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Firefox stops downloading during installation and fails to install or open when installed properly

  • 6 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

pinch97
pinch97
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I tried to open firefox but kept getting 'Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.' so I uninstalled and downloaded the install .exe from the site. I go to install and it all works upto a point. It downloads but stops at a certain point in the bar and does not move any further along. It then tells me that the download was cancelled when i have not clicked anything. I then cannot open the browser or install it. What can be done?

I tried to open firefox but kept getting 'Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.' so I uninstalled and downloaded the install .exe from the site. I go to install and it all works upto a point. It downloads but stops at a certain point in the bar and does not move any further along. It then tells me that the download was cancelled when i have not clicked anything. I then cannot open the browser or install it. What can be done?

All Replies (6)

SebbHelper
SebbHelper
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If downloads hang at the last minute (just before reaching 100%), the cause might be antivirus software which tries to scan the file and during that process hangs the Firefox instance.

In order to fix the problem, try disabling the scanning as follows:

  1. In the Location bar, type about:config and press Enter. The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear.
  2. Click I'll be careful, I promise!, to continue to the about:config page. A list of settings should appear
  3. Filter the list by typing in the search bar at the top. Type in scanWhenDone. You should now find the browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone preference.
  4. Double-click on that preference to set the value to false.
  5. Next, try to download something and see if it still hangs.

Please reply and tell us whether this helped you!

pinch97
pinch97 Question owner
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This would't work as Firefox wont start up to let me type this in. Sorry. Any other solutions would help though

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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A possible or likely cause is a problem with the profiles.ini file and the profile marked as Default=1 in this file is no longer present on the hard drive.

  • Windows: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
    C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • Linux: ~/.mozilla/firefox/
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/

You can use one of these to make Firefox create/use a new default profile:

  • Delete the profiles.ini file to force Firefox to create a new default profile
  • Use the Profile Manager to create a new profile
  • Use "Choose Folder" when you create a new profile to select the location of a lost profile and recover this profile
pinch97
pinch97 Question owner
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I have tried the 'run' and tried to access my Firefox folder in the appdata folder but the same message about the profile comes up when i do the 'run' solution and I cannot access the Firefox folder only the Mozilla folder in appdata

finitarry
finitarry
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FredMcD
FredMcD
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I got curious and opened my about:config. But I found nothing under browser.download.manager.scan

I did not get anything until browser.download.manager