Firefox seems to download updates correctly, but it never applies them. When I try to update manually, Firefox closes and reopens, but it's not updated.
This basically means that I have to watch for updates and update Firefox by re-downloading it from firefox.com each time. It's like the "Apply Update" button mysteriously turned into a "restart Firefox" button.
Modified by jakobcornell
All Replies (4)
If there are problems with updating then best is to download the full version and uninstall the currently installed version and delete the Firefox program folder to remove any leftover files.
Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.
- Firefox 12.0.x: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible.
- Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you will also lose your personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
- It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other profile data are stored elsewhere in the Firefox Profile Folder and won't be affected by a reinstall, but make sure that you do not select to remove personal data if you uninstall Firefox.
I now have Firefox 12.0, the most current version. But the "Apply Update" button is still there, and it still does nothing but restart Firefox. This is most puzzling.
If files already have been downloaded then remove the files in the updates and updates\0 folder.
You can also delete active-update.xml and possibly updates.xml (stores the update history).
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Software_Update (Software Update not working properly)
- C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox\updates
- %LOCALAPPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox
Modified by cor-el
I don't mind trashing Firefox and downloading a new version when it happens once. But this is the third update where "Apply Update" hasn't worked, and I've had to go through the whole rigmarole again.
Personally I suspect more people have this problem than you know, because when your updates are set to automatic, there's nothing to tell you an update is ready to be applied. I only discovered it because I started having trouble with security certificates and someone told me it was due to an old version of Firefox. I'm still on 14!