User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007120505 Minefield/3.0b2pre Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007120505 Minefield/3.0b2pre One of the things that annoys many Windows users is the useless files, folders and registry entries (aka 'gunk') that gets left behind after an application has been uninstalled. Firefox is much better than most programs at removing traces of its existence on your hard drive, but there are still a few leftovers. (The following applies to Windows Vista, although I'm pretty sure that it's the same on Windows XP and Windows 2000, but just with different paths; I have no idea about Mac and Linux :) Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Download and install a recent nightly (but not the most recent; for example yesterday's). 2. Open Minefield, Help > Check for Updates... > Download & Install Now 3. After update has downloaded, click to restart Minefield. 4. After update has been installed and Minefield has restarted, close Minefield. 5. Uninstall Minefield through the Control Panel, making sure to select the checkbox 'Remove my Minefield personal data and customizations'. 6. Look in C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming, C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local and C:\Program Files. Actual Results: In C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming, note that there is a folder called 'Mozilla' with just a sub-folder 'Firefox' which contains just an empty sub-folder 'Profiles'. In C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local, note that there is a folder called 'Mozilla' with just a sub-folder 'Firefox' which contains just a sub-folder 'Minefield', which in turn contains an 'updates' sub-folder (with an empty sub-folder '0' and the file 'last-update.log') and the files 'active-update.xml' and 'updates.xml'. In C:\Program Files, note that there is the empty folder 'Minefield'. Assuming Minefield was the only Mozilla application installed, that's 9 folders and 3 files left behind that are of no real value to the user; even if he decides to reinstall Minefield at a later date. Expected Results: When Minefield is uninstalled and the option to 'Remove my Minefield personal data and customizations' is selected, I expect that every trace of Firefox's existence should be deleted from my hard drive. Most traces are removed, but some gunk is still left behind. It is my understanding that the files listed above are recreated automatically when the need arises, and they certainly don't contain any personal information. I see no harm in deleting them when just Minefield is uninstalled, and IMHO they should certainly be deleted when I select the option to remove the profile data as well. I realize of course that if you have other Mozilla products installed (e.g. Thunderbird) the folders themselves should not be deleted because they would not be empty, but if Minefield is the only Mozilla product installed on the system then I don't see why the empty folders should not removed as well when it is uninstalled.

That directory has nothing to do with profile removal so removing dependency on bug 398434.

Relevant portions of comment #0 (In reply to comment #0) >... > In C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming, note that there is a folder called > 'Mozilla' with just a sub-folder 'Firefox' which contains just an empty > sub-folder 'Profiles'. We can remove these directories if they are empty. > In C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local, note that there is a folder called > 'Mozilla' with just a sub-folder 'Firefox' which contains just a sub-folder > 'Minefield', which in turn contains an 'updates' sub-folder (with an empty > sub-folder '0' and the file 'last-update.log') and the files > 'active-update.xml' and 'updates.xml'. This is bug 392150 > In C:\Program Files, note that there is the empty folder 'Minefield'. This worked for me last I checked a couple of weeks ago. Can you verify that the Minefield directory was in fact empty?

(In reply to comment #2) > > In C:\Program Files, note that there is the empty folder 'Minefield'. > This worked for me last I checked a couple of weeks ago. Can you verify that > the Minefield directory was in fact empty? I just tried uninstalling Minefield, and on Vista, the empty Minefield folder is definitely left behind. I did notice something that seemed a bit strange, though. When I right-clicked the folder > Properties, the Minefield folder was marked as 'partially' Read-only (the solid blue square). Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9b3pre) Gecko/2007121305 Minefield/3.0b3pre ID:2007121305

There may be a hidden file in there. For example, if you opened that directory with explorer and changed the view a desktop.ini will be created. Try deleting the directory, install, and then uninstall without opening the directory with explorer until all of the steps are done. Removing dependency... they are two different bugs and can be fixed separately.

(In reply to comment #4) > There may be a hidden file in there. For example, if you opened that directory > with explorer and changed the view a desktop.ini will be created. Try deleting > the directory, install, and then uninstall without opening the directory with > explorer until all of the steps are done. > > Removing dependency... they are two different bugs and can be fixed separately. Here's what I did: Set Windows to display hidden and system files Uninstalled Minefield Looked in C:\Program Files\Minefield; nothing shows up there and in Properties, Windows reports Size: 0 bytes and 0 Files, 0 Folders Deleted the Minefield folder Installed Minefield Uninstalled Minefield Opened C:\Program Files The Minefield folder was still there and it still looked empty (and Properties reported 0 bytes and 0 Files, 0 Folders, and Read-only still has the blue square). Hope that helps :)

Confirmed, filed bug 408314 to cover this specific issue and changed summary so this bug is about the removal of empty profile directories.

Just as an update, now that bug 392150 and bug 408314 have been fixed, there are now only two of the original empty directories that I mentioned in comment 0 left behind after uninstalling Minefield: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox and C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles However, I noticed that there is now another empty directory left behind: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Extensions\{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384} Should I file a spin-off bug about this or can this bug cover this as well?

(In reply to comment #7) >... > C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Extensions\{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384} > > Should I file a spin-off bug about this or can this bug cover this as well? No, we didn't create that directory and would never want to remove it... it is the responsibility of whatever added that to remove it.

(In reply to comment #8) > (In reply to comment #7) > >... > > C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Extensions\{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384} > > > > Should I file a spin-off bug about this or can this bug cover this as well? > No, we didn't create that directory and would never want to remove it... it is > the responsibility of whatever added that to remove it. Actually, that directory is created by Minefield. I'm not sure exactly when I first noticed it (my best guess is a few weeks ago) or what it's there for, but if you delete it it will just be recreated the next time you run Minefield. (I confirmed this by uninstalling and removing all empty directories related to Minefield, installing the 032304 nightly and then uninstalling it and looking at what got left behind.)

Ahhh... that's the new user level extension install location. Removing it should be fine and a separate bug should be filed.

(In reply to comment #10) > Ahhh... that's the new user level extension install location. Removing it > should be fine and a separate bug should be filed. Filed bug 424999.

Remove %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles if empty and %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox if empty when removing personal data

Remove %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles if empty and %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox if empty when removing personal data This should be the last of the personal data removal fixes.

Comment on attachment 315185 [details] [diff] [review] patch rev2 Drivers, this is a simple / safe fix that removes empty directories when personal data is removed during install. IIRC the removal of empty directories is one of the requirements on the PRD so I am asking for a1.9.

Comment on attachment 315185 [details] [diff] [review] patch rev2 a1.9=beltzner

Checked in to trunk Checking in mozilla/toolkit/mozapps/installer/windows/nsis/common.nsh; /cvsroot/mozilla/toolkit/mozapps/installer/windows/nsis/common.nsh,v <-- common.nsh new revision: 1.41; previous revision: 1.40 done

verified fixed using Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9pre) Gecko/2008041506 Minefield/3.0pre.