Unable To Install Firefox 3

User Help for Mozilla Firefox
damon1717
Posts: 4
Joined: June 25th, 2008, 6:43 pm

Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by damon1717 »

Hi All,New here,so please bear with me.I'm trying to install Firefox 3,and have completely uninstalled all other versions,but when I go to install I get an error message stating"Your computer must be restarted to complete a previous upgrade of Firefox.Do you want to reboot now?" I reboot,and try again,but keep getting this message.I am using Windows Vista Home Premium.Not sure what to do,but now I have NO Firefox at all,and man,do I HATE I.E.! Can someone help me? Thank's so much,Damon
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DanRaisch
Moderator
Posts: 127187
Joined: September 23rd, 2004, 8:57 pm
Location: Somewhere on the right coast

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by DanRaisch »

Delete any downloaded or partially downloaded installer files.
Clear the browser cache (of whatever browser you are using to download FF) and the Windows Temp directory.
Delete the directory C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
Shutdown any anti-virus software you are running.
Download a new copy of the full installer from www.mozilla.com
Run the installer.
Restart the anti-virus program.
damon1717
Posts: 4
Joined: June 25th, 2008, 6:43 pm

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by damon1717 »

Thank's Dan,Well,I did all but delete the folder from program files.User account control is off,and I'm the administrator,yet Vista,in all it's buggy wisdom,won't let me delete the folder.Grrr!
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DanRaisch
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Joined: September 23rd, 2004, 8:57 pm
Location: Somewhere on the right coast

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by DanRaisch »

Have you rebooted the machine since deleting the files in that folder?
The Great Khali
Guest

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by The Great Khali »

I'm facing the same problem....I shud have been content with Firefox 2...DAMMITTT!!!
The Great Khali
Guest

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by The Great Khali »

I got it RIGHT!!!!
It is very simple!!!!

Don't delete anything....
Download Firefox3.0 from Mozilla to ur desktop
Run it.
Select Custom Install
It will now ask u for a location.
Provide a different location....not the programfiles thingy
DONE!!!
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makaiguy
Posts: 16878
Joined: November 18th, 2002, 6:44 pm
Location: Somewhere in SE USA
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Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by makaiguy »

damon1717 wrote:Thank's Dan,Well,I did all but delete the folder from program files.User account control is off,and I'm the administrator,yet Vista,in all it's buggy wisdom,won't let me delete the folder.Grrr!


Will it let you delete the files IN the folder? If so, you're good to go, and the new installation will re-use the now-empty folder.
Doug Wilson
Win10 64bit: FF 115.0.02 64bit, TB 102.12.0 32-bit ║ Android 13/10: FF 115.2.0/115.0.1 ║ No TB for Android available, dammit!
What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away - Doobie Brothers
damon1717
Posts: 4
Joined: June 25th, 2008, 6:43 pm

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by damon1717 »

Hi Doug,There is an object named Firefox.exe that I can't delete.Keeps saying I don't have permission.I was able to delete everything BUT that object.Forgive my ignorance.I'm a real dim bulb when it comes to computers,I'm afraid.Thank's so much for your help.
eleanor
Posts: 1167
Joined: March 5th, 2005, 6:55 pm
Location: California

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by eleanor »

I realize that you're the administrator, but are you sure you're doing this on the user account that has administrative privileges?
Windows 7 Home SP2
IT Works
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Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by IT Works »

The Great Khali wrote:I got it RIGHT!!!!
It is very simple!!!!

Don't delete anything....
Download Firefox3.0 from Mozilla to ur desktop
Run it.
Select Custom Install
It will now ask u for a location.
Provide a different location....not the programfiles thingy
DONE!!!


I guess nobody saw this!!!!
damon1717
Posts: 4
Joined: June 25th, 2008, 6:43 pm

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by damon1717 »

Well Thank you all very much! I did what The Great Khali said,VOILA! I really appreciate all the kind responses I got here.What an excellent place,and and a valuable resource.Thank's again,damon1717
jkidd
Posts: 1
Joined: July 6th, 2005, 10:36 am

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by jkidd »

When I was searching for this issue there were a lot of posts out there indicating that you need to find a hidden file called 'xpicleanup' either with a .dat or .exe extension... This is apparently old news as I couldn't find any such file on my PC (and YES, I was searching for hidden files and I looked everywhere.) Whatever is causing the problem does in fact seem to be in the Firefox install directory. If you're reluctant to install Firefox elsewhere or do a custom install, you can also rename your old Firefox install dir and then re-run the setup.

I also have a bit of a clue to any developers watching this thread. The last time I launched Firefox 2, it told me it had downloaded an update and the next time I started Firefox it would install the update. It was during that session that I downloaded Firefox 3 and I ran its install before I ever restarted Firefox. Then when I tried the Firefox 3 upgrade I started getting this message.
Kognyto
Posts: 3
Joined: April 24th, 2008, 1:36 pm

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by Kognyto »

I just deleted the old program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\) and reinstalled FF 3.0.1 and it worked fine.

Thanks.
Anvish
Guest

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by Anvish »

This message is shown when the previous upgrade is broken.
Delete *.moz-upgrade files from Firefox folder to fix this. It helped me.
FrustratedFFUser
Guest

Re: Unable To Install Firefox 3

Post by FrustratedFFUser »

This problem persists with the 3.0.4 installer. I could not uninstall, I could not reinstall, all the software would say repeatedly is that it needed to reboot the computer when I tried. ](*,)

It's insane crap like this which drives people away from Firefox and makes ME look stupid when I recommend it to people. Really...you FF folx need to be less like parents and more like collegues and TELL THE USER WHAT'S GOING ON. Inform the user just why it is they need to reboot their computer so that when whatever you were hoping to accomplish DOESN'T ACTUALLY HAPPEN the user can take corrective action to get the application working. Would it really be so terrible to tell the user that such-and-such in-use file or set of files needs to be replaced, and the only way positively to accomplish that is to reboot? If your installer program can't handle the software being installed into a location other than the default, do not even OFFER to install it into a directory other than your default.

I'll just add, this is just the latest in a disturbing trend of dumbing down the software; the thing that comes to mind is the error message put up that does not mention anywhere "connection refused" like most other apps.
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