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Firefox wont open

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by jonzn4SUSE

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Firefox was working fine. 2 weeks ago I installed Windows 11, other than that, I've not done anything new. I click the icon, it attempts to open a window showing just a shadow of it, then closes immediately. I tried to download a new version, but it keeps telling me I can only use Edge. what gives? I hate Edge

Firefox was working fine. 2 weeks ago I installed Windows 11, other than that, I've not done anything new. I click the icon, it attempts to open a window showing just a shadow of it, then closes immediately. I tried to download a new version, but it keeps telling me I can only use Edge. what gives? I hate Edge

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Let’s do a full clean re-install;

Note: Firefox comes in three or more folders on all computers. They are;

Maintenance: (Programs Folder) <Windows Only> Firefox itself: (Programs Folder) And two folders in the profile of each user on the computer for each Firefox profile for that user.

If you remove the Firefox folder, the user profiles would not be affected.


Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}

Firefox ESR; Extended Support Release {web link}

Beta, Developer, Nightly versions https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/desktop/

Install Older Version Of Firefox {web link} Be sure to read everything here.


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.

How to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; {web link} Free Online Encyclopedia

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So afyer having restarting my computer about 2-3 tines... I clicked Settings (why, oh why, Windows 11, dud you have to relocate all the icons?!) And changed the App setting to get them from ANYWHERE, instead of the Microsoft App store. Seriously, they should NOT be allowed to change my settings.

It appear to fix it, in fact, it was so instantaneous, that it just opened Firefox with all the pages I had open, just prior to my laptop going to sleep.

But then, it stopped responding. None of the Firefox pages worked. So I restarted the computer, yet again... its STILLLLLL spooling, saying its making updates.

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You can check for issues caused by a corrupted or incomplete Visual C++ installation that is missing runtime components (Redistributable Packages) required by Firefox, especially VCRUNTIME140_1.dll.

See "Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019":

You may also have to install the Visual Studio 2013 Redistributable Package. You need to reboot the computer.

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