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IS FIREFOX 5 COMPATIBLE WITH WEBROOT WHICH IS AN ANTI VIRUS AND SPYWARE SOFTWARE

  • 15 replies
  • 131 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Cargeena2

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After downloading firefox 5 i thought i saw a message which stated firefox 5 was not compatible with aol toolbar and webroot. It may have stated a certain version of webroot but I did not get it.

Thank you for the help

pllonnger

After downloading firefox 5 i thought i saw a message which stated firefox 5 was not compatible with aol toolbar and webroot. It may have stated a certain version of webroot but I did not get it. Thank you for the help pllonnger

Chosen solution

@instacat

If you are that dependent upon add-ons that come with security programs, stick with the release versions of Firefox and then wait a week or 10 days after Mozilla releases a new version of Firefox to install the new version of Firefox. That should give the people who created your security program a bit of time to fix what they need to fix with their Firefox add-ons.

Some of these security program vendors are better than others as far as how quickly they update their Firefox add-ons. Norton used to be among the worst as far as timeliness of their updates, with Firefox 3.6 and 4,0 it took them 8 weeks and then 6 weeks to have their Firefox add-ons ready for their Firefox using clients. With the last two Firefox releases, Norton had a patch ready with their updated Firefox add-ons ready on the day Mozilla released both Firefox 5 and then Firefox 6versions on 6-21 and 8-16.

These companies have no valid reason for not having their stuff ready for their customers when Mozilla releases a new version of Firefox. There is nothing secretive about when the releases are going to happen, the pre-release versions are available for testing for anyone who wants to download them, there are a few code freezes that occur during various stages of development for certain types of code so an add-on developer can know approximately what isn't going to be changing before the actual release of a specific version, and the final build of a new release is ready on like Thursday before a Tuesday release by Mozilla, so they have like 5 days to test their "product" with the final version that Firefox users are going to be updated to on the actual release date. Basically these guys just need to fulfill their obligation to their customers a lot better and in a more timely manner.

note: I am just another Firefox user, I don't work for Mozilla

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All Replies (15)

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Webroot is currently working on the issue and should have a hotfix out soon.

Webroot has posted http://download.webroot.com/FF5Fix.exe as a hotfix and is working on the main fix for future release. The hotfix will work, but will not persist through a reinstall or update of Webroot software and would need to be reapplied in that case.

Modified by Charixfox

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the hotfix says that I do not have Firefox installed on my system yet I do. Hope you find a solution soon.

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I think a little clarification might be in order about this problem.

The only component of the Webroot anti-virus program that does not work with the Firefox 5 update is the Webroot toolbar, which is needed for things like secure browsing and managing your passwords and forms.

The secure browsing feature is what keeps you from stumbling onto a malicious website. This is the page that you are diverted to when you attempt to browse to a potentially threatening site (or just a site that could be bad but has too little info to be sure), and it won't work without the toolbar attached to your browser. This is why I'm limiting my browser choices to IE and Firefox for the time being, those are the only 2 browsers supported currently.

The firewall, anti-virus scanning and most other features that you may have with your Webroot program will still function just fine.

I used to do tech support for Webroot earlier this year, just putting that out there in case anyone needs assistance believing me on this.

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Looking into the hotfix reveals that it depends on a standard Windows installation and a standard Firefox installation. It literally just copies a new manifest to the addons' locations. If it's reporting that Firefox is not installed, then it was unable to locate a default profile by looking in %appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ for a profile folder ending with .default. I guess since the patch was written in about 23 minutes, it can't cover every single contingency.

Technically, based on the patch code, you cloud locate the install.rdf for the malicious URL filtering extension (Profile folder\extensions\{8ac62a8b-8b3f-43ba-9b1a-90c299b9dfda}\install.rdf), open it in a text editor, and manually increase the max version to 5.*

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@Charixfox

Excellent analysis of what Webroot did wrong with their update. A real amateurish mistake for them to make.

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ALL OF THIS STUFF IS TOO TECHNICAL FOR A NOVICE! IT NEEDS TO CONFORM AUTOMATICALLY WHEN I UPDATE TO FOREFOX 5.0 I SHOULDN"T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING ELSE!!! IT DOEN'T MATTER WHO'S FAULT IT IS, I CAN'T UPDATE AS A NOVICE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING ANYMORE TECHNICAL THAN CLICK ON THE UPDATE BUTTON. FIREFOX NEEDS TO WORK IT OUT BEFORE REQUIRING ME TO UPDATE. WEBROOT IS A MAJOR ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM - WORK IT OUT ALREADY!!!

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@t8ergrl

You need to quit with the ALL CAPS style of posting, it's like you're SHOUTING at us, and thus rude.

