It's been a while since I last posted any tech tips on this site, so here goes...

If you call Firefox your home browser, there's a good chance that you are relying on plugins to work the web. Some of my favourites include Firebug, Colour Picker, Capturer, S3Fox and Zend Toolbar. 

All is fine until you upgrade to the latest version of Firefox. All of a sudden, some of your plugins no longer work, since they are not compatible anymore. You can wait for the plugin author to release an update, or you can downgrade Firefox to a version where it all still worked.

What if you do not want to downgrade, yet still absolutely require an incompatible plugin to work? You can then try the following:

• Redownload the plugin's .XPI file. Download it as a file so that it does not open in Firefox's plugins dialog. You can use Internet Explorer to do it.  
• Next, open the XPI archive file. Personally I use the program 7-zip for it.
• Open the file install.rdf in a text editor
• Change the <em:maxVersion> value, for example from 3.5.1.* to 3.5.* to match the plugin's version with your current version. The example I use here is a plugin that is compatible only with 3.5.1.*, so not 3.5.2. By widening the version to 3.5.* we indicate that it is compatible with any 3.5 point release.
• Save the install.rdf file and exit the archive file.
• Double-click the XPI file to install it. Restart Firefox.
• If you're lucky, your incompatible plugin now works!

If you're not lucky, you may get some kind of error while starting Firefox. Try this:

• Open Firefox in safe mode. Run: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode
• Check "Reset toolbars and controls" then click "Continue in Safe Mode"
• Restart Firefox in normal mode and check if it works now. If it does, congratulations! If not, disable the plugin. You are going to have to downgrade or wait for a new plugin version :(

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