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Wh can't I install 32-bit FF, even with 32-bit installer I still get the 64-bit which doesn't work on my Win 7 comp?

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  • Last reply by Steve

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I was having problems with Captchas, watching videos, no auto-refresh & other things after updating my 32-bit version so I went to the 64-bit one hoping it would work better. Now nothing works, I get the home page but typing URL's into the address bar does nothing, typing a key word into the search bar does nothing, FF blinks & the search parameters or web address just disappear with no result. I've tried the refresh & clean boot with no add-ons but nothing works. I uninstalled FF & tried to go back to the 32-bit version but even when I download the 32-bit installer I still get the 64-bit version. I've cleaned the registry & deleted the left-over Mozilla directory but I cannot get the 32-bit version. I've downloaded the installer from Mozilla, Softonic, C-net & always specified the 32-bit version but always end up with the 64-bit which won't do anything. This is on an Acer Aspire laptop - i5, 12Gb ram & Win 7. How can I get back to the 32-bit FF? I'm typing this on my Win 10 desktop because Mozilla refuses to accept my login details using Internet Explorer on the laptop even tho' it's exactly the same login I've used here.

I was having problems with Captchas, watching videos, no auto-refresh & other things after updating my 32-bit version so I went to the 64-bit one hoping it would work better. Now nothing works, I get the home page but typing URL's into the address bar does nothing, typing a key word into the search bar does nothing, FF blinks & the search parameters or web address just disappear with no result. I've tried the refresh & clean boot with no add-ons but nothing works. I uninstalled FF & tried to go back to the 32-bit version but even when I download the 32-bit installer I still get the 64-bit version. I've cleaned the registry & deleted the left-over Mozilla directory but I cannot get the 32-bit version. I've downloaded the installer from Mozilla, Softonic, C-net & always specified the 32-bit version but always end up with the 64-bit which won't do anything. This is on an Acer Aspire laptop - i5, 12Gb ram & Win 7. How can I get back to the 32-bit FF? I'm typing this on my Win 10 desktop because Mozilla refuses to accept my login details using Internet Explorer on the laptop even tho' it's exactly the same login I've used here.

Chosen solution

Problem solved. I just ran every utility I had & CC Cleaner found some FF remnants that must have been causing the problem. I've just installed FF 32 & I'm using it now with no problems yet. It looks like you need to remove every trace of an old install first & CC Cleaner did the job. Funny that the 64-bit would load but not accept any commands or load any URL's on my Win 7 - it runs fine under Win 10. My recommendation is to run CC Cleaner (or similar) before a re-install.

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Hi   !

Downloading the 32-bit version for your Windows 7 device shouldn't be a problem unless you didn't download from here :

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

(The one in the left Windows column is the 32-bit version)

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Everything I try still gives me the 64 bit, according to the 'about FF' in the 3bar drop-down. With the 64 bit FF loads but won't do anything. I'm very busy so I've been using IE on the laptop (Win 7) but not happy with it. Luckily FF works on my desktop (Win 10). Do I need to remove every single trace of FF 64 from my laptop before I can install FF 32 ? I tried but may have missed some DLL's or something, if so where can I find them?

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Your system details has your user agent as Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:55.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/55.0. Note the WOW64 means you are running 32-bit Firefox on 64-bit Windows. For comparison, here's my user agent with 64-bit Nightly: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:57.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/57.0

Modified by Moses

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Chosen Solution

Problem solved. I just ran every utility I had & CC Cleaner found some FF remnants that must have been causing the problem. I've just installed FF 32 & I'm using it now with no problems yet. It looks like you need to remove every trace of an old install first & CC Cleaner did the job. Funny that the 64-bit would load but not accept any commands or load any URL's on my Win 7 - it runs fine under Win 10. My recommendation is to run CC Cleaner (or similar) before a re-install.

Modified by Steve

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There are other things that need attention.

The System Details list next to the question shows multiple Flash plugins.

  • Shockwave Flash 27.0 r0
  • Shockwave Flash 26.0 r0

You can find the installation path of all plugins on the about:plugins page.

You can check the Flash player installation folder for multiple Flash player plugins and remove older version(s) of the plugin (NPSWF32) and possibly (re)install the latest Flash player.

  • (32 bit Windows) C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\
  • (64 bit Windows) C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\

If you use extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) that can block (wanted) content (e.g. Adblock Plus, NoScript, Ghostery, uBlock Origin) always make sure such extensions do not block (wanted) content.

  • make sure your extensions and filters are updated to the latest version

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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It's happened again. I forgot to turn off the auto-update so FF just updated itself to the 64 bit version which just locks up. On my Win7 laptop only 32 bit works. Because it won't respond I can't run it in safe mode. Where can I get the 32 bit installer? (I found that I need to clear every trace of the 64 bit FF before the 32 bit will install & run properly.) PS take no notice of the system details here - this is my other computer running W10 on which FF does work. I can only use IE on my W7 laptop. I just found this, thanks HAPPY. Downloading the 32-bit version for your Windows 7 device shouldn't be a problem unless you didn't download from here :

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

(The one in the left Windows column is the 32-bit version)

Modified by Steve