Make Old Extensions Work in Firefox 1.5

Filed in: Mozilla, Tips — September 12th, 2005

Firefox 1.5 beta 1I have reviewed the newly released Firefox 1.5 beta 1. It is great, however most of our “must have” extensions does not work on it yet. Here is a trick to make Firefox 1.0 extensions work in Firefox 1.5 (of course, this is only a temporary solution before your extensions upgrade.)

  1. At location bar, enter: about:config This will show you a list of Firefox internal preferences.
  2. firefox new string
    Right click on the list, select New > String
  3. At preference name enter “app.extensions.version” (without quotes).
  4. Then, enter “1.0” (without quotes) as the value for app.extensions.version
  5. Restart Firefox 1.5, then enable those disabled Firefox extensions.
  6. Restart Firefox 1.5 again to active the extensions. Done.
Note: Some of the extensions are not working in Firefox 1.5 and caused errors when you enable them. We need to disable them for Firefox to work properly.

[ Thanks to Patrick who tells us this trick in his comment ]

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  • http://www.techshout.com/ TS

    ahhh i was looking for this was quite surprised when i too saw it missing. thanx!

  • http://www.techshout.com TS

    ahhh i was looking for this was quite surprised when i too saw it missing. thanx!

  • http://techmasses.net/ controller

    looks like you are using your iBook… lucky!

  • http://techmasses.net controller

    looks like you are using your iBook… lucky!

  • http://o-tis.blogspot.com/ Ahmad Haziq

    I’ve enabled all the extensions but there is no difference. How can I make it work? (Please tell more clearly)

  • http://o-tis.blogspot.com Ahmad Haziq

    I’ve enabled all the extensions but there is no difference. How can I make it work? (Please tell more clearly)

  • http://o-tis.blogspot.com/ Ahmad Haziq

    Hello Liew. I have a problem here. I’ve enabled all the extensions but nothing is working. Could you tell me how? Please include the details…:)

  • http://o-tis.blogspot.com Ahmad Haziq

    Hello Liew. I have a problem here. I’ve enabled all the extensions but nothing is working. Could you tell me how? Please include the details…:)

  • LcF

    the extensions should working if you enabled them. Please tell me more details.

  • LcF

    the extensions should working if you enabled them. Please tell me more details.

  • http://www.gilachess.com/ Andrew

    Me too. Followed your instructions. But cannot enable the extensions.

  • http://www.gilachess.com Andrew

    Me too. Followed your instructions. But cannot enable the extensions.

  • LcF

    As I said, it does not work for all extensions. If you found that it does not work, disable back the extensions.

  • LcF

    As I said, it does not work for all extensions. If you found that it does not work, disable back the extensions.

  • http://www.gilachess.com/ Andrew

    No I mean none of the extensions I had can be enabled ( I have over 10). The “enabled” option is just grayed and cannot be clicked.

  • http://www.gilachess.com Andrew

    No I mean none of the extensions I had can be enabled ( I have over 10). The “enabled” option is just grayed and cannot be clicked.

  • LcF

    wait for the extensions upgrade.
    I do not recommend beginner to use this trick.

  • LcF

    wait for the extensions upgrade.
    I do not recommend beginner to use this trick.

  • http://www.gilachess.com/ Andrew

    I’ve downloaded another extension that is supposed to ‘force’ the extension to be enabled. It’s called ‘Nightly Tester Tools’. So far it works !!

  • http://www.gilachess.com Andrew

    I’ve downloaded another extension that is supposed to ‘force’ the extension to be enabled. It’s called ‘Nightly Tester Tools’. So far it works !!

  • http://o-tis.blogspot.com/ Ahmad Haziq

    ok, ok….:) Now i understand how…Thanx

  • http://o-tis.blogspot.com Ahmad Haziq

    ok, ok….:) Now i understand how…Thanx

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  • http://dougal.gunters.org/ Dougal Campbell

    BTW, this trick works for Thunderbird, too. Quit TB, find its “prefs.js” file, and add this:


    user_pref("app.extensions.version", "1.0");

    Restart TB, re-enable your extensions (right-click). Quit, then restart again.

  • http://dougal.gunters.org/ Dougal Campbell

    BTW, this trick works for Thunderbird, too. Quit TB, find its “prefs.js” file, and add this:


    user_pref("app.extensions.version", "1.0");

    Restart TB, re-enable your extensions (right-click). Quit, then restart again.

  • LcF

    Thank you for the thunderbird trick, Dougal Campbell.

  • LcF

    Thank you for the thunderbird trick, Dougal Campbell.

  • Dave

    The “Nightly Tester Tools” extension has revived 15 extensions that did not work in Firefox 1.5. I run 31 unique extensions.

    There were several steps, which I have outlined for you to follow:

    1) Install from: https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&id=958
    2) Restart Firefox (use File>Exit)
    3) Open the ‘Extensions’ window (Tools>Extensions), and click the new “Make all compatible” button. [This step immediately made compatible 10 of my 15 non-functioning extensions].
    4) Uninstall all of the remaning non-compatible extensions. Make a list, because you will need to reinstall! [In my case, "unistalled" user preferences were later restored; specifically I had to uninstall DictionarySearch, but when it was eventually reinstalled my preferences restored themselves]
    5) Reinstall each non-compatible extension. Check the new “Install Nightly Tester Tools to override compatibility” option on the ‘Software Installation’ window. [Most extensions can be found at https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/?application=firefox

    Hope this helps.

  • Dave

    The “Nightly Tester Tools” extension has revived 15 extensions that did not work in Firefox 1.5. I run 31 unique extensions.

    There were several steps, which I have outlined for you to follow:

    1) Install from: https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&id=958
    2) Restart Firefox (use File>Exit)
    3) Open the ‘Extensions’ window (Tools>Extensions), and click the new “Make all compatible” button. [This step immediately made compatible 10 of my 15 non-functioning extensions].
    4) Uninstall all of the remaning non-compatible extensions. Make a list, because you will need to reinstall! [In my case, "unistalled" user preferences were later restored; specifically I had to uninstall DictionarySearch, but when it was eventually reinstalled my preferences restored themselves]
    5) Reinstall each non-compatible extension. Check the new “Install Nightly Tester Tools to override compatibility” option on the ‘Software Installation’ window. [Most extensions can be found at https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/?application=firefox

    Hope this helps.

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  • http://www.itchyhands.com/ David

    wow, you got linked by lifehacker and steve rubel!

  • http://www.itchyhands.com David

    wow, you got linked by lifehacker and steve rubel!

  • LcF

    David: ya… I am surprised! :)

  • LcF

    David: ya… I am surprised! :)

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  • Marko

    I have been looking for an Biet-O-Zilla update for the latest firefox update released on the 1st Feb 2006. Finding this has enabled the latest firefox to use this great bit of ebay software. There are instructions to muck about with various Biet-O-Zilla files to get it working on the extention download site. I tried without getting it to work. This far simpler and gets the job done. Nice one many many thanks

  • http://none Marko

    I have been looking for an Biet-O-Zilla update for the latest firefox update released on the 1st Feb 2006. Finding this has enabled the latest firefox to use this great bit of ebay software. There are instructions to muck about with various Biet-O-Zilla files to get it working on the extention download site. I tried without getting it to work. This far simpler and gets the job done. Nice one many many thanks

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  • http://www.sync-mobile.com/ Replication Guide

    Wow, that was easy. Thanks. I wonder why they don’t make that the default option?

  • http://www.sync-mobile.com Replication Guide

    Wow, that was easy. Thanks. I wonder why they don’t make that the default option?

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