Can't remove Firefox with XP Control Panel.
I have XP SP3 and FF 52.5.2 ESR. I wish to uninstall and reinstall Firefox shown as Mozilla Firefox 34.0 (v X86 en-us) in my Control Panel but "Remove" does not respond, neither does the "helper" file in the Firefox program list as suggested elsewhere in this forum. The trouble for me seemed to begin with the update to 52.5.2 ESR and removal of the Norton toolbar. Since then Forefox is very slow. I have refreshed Firefox as suggested but it makes no difference. A silly thing I may have done is downloaded and installed Firefox's advertised new faster program shown on the start page which for me is FF 52.5.2 ESR again. So maybe I have that twice.
I am a technophobe and wish to know if I can delete "Mozilla Firefox" fom my XP Program files and then reinstall FF 52.5,2 for which I have downloaded the setup file and have it ready. Also do I need to delete the Mozilla Maintenance file (0.23 MB) which is a separate folder in the Control Panel and in Program files - will that appear again on reinstall of Firefox?
All Replies (8)
See if a Refresh Works : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings
Why not just install over top. Will hope it puts the uninstall (Helper.exe) back in. Do not quote on that but do know helper.exe has something to do with the uninstall.
It may not work as will find same version.
could install 53 (maybe) https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/
You can yank it all out if got a reg cleaner. I have done that before. I usually uninstall that maintenance folder 1st then uninstall FF.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data save a copy of profile or https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer and https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
Thanks for you help, PKshadow. I may just let it stay as it is - cleaning the Registry is beyond me. Although FF claim to security support XP until June 2018 I feel the functioning of XP with Firefox is falling behind with me which is only to be expected. FF was fine until the latest 52.5.2 ESR update which I have already erroneously added twice and I thought could be something to do with my problem. The problem for most XP users is they have so many excellent but obsolete programs on it that it will cost a fortune to start them all over again if ever.
You can try to start Firefox in Safe Mode to see if that works.
- Windows: hold down the Shift key while starting Firefox
- Mac: hold down the Options key while starting Firefox
There is probably no need to uninstall the Mozilla Maintenance Service when you reinstall Firefox.
Firefox 52.5.2 ESR should work fine In your Windows XP version.
Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support to see if that has effect in case security software is causing problems.
imbart said
I have XP SP3 and FF 52.5.2 ESR. I wish to uninstall and reinstall Firefox shown as Mozilla Firefox 34.0 (v X86 en-us) in my Control Panel but "Remove" does not respond, neither does the "helper" file in the Firefox program list as suggested elsewhere in this forum.
Reinstallation seldom solves the problem unless the installation is corrupted. But if you do wish to reinstall, it's not essential to uninstall first.
To refresh your installation, you can:
(A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox to a convenient location:
https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/all/
(B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable).
If you use Microsoft Office, please change your default browser to Internet Explorer before the next step.
(C) Using Windows Explorer/My Computer (hold down the Windows key and press E), right-click > rename the program folder as follows:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox =to=> C:\Program Files\Oldfox
(D) Run the installer you downloaded in step (A). It should automatically connect to your existing settings.
Hopefully Step D will also clean up the confusion in the registry with version 34. If not, it may not be worth worrying about. You won't have this system forever and some untidiness is inevitable after so many years of operation.
As you probably know, Firefox 53.0 and later has dropped support for WinXP/Vista and 52.9.0esr out July 3rd 2018 will likely be the last update for Firefox 52 ESR and last version to support WinXP/Vista. By this point it will have been over two years since Chrome dropped WinXP/Vista support.
Besides updating to Windows 7 or later the only other option to use current Firefox versions is to use or dual boot with a Linux distro. You likely will want a light desktop manager like Xfce vs say the heavier Gnome 3 or KDE. Also many distros have dropped support of the old 32-bit CPU's in favour of 64-bit though some still support like Xubuntu.
An gyara daga James
Thank you everybody for all the gratefully appreciated advice. I may have had a breakthrough by "refreshing" my Firefox for a second time because it is suddenly faster now and has ceased noisily struggling with 98% memory every time I opened it. If I have any further problem I may try some of your solutions but I seem OK at the moment.
Hi James, ESR has been pushed back to 60. So the last update for XP and Vista users will be 52.9 ESR in August 2018.
Mkll said
Hi James, ESR has been pushed back to 60. So the last update for XP and Vista users will be 52.9 ESR in August 2018.
Even though that was not really needed as 52.8.0 esr will be out when Firefox 60.0 is Released. But at least WinXP/Vista will be supported for a while longer I suppose with 52.9.0esr out on July 3rd. It is 60.2.0 ESR that will be out on August 28.
An gyara daga James