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I had Firefox but it's gone and I can't get it back; says something is missing.

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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One day I opened Firefox and it took me to Yahoo.ca. I tried an upgrade and a popup box asked me to choose between deleting one file or another. I guess I chose wrong because now, even though I uninstalled the browser, I cannot reinstall Firefox at all.

The pop-up says: Your Firefox cannot me loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.

One day I opened Firefox and it took me to Yahoo.ca. I tried an upgrade and a popup box asked me to choose between deleting one file or another. I guess I chose wrong because now, even though I uninstalled the browser, I cannot reinstall Firefox at all. The pop-up says: Your Firefox cannot me loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.

Chosen solution

Then better link for full setups for Windows is at https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/

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You can download the Firefox installer (currently 44) on a USB flash drive, then plug it into the computer and install it.

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/r.../Firefox%20Setup%2044.0.exe

Modified by Stephen Fox

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Chosen Solution

Then better link for full setups for Windows is at https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/

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You need to locate the profiles.ini file and delete this file or use the Profile Manager to create a new profile.

See:


This issue can be caused by a problem with the profiles.ini file or with the permissions (owner) of involved folders.

You can use one of these to make Firefox create a new default profile or recover an existing profile:

  • Delete the profiles.ini file to make Firefox create a new (default) profile
  • Use the Profile Manager to create a new profile
    If you still have an existing profile then click "Choose Folder" in the Profile Manager and browse to the location of a lost profile to recover this profile
    https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Managing+profiles

You should find the profiles.ini file in this hidden location:

  • Windows: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
    *C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\
  • Mac: *~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/
  • Linux: *~/.mozilla/firefox/

If clearing the profiles.ini file isn't working then also check the location of the cache files.

  • Windows: *C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • Mac: *~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/
  • Linux:*~/.cache/mozilla/firefox/

You can also try to rename/delete the Mozilla\Firefox\ folder in both above mentioned locations (main, cache).