firefox failed today and will not reinstall nor run in any way
FF stopped working entirely. I uninsalled 13 and reinstalled 14.0.1. That did not solve the problem. I get msg that FF is already running but it is not running and does not show up in the Task Manager as an active process. Scan of machine for viruses using PrevX shows a clean machine. I have tried many of the ideas in this support web site but am limited since I have no ability to run FF. Resetting Profiles folder from Read-Only to not Read-Only did not hold as every time I checked the Profiles folder properties it is always resetting itself to Read-Only.
Chosen solution
The problem appears to be with Prevx. Put Prevx into install mode and then upgrade, it works fine.
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (9)
You probably see a green square, but not the check mark in the Read-only box.
The green square doesn't have a meaning as Windows always shows that by default for a folder.
Do you still have the default profile as listed in the profiles.ini file as Default=1?
I do have the default profile - would you like to see a listing of its file and folder contents?
The Profiles Properties page does show the square to the left of Read-only filled with a color not a checkmark. You are correct.
this is the profile yjbno8os.default file:
==================================
Volume in drive C is OS
Volume Serial Number is 946B-7246
Directory of c:\Users\Jan\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\yjbno8os.default
07/19/2012 04:08 PM <DIR> .
07/19/2012 04:08 PM <DIR> ..
07/18/2012 12:15 PM 425,984 addons.sqlite
07/18/2012 12:15 PM 295,496 addons.sqlite-journal
07/18/2012 12:17 PM 25,941 blocklist.xml
07/18/2012 12:32 AM <DIR> bookmarkbackups
07/18/2012 07:00 PM 212,992 cert8.db
06/18/2012 12:14 PM 131,072 chromeappsstore.sqlite
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 183 compatibility.ini
07/16/2012 02:05 PM 229,376 content-prefs.sqlite
07/18/2012 08:37 PM 1,572,864 cookies.sqlite
07/18/2012 08:37 PM 32,768 cookies.sqlite-shm
07/18/2012 08:38 PM 623,080 cookies.sqlite-wal
07/18/2012 09:43 PM 111 cookies.txt
07/19/2012 04:08 PM 0 dir.txt
07/18/2012 06:19 PM 163,840 downloads.sqlite
08/20/2011 02:16 PM <DIR> evernoteclips
07/18/2012 08:37 PM 229,376 evernote_webclipper.sqlite
06/14/2012 01:32 PM <DIR> extensions
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 707 extensions.ini
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 425,984 extensions.sqlite
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 295,496 extensions.sqlite-journal
07/18/2012 06:23 PM 294,912 formhistory.sqlite
04/05/2012 03:20 PM 43,053 Invalidprefs.js
07/18/2012 07:00 PM 16,384 key3.db
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 169 localstore-safe.rdf
02/19/2012 02:37 PM 3,121 mimeTypes.rdf
07/18/2012 10:01 PM <DIR> minidumps
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 0 parent.lock
07/18/2012 06:53 PM 65,536 permissions.sqlite
07/18/2012 07:06 PM 20,971,520 places.sqlite
07/18/2012 07:06 PM 32,768 places.sqlite-shm
07/18/2012 07:06 PM 32,824 places.sqlite-wal
07/15/2012 06:33 PM 17,143 pluginreg.dat
07/18/2012 09:25 PM 29,568 prefs-1.js
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 29,568 prefs-2.js
07/18/2012 10:01 PM 29,568 prefs.js
07/18/2012 08:37 PM 34 search-metadata.json
07/18/2012 08:37 PM 11,906 search.json
06/18/2012 12:14 PM 65,536 search.sqlite
05/19/2011 12:25 PM 16,384 secmod.db
07/18/2012 06:40 PM 245,065 sessionstore.bak
07/18/2012 07:00 PM 11,560 sessionstore.js
06/14/2012 01:32 PM 327,680 signons.sqlite
07/18/2012 07:00 PM 154 urlclassifierkey3.txt
02/17/2012 04:33 PM <DIR> weave
06/14/2012 01:32 PM <DIR> webapps
07/18/2012 06:40 PM 1,081,344 webappsstore.sqlite
07/18/2012 06:22 PM 505,773 xmarks-baseline-a9058889f5039343.json
07/18/2012 07:00 PM 267,304 xmarks.log
42 File(s) 28,764,144 bytes
8 Dir(s) 313,716,510,720 bytes free
Modified by cor-el
Further information for cor-el. Just reinstalled FF 14.0.1 and the Program Compatibility Assistant popped up. See attached image. Can't get past this. Does this mean something that will help diagnose FF issue.
Was Firefox fully closed when you made that directory listing?
I see multiple prefs-##.js files in your directory list that indicate that there was a problem with updating the main pref.js file.
See:
FF was closed when I created the directory. I deleted all of the prefs,js files and restarted FF per the Mozillazine link. Then I got a new error message (attached). A new prefs.js was created in my profile. Is FF 14 a buggy release, should I revert to 13 if I can find it? Thanks for hanging in there.
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile":
There may be extensions and plugins installed by default in a new profile, so check that in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions & Plugins" in case there are still problems.
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
See:
Chosen Solution
The problem appears to be with Prevx. Put Prevx into install mode and then upgrade, it works fine.
simondp hit a home run with this solution - I turned off PrevX temporarily, installed FF 14 (it ran fine) and then reactivated PrevX. Thanks much.