Firefox won't load. Tried to use profile manager, that won't load either.
I tried to follow the instructions re using profile manager, but profile manager won't load, either, even after rebooting my computer to make sure Firefox isn't running in the background. I found my profile on my computer, but it's in a different place than what was shown in the profile manager instructions. How can I get Firefox to run again? I'm using XP. I can't automatically add troubleshooting info because I'm typing this on my iPad. Can't use Firefox to access this page :(. Will try to provide any info needed.
All Replies (3)
What happens when you try to start Firefox: do you get a specific error message, or does it seem that nothing happens?
If it seems to hang silently, could you check the Window Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), Processes tab, and see whether firefox.exe is running there? Sometimes you'll see activity like CPU or memory usage change, other times you might see that it is just dead. If it's dead or taking too long to get up and running, you can select it and use the End Process button, and then try starting up in the Profile Manager again.
Thanks so much for trying to help! I checked task manager and do not see Firefox.exe running. Nothing much happens when I try to start Firefox. Half a second of the arrow/hourglass symbol, then nothing. As I said, I found my Firefox profiles on my computer. Can I save those to a thumb drive, delete them, uninstall/reinstall Firefox, then try reloading the profiles? Or is there a better way around this problem?
When you uninstall Firefox, it asks whether to remove your personal data. Assuming you do not do that, then your profile folder should be undisturbed. But a backup is a good idea.
In case there are alien files in Firefox's program folder, you might want to try this Clean Reinstall procedure:
(1) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 33 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)
(2) If applicable, exit out of Firefox or make sure it is fully terminated in Task Manager.
(3) Rename the folder (32-bit Windows folder names)
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files\OldFirefox
(4) Run the installer you downloaded in #1. It should automatically connect to your existing settings.
Will Firefox start?
Note: Some recently installed plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:
- C:\Program Files\OldFirefox\Plugins
- C:\Program Files\OldFirefox\browser\plugins