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Firefox 'update' has been installing for over two hours (Windows 7). What can I do?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

leannas
leannas
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I am installing an update of Firefox on my Windows 7 OS. For the past two hours there has been a message on the screen, "Don't unplug the computer" and it states it's installing updates 1 of 1. I suspect the installation is hung up. What should I do?

I am installing an update of Firefox on my Windows 7 OS. For the past two hours there has been a message on the screen, "Don't unplug the computer" and it states it's installing updates 1 of 1. I suspect the installation is hung up. What should I do?

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cor-el
cor-el
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If files already have been downloaded then you need to remove the files in the updates and updates\0 folder.
You can delete active-update.xml and updates.xml as well if present. 

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox\updates
(%LOCALAPPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox)

If there are problems with updating then best is to download the full version and uninstall the currently installed version.

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

  • Uninstall your current Firefox version.
  • Do not remove personal data when you uninstall the current version.

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.

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.