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Problem upgrading to FF4 **Fixed**

XP Home Edition
Admin & limited accounts

I've been using the various versions of FF for several years now, the last being 3.6.15
Normally i just download the setup.exe for the latest version & run the setup when i get a chance. This is all done under my limited account as that's what i use when surfing the net. Never had a problem before.

So i downloaded FF4 the other day & ran the setup.exe like i normally do & i get a popup saying you must restart your computer to complete the setup. So i restart & now whenever i try opening FF i get "Your computer must be restarted to complete a previous upgrade of Firefox. Do you want to reboot now?"

So i look in the Add/Remove Programs in my limited account & it lists FF 3.5.8 & 4.0
Where the hell did 3.5.8 come from? 😕
If i try to uninstall either of those i get the popup "Your computer must be restarted to complete a previous upgrade of Firefox. Do you want to reboot now?"

When i logged into my admin account under Add/Remove Programs it lists only FF 3.5.8 & i still can't uninstall without getting the same popup message.

I ran System Restore & now it lists FF 3.5.8 & 3.6.15 in Add/Remove Programs under my limited account & FF 3.5.8 only in my Admin account but i still can't uninstall or open FF without getting "Your computer must be restarted to complete a previous upgrade of Firefox. Do you want to reboot now?"


What to try now? Something with the profile perhaps?
 
I'm curious as to why you download the setup file and do it that way, rather than open FF and update using the "Help" menu and "Check for Updates"?

I would save your bookmarks and profile and give a program like Revo Uninstaller a try. See if that gets rid of it. Here's a revo download link: http://download.cnet.com/Revo-Uninstaller/3000-2096_4-10687648.html

Then do a fresh install importing your profile after you install and make sure it works.

Someone more experienced may have a better solution or seen this before, but that's what I'd do.
 
I also download the full setup file for updates. This way, if I need to reinstall for any reason, I have the full installer. Do this for all my programs. I suggest the OP login with an account with Admin rights or in Safe Mode, uninstall FF4, then the other versions of FF3, reboot, then install FF4 fresh. I would suggest he export his profile and bookmarks to a temp directory so he can restore them later. Most important is the bookmarks.
 
I also download the full setup file for updates. This way, if I need to reinstall for any reason, I have the full installer. Do this for all my programs.

To each their own, but I don't see the point when the full installer file is always readily available on mozilla.com. Thanks for the info though and that's another topic altogether.
 
I'm curious as to why you download the setup file and do it that way, rather than open FF and update using the "Help" menu and "Check for Updates"?
I'm on dial-up & have 2 computers. By downloading the setup.exe once i can move that to the second computer without having to download the update again.



I suggest the OP login with an account with Admin rights or in Safe Mode, uninstall FF4, then the other versions of FF3, reboot, then install FF4 fresh.
It won't let me uninstall in either the admin or limited accounts. I didn't try safe mode though. I'll try that next.
 
Safe mode should work, but you will have to uninstall newest first, then next newest, etc.
You can also try to download Windows Installer Cleanup Utility .. easy to find and it will fix glitches like when an installer file gets hung up. Just be careful in it's use.
 
Why would anyone run an installer under a limited user account, rather than in the admin? That's just asking for problems.
 
Why would anyone run an installer under a limited user account, rather than in the admin? That's just asking for problems.

This is the first problem i've ever had upgrading FF to the latest version this way. I guess i'll stop doing it that way from now on.


When i started in safe mode & tried to uninstall, it still gives me the same message:
"Your computer must be restarted to complete a previous upgrade of Firefox. Do you want to reboot now?"


Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I just haven't been home a whole lot the last several days.
I'll try the Revo program pyonir suggested next.
 
I had issues upgrading to FF4 myself. FF4 would begin to freeze after a while, couldn't even close it with the Task Manager. Plus, my PC was running hot and the fan was wide open (very unusual for mine).

Meanwhile, while I was waiting for FF to close (it never did), I was able to use Opera & IE9 fine. It took a reboot to close FF.

The next morning, I installed 3.6.16, no problems to report at all. I feel, that with the recent release of IE9, the heat was on Mozilla to push FF4 to the masses. Mozilla has always fixed things on the run, so I'm sure, in due time, FF4 will be ready soon.

Cat
 
firefox uses your gpu and with a overheating video card xp will hang. vista/7 will hang and restart the video card since its so common.

assuming you have a video card. you can disable video acceleration using google.
 
I had issues upgrading to FF4 myself. FF4 would begin to freeze after a while, couldn't even close it with the Task Manager. Plus, my PC was running hot and the fan was wide open (very unusual for mine).

Meanwhile, while I was waiting for FF to close (it never did), I was able to use Opera & IE9 fine. It took a reboot to close FF.

The next morning, I installed 3.6.16, no problems to report at all. I feel, that with the recent release of IE9, the heat was on Mozilla to push FF4 to the masses. Mozilla has always fixed things on the run, so I'm sure, in due time, FF4 will be ready soon.

Cat

I had the same issue after upgrading to FF4 on one of my XP machines, it would freeze once in a while and I couldn't close it with task manager. Video acceleration was disabled due the aging graphics chipset on that machine, first thing I checked under about:support in FF. That XP machine has never had an issue in four years of use. I uninstalled FF4 and went back to 3.6.16 on that machine and have no issues. I was going to try a clean install of FF4 but I haven't cared enough to do it yet or try to troubleshoot. Otherwise, FF4 works great on my Windows 7 rig and in my XP Pro VM.
 
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