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I am trying to download Firefox but unable as I get a message saying couldn't download ZPCOM. What do i need to do?

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  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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windows 10 pro 64 bit operating system x64 based processing

windows 10 pro 64 bit operating system x64 based processing

Chosen solution

Did you make sure the remove the Firefox program folder(s)?

  • (64-bit Firefox) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (32-bit Firefox) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

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 can do a clean reinstall to ensure that all files are replaced. You may have to disable security software temporarily in case the problem persists.

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Hi, you say you are trying to download Firefox, but do you mean update, and you already have it on your PC?

If so, try performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location.

To do a clean reinstall of Firefox, please follow these steps: Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu New Fx Menu and click the close button Close 29).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
    • Windows:
      • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
    • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
    • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
  4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
    1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
    2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

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Thanks but that did not solve the problem. I uninstalled and tried reinstalling and got the same message.

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Chosen Solution

Did you make sure the remove the Firefox program folder(s)?

  • (64-bit Firefox) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (32-bit Firefox) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

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 can do a clean reinstall to ensure that all files are replaced. You may have to disable security software temporarily in case the problem persists.