firefox.exe is missing after update to 106.????
Today 11/7/2022 when I clicked my desktop link to open Firefox I got the message: "The item 'firefox.exe' that this shortcut refers to had been changed or moved, so this shortcut will no longer work properly." This is on Windows 10. When I checked the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox directory there is no firefox.exe to be found. And there is no firefox.exe anywhere on my system.
I had not taken any steps to remove or modify Firefox. Unfortunately, I did not capture a screen shot of the directory contents, so I don't have a record of what was still in the directory. I searched my system for a FireFox setup and found one in Downloads for 105.0.3.exe from 10/11/2022. I clicked the installation, and it ran, repopulating the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox directory.
When I clicked the desktop icon to start Firefox I got the warning: "You've launched an older version of Firefox Using an older version of Firefox can corrupt...." When I checked the Download and install Firefox website, I see the current version is 106.0.5 released 11/04/2022.
I last used Firefox on 11/06 and it was missing from my system 11/07.
I had performed a system restore on 11/05 when my desktop icons were mysteriously made smaller while working during the day. I was unable to find and fix the icon problem with settings and I chose a system restore point from 11/02/22.
When I check system restore today, I have the option to undo the 11/05 restore operation and it lists affected programs that will be removed: "Firefox 105.0.3" (the installation that tripped the "older version warning") and that programs to be restored: "Firefox 106.0.4 and Mozilla Maintenance Service 78.6.0"
Mysteriously missing files troubles me: I rescanned with Malwarebytes and ran "sfc /scannow" to check my system. No problems were found. (Malwarebytes and sfc were run to try to correct the icon issue before the system restore on 11/5.)
FireFox is set as my default browser. The altered desktop icons issue, the timing of FireFox version updates, and system restore all seem to be connected.
I'll download 106.0.5 and install it to see if that solves my problem.
Toutes les réponses (1)
Yes, I recommend installing the current version from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release -- it should perform an in-place update and resume using the last active profile. If that was not your main profile, see the steps below the line.
As for where everything went, was Firefox installing a new update when things went wrong, or had you already installed it earlier and everything was fine with it? It's certainly possible that the updater could fail part way through, but things shouldn't erase themselves during a normal shutdown and startup of your computer.
Profile Manager Page
Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.
This page should list at least one profile and could list many. (Each profile has two folders and one or more buttons. Do not use any Remove buttons!)
The profile that Firefox is currently using will have this:
This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted.
Do you have any other profile(s) listed on this page? If so, you can check whether it is the one you were using recently by clicking its Launch profile in new browser button.
If it isn't what you want, simply close that new window.
If it IS what you want, back on the about:profiles page, click the Set as default profile button for that profile so Firefox uses it automatically at the next startup.
Hopefully that gets you back to where you were before the disappearance.