Ultimate fix for a Firefox update failure

Sometimes, it pays to go with your first instinct.

For the last couple of weeks, every time I opened the Firefox browser on my PC, the program attempted to update but failed. I didn't sweat the error message at first, thinking that it was likely a widespread problem that the good folks at Mozilla would address soon enough. And besides, version 3.0.4 opened right after I closed the error message, and everything appeared to be working normally.

I kept, however, getting that same error message every time Firefox loaded. It struck me that one of the things viruses do is block your security and other programs from updating. I didn't think that this failure was a sign of a virus, but I couldn't be sure.

Opening Firefox 3.0.4 generated this cryptic error message after failing to update to version 3.0.5.

(Credit: Mozilla Foundation)

My first inclination was to uninstall version 3.0.4 and then install Firefox 3.0.5 manually. But on second thought, this struck me as too extreme. After searching the Internet for information about failed Firefox updates, I chased many a wild goose as I disconnected my Webcam, rechecked my firewall, and followed many other useless pieces of advice recommended by reputable Web sites.

All to no avail. So I opened Vista's Programs and Features (the equivalent of XP's Add or Remove Programs applet) by pressing the Windows key, typing appwiz.cpl, and pressing Enter. I uninstalled Firefox 3.0.4, closed the applet, and opened the Opera browser so I could visit Mozilla.org to download Firefox 3.0.5.

This is where things took a slight detour. I don't use Opera very often, so it wasn't a surprise to see a prompt to download the latest version 9.63. I'm sure that Opera 9.62 would have downloaded the Firefox 3.0.5 executable just fine, but I figured that I might as well keep the update thing rolling.

But then Opera wouldn't update. The error message said something about my G: drive. I opened Windows Explorer and saw that I had no G: drive. Then I remembered that I set Opera to run off a USB thumb drive, which I had recently disconnected. I retrieved that drive and tried the Opera update again. This time, version 9.63 installed without a hitch.

And wouldn't you know it, so did Firefox 3.0.5, once I downloaded it from the Mozilla Foundation site. I suppose that I should be curious about why the browser wasn't able to update itself in the first place, but I'm satisfied just to have the latest version in place.

[seo2seo]

I had that problem; I closed the computer, rebooted, then reinstalled - hasn't happened since.

In the old days (pre-XP), you could get to see a list of all the programs that were running, and manually close them - now, that list is always woefully incomplete (FF didn't show despite having failed to close properly), and (often) programs refuse to close, where once it was "1. Click; 2. Program Closed; 3. Done", now it's usually "this program isn't responding, would you like to click pointlessly one more time?"

[c|net Reader]

If you didn't look, Task Manager might have revealed a "hidden" firefox.exe instance, one that didn't exit cleanly because it was blocked waiting on the release of some resource that was never released (like a mutex). If you End Process via Task Manager, things will work better. I don't know how to do the same in Vista and I don't know whether that would have solved your original problem, but it's worth checking next time.

[doreilly]

I did look in Task Manager for a firefox.exe process after I closed the browser, but there was no such entry. This was one of the wild goose chases I referred to in the post. By the way, Vista's Task Manager is accessed just as in previous versions of Windows: Ctrl-Alt-Delete, though you have to take the extra step of clicking "Open Task Manager" on the menu that appears.--Dennis

[fastfreddie1959]

I know exactly why this issue occured.
Like me you had or have 2 versions in the registry.
Old version..3.0.4...Fighting the new version...3.0.5
When i got updated all the FF buttons started disappearing.
Since i was not notifed of the update i did not know what was causing this.
Im using vista OS.
So i went and started uninstalling...FF...and went into the registry to delete
then thats where i saw the problem.
For those who think there uninstalling FF...it is still in your registry.
Must be deleted from there to.....for a clean install.