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New installs of latest FF browser automatically uninstall themselves when I restart computer

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  • 2 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by jswanson

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I have been using FF browser on my Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 for years and has worked great. I recently updated to the newest version http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/ a few days ago and it worked fine (for one day). It put icon on desktop and in my task bar just like I requested during the set up. But every time I reboot my computer, the browser disappears completely - desktop icon gone - files gone from the programs folder - just totally uninstalls itself and disappears like it never existed. I have downloaded and installed 3 times and the same thing has happened each time. I am running AVG anti-virus software but have not made any changes to it during this time.

I have been using FF browser on my Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 for years and has worked great. I recently updated to the newest version http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/ a few days ago and it worked fine (for one day). It put icon on desktop and in my task bar just like I requested during the set up. But every time I reboot my computer, the browser disappears completely - desktop icon gone - files gone from the programs folder - just totally uninstalls itself and disappears like it never existed. I have downloaded and installed 3 times and the same thing has happened each time. I am running AVG anti-virus software but have not made any changes to it during this time.

Chosen solution

It is possible that your anti-virus or your firewall may be doing this. Try disabling it and install Firefox and reboot to see if the issue still persists.

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Chosen Solution

It is possible that your anti-virus or your firewall may be doing this. Try disabling it and install Firefox and reboot to see if the issue still persists.

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Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible, to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

  • Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

You may have to disable your anti-virus software temporarily during the installation.

Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.


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Thank you so much. I disabled my AVG. Did clean install of FF. Rebooted. FF still there. Re-enabled my AVG. Rebooted again (just to check) and FF still there. THANK YOU. So HAPPY to have my FF back again. thanks again.