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Why can't I replace older versions of firefox from my Mac?

Dluxxviperz
Dluxxviperz
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I have a iMac, version Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5. I hopefully uninstalled firefox by just dragging the files into the trash can like people on here said to, and dragged from applications to the trash too. When I attempt to install the new version or upgrade firefox from the main website, I get to where the little blue box with drag the firefox emblem to my applications and everything is good right? But when I do that, it says 

"An older item named “Firefox” already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the newer one you’re moving?" It gives me the option to keep both files, which didn't work out how I wanted,  or to cancel, or to replace the file, which is what I want to do.  But when I click replace file,  it gives me this pop up  "The operation can’t be completed because the item “libbrowsercomps.dylib” is in use."  Then that

is it, nothing else I can do. I tried researching it and nothing comes up to help me. Can someone help me who has this happen to them or know what to do about it. Cause when I keep both files, it doesn't tell me which file I am using and it still has the same problem I was having. Thanks

I have a iMac, version Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5. I hopefully uninstalled firefox by just dragging the files into the trash can like people on here said to, and dragged from applications to the trash too. When I attempt to install the new version or upgrade firefox from the main website, I get to where the little blue box with drag the firefox emblem to my applications and everything is good right? But when I do that, it says "An older item named “Firefox” already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the newer one you’re moving?" It gives me the option to keep both files, which didn't work out how I wanted, or to cancel, or to replace the file, which is what I want to do. But when I click replace file, it gives me this pop up "The operation can’t be completed because the item “libbrowsercomps.dylib” is in use." Then that is it, nothing else I can do. I tried researching it and nothing comes up to help me. Can someone help me who has this happen to them or know what to do about it. Cause when I keep both files, it doesn't tell me which file I am using and it still has the same problem I was having. Thanks

All Replies (1)

Daniel Phillips
Daniel Phillips
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Hello,

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
    • Windows:
      • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
    • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
    • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
  4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
    1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
    2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING: Do not run Firefox's uninstaller or use a third party remover as part of this process, because that could permanently delete your Firefox data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device!

Please report back to see if this helped you!

Thank you.