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Firefox works on my adminstrator account but doesn't work on my normal user account. i've tried reinstalling and it didn't help

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  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by PLQ0812

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Firefox works on my adminstrator account but doesn't work on my normal user account. i've tried reinstalling and it didn't help

Firefox works on my adminstrator account but doesn't work on my normal user account. i've tried reinstalling and it didn't help

All Replies (7)

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How are your account setup? I have both Owner and Family limited accounts and FF works fine in either one. Could be your not logged out in one that it conflicts with the still active logged in account.

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It has worked before on my other account so I'm sure the usage of Firefox there is not limited Until one day it suddenly wasn't opening. I was surprised it was working on the Administrator account. So I thought it was fixed and opened my other account to test it out but it didn't work.

'Could be your not logged out in one that it conflicts with the still active logged in account.'

I'm sure that's not the case here.

Thanks for taking your time to respond!

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Was the administrator Firefox shut down?

Shut down Firefox. Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.

Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86)

Right click on Firefox.exe and select Properties. Now select Compatibility. Turn Off Run This Program In Compatibility Mode, and Run This Program As An Administrator.

Do the same for any Firefox shortcuts you have. Now restart Firefox.

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There could be a problem with the file and folder permissions if Firefox isn't working as a normal user.

Do you get any error messages or does Firefox simply refuse to start.

You can check owner and read/write permissions in both locations that Firefox uses.

Location used for the main profile that keeps your personal data in "AppData\Roaming" (Root Directory on about:profiles).

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/

Location used for the disk cache and other temporary files in "AppData\Local" (Local Directory on about:profiles).

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/
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FredMcD said

Was the administrator Firefox shut down? Shut down Firefox. Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer. Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86) Right click on Firefox.exe and select Properties. Now select Compatibility. Turn Off Run This Program In Compatibility Mode, and Run This Program As An Administrator. Do the same for any Firefox shortcuts you have. Now restart Firefox.

This will prompt for the admin password every time Firefox is launched, and it will launch. It is not a viable solution for the local account.

Modified by PLQ0812

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nmego said

Firefox works on my adminstrator account but doesn't work on my normal user account. i've tried reinstalling and it didn't help

Greetings, I have Firefox (57.0.4 [32bit]) on a Windows 10 Home 32bit (1709 [16299.125]) notebook, which only has two accounts.

Under the user/local account, Firefox will launch, the process shows in the task manager, but no window displays or icon appears in the taskbar. It functions normally under the administrator account.

I have: Uninstalled and reinstalled the program Deleted xulstore.json (lolcalstore.rdf did not exist) from that account's AppData folder Compared Windows Firewall settings against another PC; identical settings. There is no other security program on the notebook. {If you must know, I recover a system image; do program updates; and recreate the system image every 2-3 months.}

This behavior started after the last restoration cycle at the end of December.

Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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cor-el said

There could be a problem with the file and folder permissions if Firefox isn't working as a normal user. Do you get any error messages or does Firefox simply refuse to start. You can check owner and read/write permissions in both locations that Firefox uses. Location used for the main profile that keeps your personal data in "AppData\Roaming" (Root Directory on about:profiles).
  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/
Location used for the disk cache and other temporary files in "AppData\Local" (Local Directory on about:profiles).
  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/

As you can see, I too am in the same boat. For the affected account all but Special permissions is checked for both profile folders.