Couldn't load XPCOM and won't load anything, including settings
Greetings. I'm opening this ticket because Firefox on my computer will always give me a Couldn't Load XPCOM message, and will not load any website. Even the settings won't open, or about:config, or anything at all.
I seem to have stumbled on some other questions who had the same issue, and the answer was that an update had failed and some files had been mixed up. In order to try to fix this, I have tried:
- Firefox Safe Mode - Refreshing Firefox - Reinstalling Firefox (In Windows 10's Safe Mode, and/or without my antivirus on) - Uninstalling Firefox and Reinstalling (Again, in Safe Mode and without any antivirus on) - Installing the developer edition of Firefox, which seems to be giving me the same problem - Rebooting my computer several times during these processes
I have backed up my profiles from %APPDATA%, just in case. What do I do in this situation?
Ændret af TehSephirothSpirit den
Alle svar (10)
You did a good thing by backing up your profile.
Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.{web link} I use an add-on that makes backups of my user profile, Just In Case. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with the current Firefox.
Every now and then, open the profile folder and create a copy of the current profile as is to another location on your hard drive. This way you will have a backup.
If you do this each day, you will not lose much data. This should be done with Firefox Closed.
Note: In case you need to restore from these backups, you may need to overwrite old or corrupted files.
As to your problem, XPCOM is one of the primary Firefox programs,
Have you tried this? Let’s do a full clean re-install;
Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}
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.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia
I seem to have fixed the problem by running the installer as an administrator. I do not understand, however, why this worked, as the installer always asked me for administrator privileges when it was about to start installing anyway. Any ideas?
EDIT: Never mind. The problem is still there. I just always have to run Firefox as Administrator for the problem to go away.
Ændret af TehSephirothSpirit den
I called for more help. Did you try the clean install instructions I posted?
I did. Except for the fact that I know no registry scanner. Aside from that, I did everything you said in your post.
An error message about XPCOM missing or about platform version usually happens because of a failed Firefox update that left you with a mixture of old and updated files in the Firefox program folder. This can happen in case security software was keeping a handle of some of the files in the Firefox program folder preventing Firefox from replacing all the files. You need to do a clean reinstall and remove the Firefox program folder to ensure that all files are replaced. You may have to disable security software temporarily in case the problem persists. You should install Firefox as a normal user to make sure that the update service is installed properly (UAC prompt).
As I mentioned in my first post, I have already tried that, to no avail. And I will repeat this, maybe it will help. After this problem occurred, I tried to install the Developer Edition (66.0, at this time), which gave me the same problem. And whether or not I install as administrator or from UAC prompt, if I actually run Firefox as administrator, it runs perfectly fine. So I'm having my fair share of doubts about it being a security software or an update issue.
Ændret af TehSephirothSpirit den
There is likely something wrong with the permissions if it only works when you run Firefox as administrator. You shouldn't run internet browsers as administrator because that makes you extra vulnerable.
Did you try to boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode to see if that allow to install Firefox properly?
Did you check permissions and ownership of the Firefox program folder and all the files and folders in it?
Maybe also do a malware scan.
As I've mentioned in my first post, I have tried booting in Windows Safe mode and tried doing a clean install from there, to no avail. I'm doing a malware scan right now, but I don't think it'll fix it. What should I do with permissions on Windows 10?
Any updates? What should I do?