Firefox 13+ in Windows 2000

[tomasz86]

EDIT: After changing extensions.alwaysunpack to true, Firefox now installs Noscript / Adblock! Which feels safer.

Thank you for this information! There's already been a discussion on the issue on MSFN, and the above tip seems to be a nice workaround

As for DirectX, to tell the truth, I didn't even know it was required since I've always used DX9 in my system. Generally speaking, it's always recommended to have a fully updated Windows 2000 system before installing UURollup and trying to use unsupported software.

I just wanted to mentioned to anyone interested here is that there is a group of people out there who would love your efforts/knowledge. And this would be the good fellows who are working on ReactOS. I believe there is a wikipedia page on this and has current information. Of course, there is the ReactOS proper site as well.

From who I know of the project it is a complete clean-room rewrite of W2K and above.

Your knowledge (and any possible efforts) would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sorry for replying so late. I know about ReactOS but I don't think I'd be able to find any free time to focus on it at least not now and probably not in the near future. I'm also not a programmer - just a "hobbyist". I do know some things about Windows updates, registry, INF files' construction, etc. but it's far from anything advanced

[rodibach]

Thank-you Tomasz86 for this information and instructions. I use Firefox as my primary browser, particularly for the extensions, i.e. adblock, ghostery, betterprivacy, etc., and was wanting to be able to use a more updated version in win2k especially after the revelations regarding tracking. It may also seem that the compatibility function will allow me to install more modern versions of other programs that refuse to install in 2000. At the moment version 20 is installed in a low power computer, which boots to Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Windows 2000 and PCLinuxOS (500 mb ram, circa 1997, slow in win 2000) but I shall install all the additions to a more powerful one (I was only at Microsoft rollup pack 1). As I was doing a clean install, I had forgotten to install Media Player 9 so wrong direct x, but after installing DX9C Firefox worked perfectly.

[tomasz86]

No problem

Please keep in mind that UURollup-v10d is rather old at the moment and won't be updated any more. If you really want to run newer programs in Windows 2000 then you'll need to use UURollup-v11. There's no stable version but you can find daily releases in my download Archive (Windows/Windows2000/Unofficial/UnofficialUpdatesRollup).

[Cixert]

Thank you for taking the compatibility of Firefox on Windows 2000 the best operating system and faster. I use Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 and have all the thousands of programs that need to run fast on a Pentium II. I never come virus, nor have security problems (I have anti-sasser upgrade). The SP4 computer slows down a lot, even more than Windows XP.
I have all programs except one, the latest Firefox version.
Where I can download Compatibility Application Launcher to try to install the SP3.
I'm currently using browsers Dooble Web Browser (August 2013 version) and QupZilla (May 2014 version) but I prefer to use Firefox, because it is the fastest and stable.

[gneill]

I know it's been a while since this thread has been active, but I wonder if I might ask for an update on the procedure for installing more recent versions of Firefox on win2k?

The problem I'm having is that the original text of the method points to locations that may have changed significantly, and I'm not really 100% sure what content corresponds to what's required for the fix.

I'm running a Win2K Premium under VirtualBox, newly installed. Applied SP4, then the registry patch as in the first post in the thread. This permitted the installers for more recent version of Firefox to run without complaint.

Then I went hunting for the uxtheme.dll file. The link in the first post resolved to:

http://www7.atwiki.jp/win2000/pages/17.html

and taking a look, it seems that the likely quarry is the file described as: "Most Recent Version Ver 0.97a Download (2012/11/12)" Is this correct? It yields file: kdw097a.zip, and I did indeed find inside a uxtheme.dll which I copied into the Mozilla Firefox directory. Hopefully that's all correct.

Finally, looking for the "Unofficial Updates Rollup (UURollup)" I followed the link to the site:

http://www.windows2000.tk/#uurollup

Where I believe that the intended download is: \Windows2000-KB891861-v2-x86-XXX.exe ? Is that correct?

After applying it and rebooting, while I can run the installer for various versions of Firefox, they won't run. The system claims that ".../firefox.exe is not a valid Win32 application."

So, any help would be appreciated. I'm hoping that it's an incorrect file or version that's tripping me up and that someone can straighten me out.

[James]

Allowing since this is one of those few old threads that is not a Author extension/theme support thread that we keep open still.

[OrionStar]

To "tomasz86":
Dear "tomasz86", Thanks a lot for all info & ur effort. I wished I found this page sooner. Like "gneill", I know that it's a while since this thread, & I'm wondering if u still check this thread & answer. I appreciate if u can answer. I don't know if the procedure that u kindly wrote still works for recent FireFox versions or not? Or u know a better way. I thought to ask before even try the procedure. I have Win-2K Professional SP4 on IBM ThinkPad. I currently use FireFox 12. I appreciate if u can help.

To "gneill":
Dear "gneill", ur post is relatively more recent. Where u finally able to find a way to make the FireFox works for you? Thanks.

[3bot]

I can confirm that all procedure for upgrading Firefox still work. Some days ago I made a fresh install of Windows 2000pro with SP4, SP5.1 and RollUp2 upgrade.
Firefox 12 was first upgraded to 43.01 and later to 45.01.
So try it and Good luck.

[OrionStar]

I can confirm that all procedure for upgrading Firefox still work. Some days ago I made a fresh install of Windows 2000pro with SP4, SP5.1 and RollUp2 upgrade.
Firefox 12 was first upgraded to 43.01 and later to 45.01.
So try it and Good luck.

