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Why won't Firefox open after updating? Says to close, but how?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Windows 7. Attempted to update to latest Firefox today, but it won't open on my screen. When I attempt to either use the previous version or delete it, it says to close it first. How do I close something I can't see? Thanks.

Windows 7. Attempted to update to latest Firefox today, but it won't open on my screen. When I attempt to either use the previous version or delete it, it says to close it first. How do I close something I can't see? Thanks.

Chosen solution

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Try to run the Firefox program once as Administrator (right-click firefox.exe: Run as Administrator).
If that doesn't solve the problem then remove the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\) to do a clean reinstall.


A possible cause is security software (firewall) that blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.

Remove all rules for Firefox from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.

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Chosen Solution

See:

Try to run the Firefox program once as Administrator (right-click firefox.exe: Run as Administrator).
If that doesn't solve the problem then remove the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\) to do a clean reinstall.


A possible cause is security software (firewall) that blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.

Remove all rules for Firefox from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.

See: