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Big FireFox corruption from Add-ons

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  • Last reply by user633449

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I have a suspicious problem with Firefox. Its difficult to open it because the path is missing somehow and the Firefox icon is replaced with, kinda of a general "something messed up" icon (A page, with a window inside it and three red, blue, green icons). It seems to be corrupted... My family downloads a lot of suspicious add-ons, I tell them not to but they just do not stop. I can still use Firefox but I have to locate it in a different way. I can't click it from the desktop. In unison with this, my audio driver icon also disappeared, but I can still use it.

I have a suspicious problem with Firefox. Its difficult to open it because the path is missing somehow and the Firefox icon is replaced with, kinda of a general "something messed up" icon (A page, with a window inside it and three red, blue, green icons). It seems to be corrupted... My family downloads a lot of suspicious add-ons, I tell them not to but they just do not stop. I can still use Firefox but I have to locate it in a different way. I can't click it from the desktop. In unison with this, my audio driver icon also disappeared, but I can still use it.

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Scan for Malware

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try some of the following programs to scan for malware:

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Reset Firefox

The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions, Open websites, and some Preferences.

To Reset Firefox do the following:

  1. Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
  2. Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
  3. Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
  4. Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.


Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.

Reinstall Firefox

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox and any leftover program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps one by one:

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu) and confirm all upcoming messages.
  3. Now, uninstall Firefox by following the steps mentioned in the Uninstall Firefox article.

IMPORTANT: On Windows, the uninstaller has the option to remove your personal data and settings. Make sure that you do not check this option; otherwise all of your bookmarks, passwords, extensions, user customizations and other Firefox user profile data will be removed from your computer.

After uninstalling Firefox on Windows, delete the "Mozilla Firefox" program folder, located by default in one of these locations:

  • (On 32-bit Windows) C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
  • (On 64-bit Windows) C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
  1. Go to the Windows Start menu and click on "Computer".
  2. In the Explorer window that opens, double click Local Disk (C:) to open the C:\ drive.
  3. Find the "Program Files (x86)" folder or "Program Files" folder.
    • On 32-bit Windows, double-click the Program Files folder to open it.
    • On 64-bit Windows, you will see a "Program Files (x86)" folder AND a "Program Files" folder. Open the Program Files (x86) folder.
  4. Look for a Mozilla Firefox folder. If you find one, right-click it and select Delete and confirm that you want to move the folder to the Recycle Bin.

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.

Please report back to see if this helped you!