3bot, thanks for reply & info. I have few question:
-On my laptop, I have Win-2Kpro with SP4. I don't have SP5.1. I never heard about SP5.1, and it's not mentioned in the procedure. Does it still work?
-I looked at those websites mentioned in the procedure in step 5 (Known DLL Wrappers/Force Compatibility (KDW/FCWin2k)) and step 6 (latest ENU) but there are so many links in those pages, and I don't know which one to use.
-Have you tried the "addon" in step 10 for auto-update from FireFox-12?
I appreciate your help. Thanks.

[3bot]

To OrionStar
Yes you have to copy the file win2k-updater_v1.0.0_8f0667be339a.xpi into Firefox directory and it work well till ver. 43, than you have to change somethings in Firefox configuration.
If you want a short help how I made all updates, I can send you a Help file which is in MsWord.doc format. There is also internet shortcuts for all needed files.
I received all knowledge from tomasz86, BlueWingCat, xabolcs and others. I am not expert on these, I only know that it work.
Uxtheme.dll file you find at: (http://www7.atwiki.jp/win2000/pages/17.html)
Ver 0.97ax Download (2012/11/12)
password = kdwkdw
It is inside "bin"directory.

[Loner83]

Of course this applies only to the English version of Win2k. There are some ways to do the similar thing for other language versions but it is a little bit more complicated. I will try to provide detailed instructions later.

So the steps on page 1 of this thread won't work for my German version of Win 2000 Professional?
Is the file "Windows2000-UURollup-v10d-x86-ENU.exe" the one I need to install? Is it multilingual or only for English versions of Win2k?
Any help would be greatly appreciated

[tomasz86]

To "tomasz86":
Dear "tomasz86", Thanks a lot for all info & ur effort. I wished I found this page sooner. Like "gneill", I know that it's a while since this thread, & I'm wondering if u still check this thread & answer. I appreciate if u can answer. I don't know if the procedure that u kindly wrote still works for recent FireFox versions or not? Or u know a better way. I thought to ask before even try the procedure. I have Win-2K Professional SP4 on IBM ThinkPad. I currently use FireFox 12. I appreciate if u can help.

The original procedure should still work although there are probably better ways to do it at the moment. My UURollup has not been updated for a long time, and you had better use the newest version of BlackWingCat's kernel instead in order to get all the new functions. There is no need to copy any additional DLL files with it. I will try to update the guide in the near future but at the moment you may want to check the Windows 2000 section at the MSFN forum for help.

-On my laptop, I have Win-2Kpro with SP4. I don't have SP5.1. I never heard about SP5.1, and it's not mentioned in the procedure. Does it still work?

You do not need SP5.1 but you do need to have a fully updated system which means SP4 + IE6SP1 + Update Rollup 1 and all the other official updates released till the End of Life of Windows 2000.

-I looked at those websites mentioned in the procedure in step 5 (Known DLL Wrappers/Force Compatibility (KDW/FCWin2k)) and step 6 (latest ENU) but there are so many links in those pages, and I don't know which one to use.

As for KDW, you need to download the one marked as "Most Recent Version" which at the moment is "Ver 0.97ax". UURollup is no longer available at my website homepage but you can still find it in the Download Archive (USP5/UURollup) but, as mentioned above, you will be better with the BWC kernel which is still being actively maintained.

So the steps on page 1 of this thread won't work for my German version of Win 2000 Professional?
Is the file "Windows2000-UURollup-v10d-x86-ENU.exe" the one I need to install? Is it multilingual or only for English versions of Win2k?
Any help would be greatly appreciated

It is possible to forcibly install the English version of UURollup (or any Windows 2000 update, for that matter) into a German system and everything will work fine but some parts of your system will change into English, so take this into account before the installation.

[Loner83]

@tomasz86: Is there a German version of BlackWingCat's kernel available? Where can I find it?
Do I really need to install IE6? I have Win2k SP4 with Update Rollup 1 and IE 5 installed.
My DirectX 9 Version is the last one that could be installed on Windows 2000 (released in Februrary 2010). Is this the right one?
Are there any other things I have to think of?

[tomasz86]

@tomasz86: Is there a German version of BlackWingCat's kernel available? Where can I find it?
Do I really need to install IE6? I have Win2k SP4 with Update Rollup 1 and IE 5 installed.
My DirectX 9 Version is the last one that could be installed on Windows 2000 (released in Februrary 2010). Is this the right one?
Are there any other things I have to think of?

As with UURollup, you would have to forcefully install the ENU version of the BlackWingCat's kernel. The kernel itself is available here: http://blog.livedoor.jp/blackwingcat/ar ... 99806.html.

The DirectX version should not matter but you do need to have IE6 and all the other official updates installed which means everything released after the UR1 between 2005 and 2010.

[Yetoo]

I am writing this for everyone interested in running newer versions of Firefox in Windows 2000:

3. The installer will deliberately refuse to install on Windows XP SP1 and below with the error message, "Sorry, Firefox can't be installed. This version of Firefox requires Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or higher". To get around this, you need to add this entry to the Registry:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Setup.exe]
"ApplicationGoo"=hex:56,00,00,00,52,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,01,00,00,00,4a,00,00,00,3c,fd,06,00,05,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,28,0a,00,00,\
  02,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,\
  00,20,00,50,00,61,00,63,00,6b,00,20,00,33,00,00,00,00

Copy and paste it to Notepad and save with an extension ".reg" (you need to have the "hide file extensions for known file types" option unchecked in Folder Options). After that you can double-click on it to add the entry to the Registry.
[/size]

I don't know if anyone here is still alive, but the registry does not work for me. I am using a Windows 2000 Pro VM and copied the text perfectly and when I click on both the Firefox 28.0 and Firefox 48.0 installer the error still comes up. Now these installers were released far past the original post but I would like to know a solution as I have recently found the beauty of Windows 2000 and would like to get past Firefox 12. Thank you for your time, or who ever is reading this.