Webroot decided to install a Firefox add-on and they are the ones that need to fix it so it works with new versions of Firefox as Mozilla releases new versions. The silly thing about Webroot putting their users in this situation, is that they are adding a feature that is already built into Firefox.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/phishing-protection/
Firefox 3 or later contains built-in Phishing and Malware Protection to help keep you safe online. These features will warn you when a page you visit has been reported as a Web Forgery of a legitimate site (sometimes called “phishing” pages) or as an Attack Site designed to harm your computer (otherwise known as malware).

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Sorry, didn't mean to "shout". I still don't understand. I'm probably just not smart enough to be on the computer to begin with. My son usually deals with all this stuff. I'm on my own while he's in Afghanistan and totally clueless. Sorry if i was rude. How will I know when it's fixed and I can upgrade to firefox 5.0? Webroot doesn't 'notify' about anything, they just do stuff so I have no other way of knowing. Thank you.

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Webroot support has this fix for Firefox 5.0.* compatibility:
http://www5.nohold.net/Webroot/Loginr.aspx?pid=2&login=1&usertext=Firefox%205&x=46&y=25

Try it see if it works.

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Does this analysis also apply to other antivirus packages? I have tried the Kaspersky Pure package, and firefox doesn't accept it either.

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Yes it does apply to any and all anti-virus packages that install an add-on for Firefox to use. If they choose to add features onto Firefox, they are responsible for keeping their add-on up-to-date as Mozilla releases new versions of Firefox.

I purposely avoid security programs that do "add-ons" because IMO those add-ons cause more problems and aggravation, than the few features those add-ons provide are worth.


A month ago Avira (what I use) released a new version of their free AntiVir Personal application, they included a "free" toolbar for Firefox which I managed to avoid having installed because the new version was installed as an update while I was running in a non-Admin logon account in Windows. I immediately headed over to Avira support to add my voice to the outrage over that action by Avira. Within 48 hours they releases another version that didn't install that unwanted Ask toolbar, and automatically removed it for those Avira / Firefox users who did have it installed.

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I just need to know, in plain English please; is there an update for Firefox 5.0 that works with the Webroot toolbar? I tried 6.0, Webroot toolbar was disabled, and the fix released for Firefox 5.0 did nothing to restore Webroot toolbar in Firefox 6.0, so I went back to Firefox 5.0 I keep getting told that my 5.0 version of Firefox is "insecure." What is it, exactly, that is insecure in this version of Firefox; and how is this resolved when I update. I am furiously loyal to Webroot, and do not want to be without the benefits I paid for, in the Webroot toolbar, just because I update Firefox. Most of my other add-ons and extensions I could probably live without, but not Webroot. I may be stubborn here, but I will update when I am reassured that the new and improved Firefox will play nice with Webroot; otherwise, I will have to move on. I was considering testing the beta version, but it has been "downloading" now for more than 20 minutes; and progress meter tells me it is only 41% complete? Guess I won't try beta, or am I missing something here??

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Chosen Solution

@instacat

If you are that dependent upon add-ons that come with security programs, stick with the release versions of Firefox and then wait a week or 10 days after Mozilla releases a new version of Firefox to install the new version of Firefox. That should give the people who created your security program a bit of time to fix what they need to fix with their Firefox add-ons.

Some of these security program vendors are better than others as far as how quickly they update their Firefox add-ons. Norton used to be among the worst as far as timeliness of their updates, with Firefox 3.6 and 4,0 it took them 8 weeks and then 6 weeks to have their Firefox add-ons ready for their Firefox using clients. With the last two Firefox releases, Norton had a patch ready with their updated Firefox add-ons ready on the day Mozilla released both Firefox 5 and then Firefox 6versions on 6-21 and 8-16.

These companies have no valid reason for not having their stuff ready for their customers when Mozilla releases a new version of Firefox. There is nothing secretive about when the releases are going to happen, the pre-release versions are available for testing for anyone who wants to download them, there are a few code freezes that occur during various stages of development for certain types of code so an add-on developer can know approximately what isn't going to be changing before the actual release of a specific version, and the final build of a new release is ready on like Thursday before a Tuesday release by Mozilla, so they have like 5 days to test their "product" with the final version that Firefox users are going to be updated to on the actual release date. Basically these guys just need to fulfill their obligation to their customers a lot better and in a more timely manner.

note: I am just another Firefox user, I don't work for Mozilla

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I was having this issue for Firefox version 7 and had to spend one hour trying to find a solution. Here is the solution. Go to webroot.com, tab to support and than 2011 product support. Type in Firefox Toolbar it will than say are you unable to use firefox toolbar hit yes. It will say under 1. click hear to download patch. Save the file and after the download run it. After installed close firefox and you should have the webroot toolbar running again.

ff7fix.exe is the file you need.

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Webroot just released a patch that allows the Webroot Toolbar to work on the latest version of Mozilla Firefox. Here's a link to their forum that has a link for that patch. http://community.webroot.com/t5/Webroot-SecureAnywhere-Complete/Is-the-Webroot-SecureAnywhere-toolbar-compatible-with-Firefox-9/td-p/134