Try this:

• Download the Firefox installer and save the file to the desktop
  *https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/
• Start the installation with a double-click on the desktop icon

It is possible that security software (anti-virus, firewall) is causing the problem. Try to disable security software temporarily to see if that makes a difference.

downloaded installer file to desktop, disabled firewall, ran installer, same results, firefox icon appears, click on it and all you get is the Choose a user profile box, no choices show up in the selection box to choose default, and the browser cannot be brought up any way I try, just the profile box shows up.

What happens if you click Create Profile in the Profile Manager window?

You can try to create the profiles.ini file in case there is a problem with the file.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/profiles.ini_file

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).

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Managing+profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

nothing happens with the profile, the option box does not complete to allow me to choose the default option and if I click on any of the other options nothing comes up.

used your suggestion for windows put the data in to search, no results found