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Firefox auto update (via Help/About) stops responding when the "Restart Firefox" button is pressed

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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On both the Release and the Beta channels, when a new version is detected the Auto update downloads a file OK but when the RESTART FIREFOX button is pressed then nothing happens. Also the Firefox shortcut on the desktop also becomes dead. (The processing wheel actually spins for about 1 second) If the download file is saved separately from the auto update and applied by clicking this download .exe file then this works OK

I just had this today on the release channel going from 18.0 to 18.0.1 and last week on the beta channel going to 19.0 Beta 1

This is for 64 bit Win 7 latest version on a HP EliteBook 6730 laptop 4GB

On both the Release and the Beta channels, when a new version is detected the Auto update downloads a file OK but when the RESTART FIREFOX button is pressed then nothing happens. Also the Firefox shortcut on the desktop also becomes dead. (The processing wheel actually spins for about 1 second) If the download file is saved separately from the auto update and applied by clicking this download .exe file then this works OK I just had this today on the release channel going from 18.0 to 18.0.1 and last week on the beta channel going to 19.0 Beta 1 This is for 64 bit Win 7 latest version on a HP EliteBook 6730 laptop 4GB

All Replies (4)

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hello martin, maybe a security program is interfering in the update process, also see How to fix the Update Failed error message when updating Firefox.

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Thanks Madperson. I temporarily disabled AVG 2013 and retried the auto-upgrade from 18.0 to 18.0.1 but it still didn't work (exactly as described above). I tried a full uninstall (except for customisation) and reinstall of Firefox 18.0 and that didnt work. I tried rebooting and that didn't work.

My XP version is fine (also runs AVG2013) - its just this Win7 environment causing problems.

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I am still trying to resolve this issue without success. I have discovered that when rebooting in Safe Mode with Networking the auto update (tested 18.0 to 18.0.1) works fine so I deduce it must be one of the processes/services that only starts in a normal reboot that is causing this - but there are too many to check them one at a time !

I am using 64 bit Win 7 SP1 on a HP Elitebook 8730w

When it attempts a restart after attempted update in normal mode it leaves the directory below (which I think should get deleted after update)

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This can be a problem with your security software (firewall, anti-virus) that blocks the updater.