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Cannot uninstall/reinstall Firefox. Cannot delete the folder.

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For some odd reason, my browser stopped working and it closed on itself. Firefox asked me if I wanted to send a crash report to help and so I did. BIG.FUCKING.MISTAKE.

Now, I can't even open the damn thing. So I tried uninstalling it. And for more unknown reasons, it's not fully uninstalled. The remaining folders in the Mozilla Firefox folder are browser and font. I cannot delete either of these. I get hit with:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\fonts is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable."

I tried booting in safe mode and deleting these folders and it still doesn't work. I tried reinstalling but then I get hit with ANOTHER error half way through installation.

"Error creating directory: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser\features Click Cancel to stop the installation or Retry to try again."

I have a crap ton of tabs that I was working on and now they're probably all gone. Now, I'm stuck with using Chrome to write this whole mess up.

Please, PLEASE somebody help me. Hell, if anyone can just tell me how to get my browser's tab imported to, I'd be happy. I just need those damn tabs back. Thank you...

For some odd reason, my browser stopped working and it closed on itself. Firefox asked me if I wanted to send a crash report to help and so I did. BIG.FUCKING.MISTAKE. Now, I can't even open the damn thing. So I tried uninstalling it. And for more unknown reasons, it's not fully uninstalled. The remaining folders in the Mozilla Firefox folder are browser and font. I cannot delete either of these. I get hit with: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\fonts is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." I tried booting in safe mode and deleting these folders and it still doesn't work. I tried reinstalling but then I get hit with ANOTHER error half way through installation. "Error creating directory: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser\features Click Cancel to stop the installation or Retry to try again." I have a crap ton of tabs that I was working on and now they're probably all gone. Now, I'm stuck with using Chrome to write this whole mess up. Please, PLEASE somebody help me. Hell, if anyone can just tell me how to get my browser's tab imported to, I'd be happy. I just need those damn tabs back. Thank you...

All Replies (4)

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Let’s do a full clean re-install;

Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {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.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

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It is a good idea to back up your session history files:

Assuming Firefox does not run at the moment:

Type or paste the following into the Windows Run dialog or the system search box and press Enter to launch Windows Explorer into this hidden subfolder:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

In that folder, do you see a semi-randomly-named folder (like a15bf2zw.default)? If so, click into it. If you find multiple such folders, find the one that was most recently updated.

Copy out session history files

In your profile folder:

(A) If you see a file named sessionstore.jsonlz4 back that up to a safe location such as your Documents folder.

(B) Double-click into the sessionstore-backups folder and save all files here to a safe location such as your Documents folder.

What files did you find?

The kinds of files you may find among your sessionstore files are:

  • sessionstore.jsonlz4: last session windows and tabs after a proper shutdown
  • recovery.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your currently live Firefox session (or, if Firefox crashed at the last shutdown and is still closed, your last session)
  • recovery.baklz4: a backup copy of recovery.jsonlz4
  • previous.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your last Firefox session
  • upgrade.jsonlz4-build_id: the windows and tabs in the Firefox session that was live at the time of your last update
  • various ".js" files from Firefox 55 or earlier

To preview the contents of a file, you can drag and drop it onto this page, then click Scrounge URLs: https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/scrounger.html

You can save the session off as a web page of clickable links to use in another browser for the time being.