How best to remove/uninstall a duplicate installation of Firefox (1 current to be retained, 1 old/obsolete version which Secunia found to be eliminated)?
I hadn't examined the output from Secunia PSI in awhile until yesterday, and was puzzled to discover it reported an old version of Firefox (v27.x) that was obsolete and should be removed. The installation path for this v27.x entry is under a completely different subdirectory than the C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox structure in which the current v36.0.1 installation resides -- the obsolete version is installed in the C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Mozilla Firefox structure where "..." references my specific user name (legit, as I'm the only person who uses this desktop).
I started to use Revo Uninstaller (licensed version) to force uninstallation of that specific v27.x executable, but after analysis it presented intended actions that would run the built-in uninstaller and identified that v36.0.1 would also be removed simultaneously. Is there some protocol by which I can remove the obsolete version and all of its entries in the registry without touching the current version and its registry entries (and profile, etc.)?
Chosen solution
- 1 Download Firefox Full Installer For All languages And Systems {web link}
- 2 Uninstall Firefox from your computer {web link}
DO NOT remove your profiles.
Note: Check that all Firefoxs have been removed. - 3 After, reboot the computer. Then run the full installer.
All Replies (4)
No, however it is possible to make a back up of the profile/stuff that you would like to keep and import it into a new installation.
Chosen Solution
- 1 Download Firefox Full Installer For All languages And Systems {web link}
- 2 Uninstall Firefox from your computer {web link}
DO NOT remove your profiles.
Note: Check that all Firefoxs have been removed. - 3 After, reboot the computer. Then run the full installer.
Modified by FredMcD
Thanks very much for the responses -- I chose to go with FredMcD's option after backing up the profile information which guigs2 identified. However, the old v27.x version was still installed in the User subdirectory after the uninstall process had completed and I had rebooted.
So, I checked the Program Files subdirectory to make sure the profiles from the v36.x version had remained (which they had), then used Revo to force uninstall of that older version, making sure that all of the file entries it wanted to delete were associated with it and not with the v36.x version's profile. In Revo's uninstall process, a box popped up associated with uninstallation of Windows Media Player plugin and requesting confirmation, to which I responded affirmatively so that everything associated with v27.x would be removed.
Then I rebooted again and installed the new v36.x downloaded from the location which FredMcD had pointed (the English-US version, which was slightly larger than the original v36.0.1 installation executable I'd downloaded from FileHippo and installed last week). That installation process completed without a problem and upon launch, the home page entries from my profile were all evident and present, so I'm a happy camper and have toggled this case as "closed".
Insofar as to the reason why the problem existed in the first place, I am presuming that it was installation of the Windows Media Player plugin more than a year ago when ~v27.x was the current release which somehow established and fixed the parallel set of directory entries that were never moved, removed or updated with any of the subsequent in-place upgrades. So, as a suggestion to the developers involved in preparing newer version releases, it might be worthwhile to have the installation executable check if WMP is installed as a plugin, then query or notify the user about uninstalling it with a separate set of procedures instead of an in-place upgrade unless the latter can be made robust enough to trigger that process or integrate the existing WMP plugin into the newest version.
Glad to have helped.