firefox.exe has "disappeared" so I can't open it. If I download and install new version will I lose all my bookmarks etc?
I've had a lot of crashes, some just firefox, some the whole computer. In process of migrating to new machine so wasn't overly concerned. But after a restart today, I found I could not get firefox to open at all. After finding the system searching for firefox.com, I checked program files\mozilla firefox and firefox.exe is not there. A search showed it not to be anywhere. Not ready to stop using this machine just yet. Any way to get firefox.exe reloaded without losing all my related stuff??
All Replies (4)
As long as you do not delete your Firefox personal settings or application data, they should remain after a reinstall.
Don't run the Firefox uninstaller, simply run the installer that you download. This will just install over your previous installation.
Note: To be 100% safe, I would recommend backing up your Firefox application data folder.
Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.
Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.
- Firefox 26: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
if possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
- Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you lose 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.
- (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
- (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"
- 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 personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.
Sorry for the delayed Thank You to both responders. Reading that reinstalling over the old copy would not wipe out my bookmarks, etc, I tried that without any cleanup. Didn't work--got a "file corrupted" message (but it didn't say what file) part way through the install but the install continued. Then when it appeared to have completed, I got another error message the exact contents of which I don't now recall. Suffice it to say that the firefox.exe file was not there. At that point I decided it best to just move firefox operations to my new machine (a Mac), so copied bookmarks to an html file on a flash drive, downloaded firefox here, and got the bookmarks transferred. As I have time I'll try all of the steps cor-el suggested for the old machine just for the experience.
Thanks again to both of you.
I'm glad to hear that you are able to work on Firefox with another computer.
For your old computer, please try scanning for infection. Mac computers are not immune to infection as many other people think.
Also, please try installing an older version of Firefox from here. If it runs, you can then update to the most recent version.