! [...]

  2. Kelly on September 21st, 2006 10:29 pm

    Thank you for this article! I was wondering about this recently and here is the answer. Keep the great tips coming.

  3. Gleb Reys on September 21st, 2006 10:35 pm

    Thanks for stopping by to comment, Kelly! I\’m glad some of my tips are helpful.

    See you around!

  4. Alfredo on September 23rd, 2006 3:21 am

    Great. Thank you!

  5. Gleb Reys on September 27th, 2006 2:27 am

    You’re always welcome, Alfredo!

  6. f o x t r o t t on September 29th, 2006 10:30 pm

    3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2…

    So, I’ve had some more time to play with the latest build of Firefox, and I liked it so much that I couldn’t use the 1.5 version anymore. And this left me with a problem: hardly any of my extensions were compatible with the latest and great…

  7. David on October 1st, 2006 3:24 am

    I think users can also download the fantastic extension, MR. Tech’s Local Install: http://www.mrtech.com/extensions/local_install/

    In addition to adding a feature to “Make All Compatible,” the extension offers many other useful options for handling extensions–too many to list here. This extension makes a number of other FF extensions unnecessary. Highly recommended.

  8. PoscoChubb on October 1st, 2006 6:15 pm

    Brilliant, number 2 worked great. The only thing that stopped me using FF2 was my extensions not working.

    Thanks Gleb, thanks StumbleUpon!

  9. WilcosWorld.co.uk » Blog Archive » Firefox 2 Released on October 23rd, 2006 9:13 pm

    [...] If you find some of your Firefox extensions broken and no update exists, you can do the fix. [...]

  10. New extensions for old « 0ddn1x: a minimalist’s medley on October 23rd, 2006 9:56 pm

    [...] http://www.perfectblogger.com/2006/09/make-extensions-compatible-with-firefox2/ [...]

  11. Gears and Widgets :: A Heaping Helping of Tech » Firefox 2.0 Available! on October 24th, 2006 3:19 am

    [...] Firefox 2.0 is perhaps the most compatible with old extensions that I’ve seen yet, and incorporates an entirely new tab-navigation style, allowing for scrolling between tabs with arrows on either side of the window, and a redesigned interface and theme. Extensions and addons are in a more central location, and checking for updates is a one-click process now. Having trouble with your previous extensions, try the tips here: [ 3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2 ] [...]

  12. Zotero - The Next-Generation Research Tool on October 25th, 2006 6:36 am

    [...] Firefox 2.0 went out of beta today, with the final release available from Mozilla. So those who has been hesitant to use Zotero with a beta browser can now go forth and download. If you’re still worrying about your other Firefox extensions and whether they are compatible with Firefox 2.0, please read “3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0.” If you’re using Internet Explorer, why not try out the latest and greatest Firefox and see what you’ve been missing (including a certain extension that will make your research easier…). [...]

  13. Firefox 2 at 24Randomthoughts.com on October 25th, 2006 11:43 am

    [...] If you didn’t know its out already, so click here to download, you will notice though that alot of your extensions won’t work so till then they have updated them read the post here and do step two which resolves it.  You then just have to check daily to see if there are any updates. [...]

  14. RyanCollins.org » Make your old extensions (add-ons) compatible with Firefox 2.0 on October 25th, 2006 5:49 pm

    [...] So you’ve upgraded to the newest version of Firefox, but there is that one add-on that you can’t live without. This article shows you three ways to help make your old extensions compatible with Firefox 2.0. [...]

  15. Low Tech Guide to High Tech » Blog Archive » Make your old extensions (add-ons) compatible with Firefox 2.0 on October 25th, 2006 5:49 pm

    [...] So you’ve upgraded to the newest version of Firefox, but there is that one add-on that you can’t live without. This article shows you three ways to help make your old extensions compatible with Firefox 2.0. [...]

  16. www.petersheim.de on October 25th, 2006 7:57 pm

    Firefox 2.0 & Add-ons…

    Über Firefox und seine Erweiterungen wird eher da drüben berichtet. Mit Erscheinen von Firefox 2.0 wurde trotz vieler Verbesserungen das Problem mit der Kompatibilität der alten Erweiterungen aktuell. Mit MR Tech’s Local Install sollte dies nun je…

  17. Alpha to the Omega » Blog Archive » Make Firefox Extensions Compatible on October 26th, 2006 12:23 pm

    [...] Source: PerfectBlogger [...]

  18. Technical Notelets for 2006.10.25 « Jazz Up the Web: The Making Of on October 27th, 2006 7:53 pm

    [...] Three ways to force Firefox extensions compatibility [...]

  19. Ricky on October 27th, 2006 10:15 pm

    Thaaaaanks…I was looking for the first one, but here you have two more options THANKS!

  20. Gleb Reys on October 28th, 2006 3:34 am

    Thanks for the tip, David!

    PoscoChubb, Ricky: always a pleasure!

  21. Keith L. Dick on October 28th, 2006 7:13 am

    Very nice… Thanks for sharing…

  22. Firefox 2.0 (3): extensions non-compatibles « bibliothécaire on October 28th, 2006 1:01 pm

    [...] Il est possible de forcer le fonctionnement des extensions 1.5 non compatibles 2.0. Avec “Nightly Tester” (extension compatible 2.0), c’est extrêmement simple, ça fonctionne, j’ai essayé, avec “Customize Google”, “Mozilla Calendar” et “Diigo toolbar” (qui a une fonctionnalité particulière bien utile pour bloguer: c’est la possibilité de copier sans format) en particulier, mais je ne garantis pas d’éventuels dysfonctionnement (j’ai l’impression d’un petite perte de rapidité, laquelle est un des plus de 2.0 par rapport à 1.5). Utile pour les extensions indispensables? Je suis preneur (en commentaires) d’autres résultats de tests. Source (et informations complètes):  3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0. [...]

