Firefox Glitches
Firefox installed on my other PC is beyond repair. Won't open and won't reinstall. The app is unusable. Tried to refresh with no success. Tried to uninstall and reinstall but it will not do a full uninstall. And when I reinstall, it just re-installs the same glitchy version and it will not do a fresh install. After install, the same bookmarks from the glitchy version are present and the app will still not work. It's completely unusable. Any thoughts?
All Replies (2)
Let’s do a full clean re-install;
Note: Firefox comes in three or more folders on all computers. They are;
Maintenance: (Programs Folder) <Windows Only> Firefox itself: (Programs Folder) And two folders in the profile of each user on the computer for each Firefox profile for that user.
If you remove the Firefox folder, the user profiles would not be affected.
Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}
Firefox ESR; Extended Support Release {web link}
Beta, Developer, Nightly versions https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/desktop/
Install Older Version Of Firefox {web link}
Save the file. Then Close Firefox.
Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.
Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86) Note: Check Both Folders
Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac
Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux
If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Look for, and remove any Mozilla or Firefox program folders. Do not remove the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.
Do Not remove any profile folders.
After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.
How to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; {web link} Free Online Encyclopedia
jga2000 said
After install, the same bookmarks from the glitchy version are present and the app will still not work. It's completely unusable.
Does that mean Firefox will start? Do you just get empty tabs or are there error pages?
Empty Tabs
Have you see any messages related to missing VC Runtime files? That can cause Firefox to be mostly inoperable (tabs empty, address bar not functional). There's a dedicated page to get the latest installer for the shared VC Runtime files:
When I encountered a very similar problem, I downloaded and ran both the 32-bit and 64-bit installers in the first section of that article ("Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019"). Then I restarted Windows and all was normal again.
I don't know whether 64-bit users need the 32-bit install, but Windows didn't object when I ran it (I ran it first, then 64-bit second).