Two problems: 1) the crash 2) the assertion is misplaced, since the code just above it can null out the pointer it dereferences. code: if (NS_FAILED(profileService->GetCurrentProfileDir(gProfileDir))) { delete gProfileDir; // All that for nothing. sigh. gProfileDir = nsnull; } NS_ASSERTION(*gProfileDir == currProfileDirSpec, "Profile spec does not match!"); stack: nsSimpleCharString::Length() line 257 + 12 bytes nsSimpleCharString::IsEmpty() line 255 + 15 bytes nsFileSpec::operator==(const nsFileSpec & {...}) line 968 + 11 bytes GetProfileDirectory(nsFileSpec & {...}) line 141 + 16 bytes nsSpecialFileSpec::operator=(nsSpecialFileSpec::Type App_UserProfileDirectory50) line 299 + 9 bytes nsSpecialFileSpec::nsSpecialFileSpec(nsSpecialFileSpec::Type App_UserProfileDirectory50) line 226 nsSpecialFileSpec::operator=(nsSpecialFileSpec::Type App_PrefsDirectory50) line 248 + 13 bytes nsSpecialFileSpec::nsSpecialFileSpec(nsSpecialFileSpec::Type App_PrefsDirectory50) line 226 nsSpecialFileSpec::operator=(nsSpecialFileSpec::Type App_PreferencesFile50) line 346 + 13 bytes nsFileLocator::GetFileLocation(nsFileLocator * const 0x00eeb760, unsigned int 66539, nsIFileSpec * * 0x0012fdd8) line 467 NS_LocateFileOrDirectory(unsigned int 66539) line 49 + 20 bytes nsPref::useDefaultPrefFile() line 268 + 10 bytes nsPref::ReadUserPrefs(nsPref * const 0x00ea6ad0) line 454 + 8 bytes main1(int 2, char * * 0x00e51840) line 702 main(int 2, char * * 0x00e51840) line 828 + 13 bytes mainCRTStartup() line 338 + 17 bytes

This is a one-line change. Since Gayatri is off today, Varada will check it in with his next build. The solution is to return PR_FALSE from the condition that sets the global to null.

this has been fixed

yup, I haven't seen this crasher... 1999090908 build, NT, and others.

Moving all Profile Manager bugs to new Profile Manager Backend component. Profile Manager component to be deleted.