  23. Gleb Reys on October 28th, 2006 3:18 pm

    Hi Keith, it was fun to research and I’m pleased so many people find it useful!

  24. me on November 8th, 2006 8:41 am

    Very Nice, gets PlainOldFavorites working :-) \

    Thanks !!!

  25. Extensões antigas no Firefox 2.0 » jlcarneiro.com on November 16th, 2006 7:49 pm

    [...] Encontrei, num outro blog, três maneiras de tornar extensões antigas compatíveis com o Firefox 2.0 (em inglês). Cada uma delas tem vantagens e desvantagens. Mas, em todos os métodos, estamos forçando extensões que não foram desenhadas para esta versão, a funcionar com ela. Ou seja, é arriscado! [...]

  26. christian on November 19th, 2006 7:47 pm

    great article, thank you for it.

    there’s an extension called “extension manager extended” which includes in firefox’ extension manager window the unique identifier of each extension. it also adds a right-click context menu entry to open the selected extension’s folder.

    it makes it a lot easier to use your method #3, since you don’t need to figure out which folder belongs to the extension you want to edit.

    the “extension manager extended” can be found in https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2195/.

  27. Gleb Reys on November 27th, 2006 3:56 pm

    Thanks for the comment, Christian!

    I think I’ll give this extension a try.

  28. Welcome to Devil's Workshop!!! on November 30th, 2006 4:47 pm

    Firefox: 4 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0…

    With Firefox 2.0, many of old extensions facing compatibility problem!Gleb Reys posted <a href=”http://www.perfectblogger.com/2006/09/make-extensions-compatible-with-firefox2/”>3-ways to make old firefox extensions compatible with firefox……

  29. Jeff on December 22nd, 2006 12:58 am

    I’m quite partial to the third method, myself. It may take a bit of coding know how, but it’s a more permanent solution I think (especially for an amateur extension like Deviantart’s DeviantMessage which doesn’t get updated often).

  30. Gleb Reys on December 24th, 2006 1:30 am

    Hi Jeff,

    I agree. Some extensions are not dynamic enough, and if there are only a few – it is practical indeed to fix them yourself.

    Thanks for sharing your experience! See you around!

  31. Eric on December 29th, 2006 4:08 pm

    Thanks, you saved my day!

  32. Gleb Reys on December 29th, 2006 8:25 pm

    Hi Eric!

    Glad to have helped you :)

    See you around!
    Gleb

  33. Koplowicz.com » How to make firefox even fancier on January 10th, 2007 11:43 pm

    [...] Step 1: Upgrade to version 2.0 (beta) Step 2: Get all your old extensions to work: 3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0 at Perfect Blogger [...]

  34. Patricia Ann Cupra on February 2nd, 2007 7:38 am

    I didn’t know I’ve been doing it the hard way. Thanks for providing easier options. :)

  35. Gleb Reys on February 2nd, 2007 2:22 pm

    Always a pleasure, Patricia!

  36. Brush away the cobwebs from your daydreams » Blog Archive » links for 2006-10-25 on February 6th, 2007 12:57 am

    [...] 3 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0 (tags: internet) [...]

  37. Strafverteidiger on April 19th, 2007 4:45 am

    Thnaks for the detailed description. Really usefull.

  38. Gleb Reys on April 25th, 2007 9:28 am

    Always a pleasure! Come back fo more!

  39. PunkRockBlog » All Things Dull and Ugly on May 31st, 2007 9:17 am

    [...] working on it and cmder is only compatible up to Firefox 1.5. I forced the install using this Chrome hack and was able to get it installed. Unfortunately, it totally corrupted my Firefox install to the [...]

  40. Firefox: 4 Ways to Make Old Extensions Compatible with Firefox 2.0 - Welcome To Devils Workshop on October 6th, 2007 7:05 pm

    [...] Reys posted 3-ways to make old firefox extensions compatible with firefox 2.0! The three way covers up so many details that u will end up either making ur old extensions [...]

  41. The Wolfs Howl » Blog Archive » Alexa for Firefox… but not on December 23rd, 2007 8:03 pm

    [...] UPDATE: No, we don’t have to wait five years. Just check out this entry and follow the instructions, or go straight to this site to download the extension you need. [...]

  42. ultimatum on March 11th, 2008 7:00 pm

    This surely fixed my Google Notifier add-on. Thanks.

  43. Rohit on June 1st, 2008 11:47 pm

    I owe you. You made my 5 extensions work which were not working earlier.Dugg! Thanks

  44. Rohit on June 2nd, 2008 12:02 am

    I owe you. You made my 5 extensions work which were not working earlier. Loved the third one in particular. Dugg! Thanks

  45. wowaname on August 14th, 2009 10:21 pm

    Editing tip: You could just write “%UserProfile%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\PROFILE\extensions” instead of the full path. Windows will automatically move you to the correct user.

  46. Mikuto on January 25th, 2010 5:33 am

    Works perfectly. Thank you very much!

  47. ClubPenguinCheats on March 17th, 2010 5:59 am

    There’s an extension called “extension manager extended” which includes in firefox’ extension manager window the unique identifier of each extension. it also adds a right-click context menu entry to open the selected extension’s folder.

  48. Martin on June 7th, 2011 5:23 am

    he three way covers up so many details that u will end up either making ur old extensions!!

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