Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Hate 4, Tried system restore to get version 3 back, now firefox won't open

  • 3 replies
  • 6 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by huock

filarski
filarski
more options

After upgrading to ver. 4 I had to start using I.E. to use court report sites and county tax sites, and had other problems so I need to revert to ver.3

I did a system restore and now Firefox will not open. (vista home premium)

After upgrading to ver. 4 I had to start using I.E. to use court report sites and county tax sites, and had other problems so I need to revert to ver.3 I did a system restore and now Firefox will not open. (vista home premium)

Chosen solution

NO PROBLEM.

Go to "programs and features" in your control panel. You will see your old version of 3.6 there and NO version 4.

Uninstall version 3.6 DO NOT click the box to delete your stuff.

Go here and re-install version 3.6.17: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all-older

This will repair your version 3 and you will be up and running with your old bookmarks, etc.

I've had a dozen calls from people with this problem, and this is the solution.

Enjoy your v.3.6.17

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (3)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Here's the process to reinstall Firefox 3.6:

You can download an installer for Firefox 3.6 from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all-older


Before running it I recommend backing up your Firefox settings in case something goes wrong. See Backing up your information (copy whole profile folder).

Close Firefox 4, and uninstall it. Do not remove your personal data and settings, just the program. Some people report it's okay to skip this step.

Then finally you can reinstall Firefox 3.6. Unless you have installed an incompatible add-on, it should pick up where you left off. If there are serious issues, please post back with details.

Note: I haven't actually tried this myself!

Finally, just a note that System Restore may have changed the registry settings from Firefox 4 to Firefox 3.6, but doesn't actually change the program files, so that could be why it's broken.

filarski
filarski Question owner
more options

I can't back it up and "close Firefox 4" becasue Firefox 4 won't open

huock
huock
more options

Chosen Solution

NO PROBLEM.

Go to "programs and features" in your control panel. You will see your old version of 3.6 there and NO version 4.

Uninstall version 3.6 DO NOT click the box to delete your stuff.

Go here and re-install version 3.6.17: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all-older

This will repair your version 3 and you will be up and running with your old bookmarks, etc.

I've had a dozen calls from people with this problem, and this is the solution.

Enjoy your v.3.6.17