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Why does Firefox sometimes update to an old version?

Alan_B
Alan_B
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If you take a really old version of Firefox, say version 30, and ask it to update it often fails to update to the latest version. It might update to, say, version 37 then you have to update version 37 to the current version. So the whole process takes twice as long as it should. Very tedious but a long-standing problem. Can it not be fixed?

If you take a really old version of Firefox, say version 30, and ask it to update it often fails to update to the latest version. It might update to, say, version 37 then you have to update version 37 to the current version. So the whole process takes twice as long as it should. Very tedious but a long-standing problem. Can it not be fixed?

Chosen solution

Firefox is made to be updated version by version, not big jumps from [say] Firefox 30 to 45. Most of the time it will 'jump' like that, but every now and then there is a key major change version and Firefox will update only to that 'key' version. The user may need to update beyond that them self via About > Firefox.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when a version to next version update is done the file size is relatively small; like < ~10MB. Whereas skipping an update will give you the full download of over 40MB every time. So it really is much more than 'twice the time'.

Also, seeing that you're running WinXP - you could say "thanks for supporting my E-O-L operating system" rather than ask for a fix for a user induced situation. Firefox is the last major browser to continue to provide support for WinXP.

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All Replies (1)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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Chosen Solution

Firefox is made to be updated version by version, not big jumps from [say] Firefox 30 to 45. Most of the time it will 'jump' like that, but every now and then there is a key major change version and Firefox will update only to that 'key' version. The user may need to update beyond that them self via About > Firefox.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when a version to next version update is done the file size is relatively small; like < ~10MB. Whereas skipping an update will give you the full download of over 40MB every time. So it really is much more than 'twice the time'.

Also, seeing that you're running WinXP - you could say "thanks for supporting my E-O-L operating system" rather than ask for a fix for a user induced situation. Firefox is the last major browser to continue to provide support for WinXP.