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Microsoft have blocked me using firefox browser & can't even download new version

  • 7 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by ideato

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Forgot to limit microsoft updates. A update of network explorer I assume has curtailed my ue of firefox browser! Every time I try and launch firefox I get cant load XPCOM. Same thing happens when I go to browser choice. I have tried switching off smart screen saver. which a post said would fix it. did not help.

Forgot to limit microsoft updates. A update of network explorer I assume has curtailed my ue of firefox browser! Every time I try and launch firefox I get cant load XPCOM. Same thing happens when I go to browser choice. I have tried switching off smart screen saver. which a post said would fix it. did not help.

All Replies (7)

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Hello edTurner, please try 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. Use another browser and download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from the next link https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. 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
  3. 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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I always keep my Windows 7 updated at Microsoft. Never had an issue using Firefox from Microsoft.

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It is the latest updates that have caused the problem

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Download Firefox Full Version For All languages And Systems {web link} Save the file. Then;

Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.

Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86) Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. Linux: Check your user manual.

• 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.


Look for, and rename any Mozilla or Firefox folders by adding .old to them.

After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner. Then run the installer. If all goes well, remove the OLD folders when you are done.

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Ideato , attempted that but microsft stops the download! Had read about the problem in the Registrar (not sure of spelling). Pissed off did not take enough precaution to prevent this. It even stops me accessing of other browsers.

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Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) to see if that makes it possible to download Firefox.

What security software do you have?

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Hello edTurner, yes, try cor-el's suggestion above (Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support, press F8 on the boot screen) to see if that makes it possible to download Firefox.) and probably you must be able to download firefox with that way.

thanks again