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Firefox tries to open downloaded .exe's as if they were pdf's

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 111 views
  • Last reply by bjprice

bjprice
bjprice

Firefox 67.0.2 Win 10 1809 When I download .exe or .msi files Firefox saves them - as I've set in Options->General->Applications. When I then click on the file in the download icon (shown circled), I get a message from Adobe that's it not a .pdf. (I then go to the folder containing the download and start the .exe from there.) Other file types (.doc, .xls, etc.) open as expected. How do I get FF to run downloaded .exe's?

Thank you for your help.

Firefox 67.0.2 Win 10 1809 When I download .exe or .msi files Firefox saves them - as I've set in Options->General->Applications. When I then click on the file in the download icon (shown circled), I get a message from Adobe that's it not a .pdf. (I then go to the folder containing the download and start the .exe from there.) Other file types (.doc, .xls, etc.) open as expected. How do I get FF to run downloaded .exe's? Thank you for your help.
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Months!! Okay, I though launching from the downloads list just sent the file to Windows, but just in case, you could try this:

Sometimes the settings file that stores download handling preferences becomes corrupted. You can rename the file and have Firefox rebuild it. Here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in File Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Exit
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename handlers.json to something like handlersOLD.json. If you see a file named mimeTypes.rdf, rename that one to mimeTypesOLD.rdf.

Start Firefox back up again and it should rebuild a minimal set of associations. Any improvement or does it misbehave immediately?

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All Replies (4)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor

Hi bjprice, did this just start recently? It's difficult to understand why Firefox or Windows would send a .EXE file to Adobe.

Does it make any difference if you turn it off and on again, I mean, do an orderly shut down of Firefox and Windows and restart Windows and Firefox? After a restart, downloads won't be on the arrow button, but should be listed in the Library (Ctrl+j).

bjprice
bjprice Question owner

Thanks for your reply. The problem has been going on for months, through many updates to Firefox. I just now got sufficiently fed up with it to try to find a cure.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor

Chosen Solution

Months!! Okay, I though launching from the downloads list just sent the file to Windows, but just in case, you could try this:

Sometimes the settings file that stores download handling preferences becomes corrupted. You can rename the file and have Firefox rebuild it. Here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in File Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Exit
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename handlers.json to something like handlersOLD.json. If you see a file named mimeTypes.rdf, rename that one to mimeTypesOLD.rdf.

Start Firefox back up again and it should rebuild a minimal set of associations. Any improvement or does it misbehave immediately?

bjprice
bjprice Question owner

Thank you; problem solved. Appreciate your help.