Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

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slickrcbd
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Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by slickrcbd »

I was just looking at my installed services on my 64-bit Windows 7 Professional computer for something completely unrelated when I stumbled across "Mozilla Maintenance Service". It was disabled, and when I clicked on it it said the path to the executable was in \Program Files (x86) rather than \program files.
I switched to 64-bit Firefox some time ago, either late 2015 or early 2016.
The 64-bit version is found in \program files.
I've run CCleaner several times since the switch to fix registry errors.

Should I do anything about this? Firefox seems to have no trouble updating regularly since then, but I'm just wondering what's the deal with the disabled service. Is it a relic from the old version of Firefox?
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RobertJ
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by RobertJ »

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CCCleaner is known to cause issues with Firefox.

Image

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Falnor
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by Falnor »

Registry cleaners are dangerous. Never use them.
They cause more trouble than they are worth. A few left behind registry entries are not going to slow down your computer.

A lot of these so called errors they fix are not errors at all and programs will break.

Probably best to reinstall Firefox just in case important registry entries were deleted
slickrcbd
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by slickrcbd »

Firefox has prompted me for user elevation for an update since the last time I ran a registry cleaner. Would I still need to re-install in light of that?
I thought that said update counted as a re-install.
I don't recall if it was for 50 or 50.1.0, but it doesn't matter, I haven't run CCleaner in a while.
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lovemyfoxy
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by lovemyfoxy »

I omit the registry part and anything connected to FF, but the rest of Cleaner is excellent, and I run it regularly. I does a thorough job of tossing out junk, and has never caused any problems. I also run Revo Uninstaller.
2 Desktops--Win 7 Ult.SP1 x64/6GB RAM /Firefox 52.9ESR/Waterfox64 2022.11/Thunderbird 52.9ESR/BitWarden PW Manager/Verizon FIOS wired network
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Virtual_ManPL
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by Virtual_ManPL »

Registry cleaners are known for causing problems,
it's nice to have old unused keys and folders for uninstalled software removed, but performance gain is placebo,
so no any real advantages, bug big disadvantages if something goes wrong, especially when user didn't read what it purges.

Nice thing to read in meantime - Registry Cleaners: Digital Snake Oil | Malwarebytes Labs


About main problem, best thing will be to redownload complete Firefox installer and run it again,
so it can fix, what registry cleaner broke, same as reinstalling Mozilla Maintenance Service,
so do what already Falnor wrote.
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Tired of constant Firefox UI changes? XUL extensions are not working anymore? Try SeaMonkey, Waterfox Classic, Pale Moon.
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dfoulkes
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by dfoulkes »

slickrcbd wrote:I was just looking at my installed services on my 64-bit Windows 7 Professional computer for something completely unrelated when I stumbled across "Mozilla Maintenance Service". It was disabled, and when I clicked on it it said the path to the executable was in \Program Files (x86) rather than \program files.
I switched to 64-bit Firefox some time ago, either late 2015 or early 2016.
The 64-bit version is found in \program files.
I've run CCleaner several times since the switch to fix registry errors.

Should I do anything about this? Firefox seems to have no trouble updating regularly since then, but I'm just wondering what's the deal with the disabled service. Is it a relic from the old version of Firefox?
FWIW... I uninstalled the Maintenance svc. thing long ago... when I was on Firefox 32bit... and my current 64bit does not have it.... so, it is just some stuff left over from your 32bit version... if everything works for you... don't worry about it.... but I'm just wondering... what folder does that program reside in? ... just wondering... because as a precaution I believe I backed up my 32bit profile, uninstalled Firefox 32bit, clear out old stuff, installed the 64bit and then restored my profile... Thus I have 'nothing' in my Programs (86) relating to Firefox.
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
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JayhawksRock
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by JayhawksRock »

For me, the Maintenance Service was installed in Windows Services (Local) and may still be there but not enabled.... on XP sooooo ?
"The trouble with quotes on the internet is you never know if they are genuine" ...Abraham Lincoln
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lovemyfoxy
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by lovemyfoxy »

Virtual_ManPL wrote:...
Nice thing to read in meantime - Registry Cleaners: Digital Snake Oil | Malwarebytes Labs
...
Fascinating article. Why would a reputable program like Ccleaner have a reg cleaner as part of the program?
2 Desktops--Win 7 Ult.SP1 x64/6GB RAM /Firefox 52.9ESR/Waterfox64 2022.11/Thunderbird 52.9ESR/BitWarden PW Manager/Verizon FIOS wired network
slickrcbd
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by slickrcbd »

I've used registry cleaners only when I had a specific need. I have several Microsoft certifications and the circumstances are rare. Mostly it is when there are invalid paths from uninstalled programs, updated programs, or other stuff causing problems, slowdowns, or just making it harder for me to use msconfig or autoruns.exe from the system internals suite to get rid of unneeded stuff because of all the invalid clutter.
In short, I use it rarely. Only when there is a problem.
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dfoulkes
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by dfoulkes »

LoveMyFoxy wrote: Fascinating article. Why would a reputable program like Ccleaner have a reg cleaner as part of the program?
In part... because it seems that every company... be it a company like that one... or, a car manufacturer... or, a company who makes a coffee maker try to go way beyond the basic function... 'Be all to ALL'.
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
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Grumpus
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by Grumpus »

@LoveMyFoxy - On the "Why?" there used to be and may still exist in Windows systems a program called "regedit.exe" which allowed editing the registry directly.
It may be CCleaner tried to make it easier and take less time as it was a bit of an issue trying to make sense of the registry map and items at times.
Usually there were a couple of areas which were like a cache and you could safely remove items and it may be that was the original focus.
It seemed to me, when a Windows user (antediluvian) it was better to not be lazy and do each thing on it's own terms.
Doesn't matter what you say, it's wrong for a toaster to walk around the house and talk to you
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lovemyfoxy
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by lovemyfoxy »

dfoulkes wrote:
LoveMyFoxy wrote: Fascinating article. Why would a reputable program like Ccleaner have a reg cleaner as part of the program?
In part... because it seems that every company... be it a company like that one... or, a car manufacturer... or, a company who makes a coffee maker try to go way beyond the basic function... 'Be all to ALL'.
And that's why Dunkin Donuts also carries hamburgers and why Boston Chicken became Boston Market. And why "Sur le Table" carries a $5600 coffeemaker.
2 Desktops--Win 7 Ult.SP1 x64/6GB RAM /Firefox 52.9ESR/Waterfox64 2022.11/Thunderbird 52.9ESR/BitWarden PW Manager/Verizon FIOS wired network
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dfoulkes
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by dfoulkes »

Grumpus wrote:@LoveMyFoxy - On the "Why?" there used to be and may still exist in Windows systems a program called "regedit.exe" which allowed editing the registry directly.
It's still here in Win7 ... I run it every Friday (via its Export) to do a reg-copy as part of my weekly backups... I've never knows if that is a waste of time or not... but figured it couldn't hurt to do it.
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
slickrcbd
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Re: Mozilla Maintinance service for FF64?

Post by slickrcbd »

If you have sufficient restore points, it is not necessary. A backup of the registry is part of every restore point.
That said, a system restore can be overkill for one botched registry modification. I miss the automatic backups of Windows 9X, but they were dropped because of the superior restore points as waste of disk space, and truthfully only advanced users who tinker with the registry miss them.

Also, IIRC, backing up the entire registry with RegEdit will net close to half a gigabyte after a clean install of Windows 7. Or maybe that was after I reinstalled all my programs.
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