Firefox Will Not Start
Hi people,
I have used Firefox for years but after the latest Microsoft Update it no longer starts or runs. Another product, Libre Office, also failed at the same time and I have been unable to resolve that problem either.
I have uninstalled Firefox, downloaded a fresh copy from the Mozilla website and reinstalled it a couple of times but when I click the desktop shortcut nothing happens. I can right click the shortcut and select the "run as administrator" command and something like the Firefox browser opens but all my shortcuts are out of date on it and the browser will not access anything on the net.
I also use Mozilla Thunderbird as my email providor and that is still functioning normally.
Is this some monkey business from Microsoft, a fault in Firefox or a fault somewhere in the inner workings of my computer?
Kindest regards, Colin Ballard, 23 January 2025
Wszystkie odpowiedzi (5)
Is there any error message or something?
Nope - no error messages. I double click the desktop icon, the little whirly goes round and round as few times then..............nothing. The programme simply will not open.
If you hold down the Shift key while double-clicking the Firefox icon, a small dialog should appear. Click the Open button to start Firefox in its Troubleshoot Mode. Does that work at all?
How major was the Windows update? In some situations, Windows may preserve your data in a temporary folder. You could check for that folder at
C:\Windows.old
If you see that folder:
Set Windows to show hidden files and folders -- this Microsoft article has the steps:
Then explore that folder up to this point (if it exists):
C:\Windows.old\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
If you find recent data there, please pause and we can suggest how to restore its files to current use.
Nope: Right clicking the desktop icon just highlights everything on the desktop but nothing opens.
2025-01 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5050009) was installed on 15 January.
2025-01 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8.1 for Windows 11, version 24H2 for x64 (KB5049622) was installed on 24 December.
C:\Windows.old did not find anything.
I also had "Libre Office" stop working at the same time and have been unable to resolve that problem either but a friend who also uses Libre says his version is working o.k. so am now wondering if there is a bug in my system. Sadly my computer skills are limited to using it and I have little knowledge of what goes on "under the bonnet" so may have to seek professional help for this matter.
Before letting anyone do anything serious to your computer, could you make sure you have a backup of this folder and its subfolders -- this is a shortcut path:
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox
(This expands to the path to a hidden folder:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla Firefox)