Firefox "Apply Update" problem?
Hey, recently my firefox had a strange problem, when i click Help and "About Firefox" to see if i need to Apply Updates i always see the "Apply Update" button, naturally i clicked it, Firefox resets but the button remains when i check again instead of saying "Firefox is up to date", when i check the Firefox website it says my version is up to date, i tried uninstalling firefox and reinstalling it again, i tried installing firefox while already having it installed, and the problem remains, however if i run firefox as the administrator it says its up to date, is this a update problem or am i just being overly paranoid?
Chosen solution
Software Update not working properly
Check and tell if its working.
Skaityti atsakymą kartu su kontekstu 👍 1All Replies (20)
Hi,
Please check if there's an updates folder and also a file named updates.xml in the Firefox installation directory (usually Computer > ?:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox or ?:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox) and delete.
Nope, no updates folder or update.xml file.
Please also see if there's an active-update.xml file.
You have the latest version (see System Details on the top right). Did you install Firefox by right-clicking and Run as Administrator, in the first place? Actually I think there is nothing to be worried. Sometimes strange things can happen with UAC. (see the last part).
There is no active-update.xml file either.
And no, i had Firefox pre-installed.
If you are not logging on to a domain network, you can try to install Firefox over the current installation or uninstall Firefox and install it again. Ideally UAC should be at the default level and also right-click and Run as Administrator to install.
I Backed up my profile and uninstalled firefox (I set it so it wouldnt delete my prefrences, bookmarks etc.) , then i reinstalled it via Running as Administrator, then after that i replaced the profile with the back up one and after double checking everything was in check, i attempted to Apply the update again, it still dosent work.
I Deleted the profile i had backed up into a seperate folder afterwards, again for security reasons, and UAC is at the highest level because i feel paranoid without it.
Any more advice?
Check and tell if its working.
Tried that, The "Run as administrator" Firefox says its up to date but when i go back to normal Firefox it still has the "Apply Update not going away" problem.
Hope you are using an Administrator account
-> Updates reported when running newest version
Check and tell if its working.
Modified by Hasan
I checked as a normal account, no updates.xml or anything, did the same with the admin account, still no updates.xml.
The Normal Account that you are using, is it not an Administrator type account ?? Or is it a Standard account ??
Its a standard account.
If you are sure you can restore from a safe backup, you can try a clean uninstall and a fresh install. During the uninstall process select to delete all files and preferences and also manually delete the Mozilla Firefox program folder as well as the profile folder and install again via Run as Administrator. After installation but before restoring from the backup, start Firefox normally (Standard account) and check (Help (Alt + H) > About Firefox). You can later restore the needed files individually.
Modified by Vivek
Im literally about to tear my hair out, i did as you said Wilfred, i uninstalled, deleted the Mozilla Firefox program folder and my profile folder in App data after uninstalling firefox from the control panel like you said, however when i attempted to open it normally via standard account i got the Firefox process problem, only when i opened firefox itself via administrator it actually worked, i checked the updates, Up to Date, then i copy and pasted my backed up profile into the new profiles folder and then tried opening it again like normal, worked, and i checked the firefox help, and guess what? APPLY UPDATE. Seriously this is getting frustrating.
I am not sure why, but usually Firefox should open in a standard account after installation, like any other program. Perhaps there is a OS filesystem permissions anomaly in the Program Files or AppData hierarchy.
Any other solutions...? Or am i just gonna have to wait?
Chosen Solution
Software Update not working properly
Check and tell if its working.
Ah thank you, i was looking in the wrong place, i had to go to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox and delete the updates folder there, now Firefox says its up to date, it should update normally now right?
probably
Deleting those files seems to only temporarily resolve the issue. Something causes the Apply Update button to persist even when updates have been applied and no new ones are available. I haven't figured out exactly what is causing this glitch to happen, but I want to keep an eye on it when I apply the next update. I have a suspicion that it is somehow related to the updating process.
My experience is that reinstalling Firefox does not durably resolve the issue either; but I don't think I deleted and scrubbed all the conf and account files.