Mozilla Browser - Firefox removal problem

Author

Firefox removal problem

dannydee@nospammm.com

2007-12-16, 7:12 pm

I had an old version of Firefox .9x installed on Drive C:
I also have the latest version on drive F: (2.0.0.11)
I no longer use that old version so I clicked the uninstall button
(inside the directory of FF .9x). It asked me if I want to completely
remove Firefox 2.0.0.11. WTF????

No, I do not want to remove 2.0.0.11. That's why I clicked on the
uninstall located in the .9x folder.

What a stupid thing......

I just cancelled the uninstaller and deleted the entire directory for
FF .9x. Then I ran a registry cleaner and it asked me to remove a few
registry entries for C:\firefox (which I did). I did backup that
directory on a removable disk just in case of problems, but it seems
all is well.

Leonidas Jones

2007-12-16, 7:12 pm

dannydee@nospammm.com wrote:
> I had an old version of Firefox .9x installed on Drive C:
> I also have the latest version on drive F: (2.0.0.11)
> I no longer use that old version so I clicked the uninstall button
> (inside the directory of FF .9x). It asked me if I want to completely
> remove Firefox 2.0.0.11. WTF????
>
> No, I do not want to remove 2.0.0.11. That's why I clicked on the
> uninstall located in the .9x folder.
>
> What a stupid thing......
>
> I just cancelled the uninstaller and deleted the entire directory for
> FF .9x. Then I ran a registry cleaner and it asked me to remove a few
> registry entries for C:\firefox (which I did). I did backup that
> directory on a removable disk just in case of problems, but it seems
> all is well.
>
>

Easier would have been to let the uninstaller work, then reinstall
2.0.0.11. Its an old bug in a very old version of Firefox.

Lee

--
Leonidas Jones, Netscape/Mozilla Champion
The Champs: http://mozillachampions.ufaq.org
Links: http://www.ufaq.org/ http://mozilla.com http://kb.mozillazine.org

dannydee@nospammm.com

2007-12-17, 1:14 am

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:57:58 GMT, Leonidas Jones <Cap1MD@att.net>
wrote:

>dannydee@nospammm.com wrote:
>
>Easier would have been to let the uninstaller work, then reinstall
>2.0.0.11. Its an old bug in a very old version of Firefox.
>
>Lee

Good to know this was an issue on the older versions. I dont see how
it would have been easier to remove the new version though, I would
have had to backup my bookmarks, would have lost all my addons and
settings, plus download the installer again. I may have still not had
the older version deleted either.

Firefox dont seem to leave much behind as far as files outside its own
directory, so the delete seemed to work fine. I just had to clean the
registry in case it left anything in there (which it did).

Leonidas Jones

2007-12-17, 1:14 am

dannydee@nospammm.com wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:57:58 GMT, Leonidas Jones <Cap1MD@att.net>
> wrote:
>
>
> Good to know this was an issue on the older versions. I dont see how
> it would have been easier to remove the new version though, I would
> have had to backup my bookmarks, would have lost all my addons and
> settings, plus download the installer again. I may have still not had
> the older version deleted either.
>
> Firefox dont seem to leave much behind as far as files outside its own
> directory, so the delete seemed to work fine. I just had to clean the
> registry in case it left anything in there (which it did).

You would have lost nothing. You user data is stored in your Profile,
which is stored separately from the program files. Your new install
would simply have picked up the old profile, complete with bookmarks,
settings and extensions.

The uninstall would have erased the registry settings for you. It would
have been simpler, but no matter if the result was good.

The older version was not really there, it wasghost setting. Running
the uninstaller would have removed the new version, and cleaned the
registry of the old keys.

It would be a good idea to add your profile folder to your regular
backup routine. Check here for profile locations on various OS's:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder

Lee

--
Leonidas Jones, Netscape/Mozilla Champion
The Champs: http://mozillachampions.ufaq.org
Links: http://www.ufaq.org/ http://mozilla.com http://kb.mozillazine.org

dannydee@nospammm.com

2007-12-17, 1:13 pm

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:52:17 GMT, Leonidas Jones <Cap1MD@att.net>
wrote:

>dannydee@nospammm.com wrote:
>
>You would have lost nothing. You user data is stored in your Profile,
>which is stored separately from the program files. Your new install
>would simply have picked up the old profile, complete with bookmarks,
>settings and extensions.
>
>The uninstall would have erased the registry settings for you. It would
>have been simpler, but no matter if the result was good.
>
>The older version was not really there, it wasghost setting. Running
>the uninstaller would have removed the new version, and cleaned the
>registry of the old keys.
>
>It would be a good idea to add your profile folder to your regular
>backup routine. Check here for profile locations on various OS's:
>
>http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder
>
>Lee

Let me get this straight. Since I had two versions of Firefox
installed, one being the newest, the other being really old, did they
both use the same profile folder?

Yes, I do know the profile folder is separate and if I recall, this is
where the FF cache is also stored. I know that because I have gone
there a few times to try to save some file from cache.

Anyhow, did they both use the same profile, even though I had the old
version on drive C: and the new one on drive F: ?

Even though I knew the profile was in a separate place, I thought that
the uninstaller would remove that too. So lets just say I wanted to
get rid of Firefox completely (I dont, but lets pretend). If I run
the uninstaller, will the profile still remain on my computer and stay
there forever, unless I manually remove it?
If you ask me, that's not a very complete uninstall.
Of course I know lots of programs do that.
I've used computers long enough to know what to look for when I
uninstall something and know I have to often manually remove something
else.

The most common issue goes like this.
I run the uninstaller for "shitpile". A prgm that's supposed to make
my toilet flush whenever I connect to the internet. The program dont
work, so I want to remove it. I run the uninstaller which removes
most of the files from C:\program files\shitpile
Yet, it leave the shitpile directory behind, and that folder still
contains at least one file (usually the exe file from the program, or
the uninstall.exe file. I've learned over the years to manually
remove these useless folders and files. Often .DLL files are also
left behind in the Windows/system folder too.

Good Day !!!!

Leonidas Jones

2007-12-17, 1:13 pm

dannydee@nospammm.com wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:52:17 GMT, Leonidas Jones <Cap1MD@att.net>
> wrote:
>
>
> Let me get this straight. Since I had two versions of Firefox
> installed, one being the newest, the other being really old, did they
> both use the same profile folder?

Yes, unless you create a new profile and place it somewhere else.
>
> Yes, I do know the profile folder is separate and if I recall, this is
> where the FF cache is also stored. I know that because I have gone
> there a few times to try to save some file from cache.

Actually, in newer versions the cache is now stored in a separate
location, to set up better support for roaming profiles.

>
> Anyhow, did they both use the same profile, even though I had the old
> version on drive C: and the new one on drive F: ?

It does not matter where you install the program, it still looks in the
default location, unless you have told it otherwise.
>
> Even though I knew the profile was in a separate place, I thought that
> the uninstaller would remove that too. So lets just say I wanted to
> get rid of Firefox completely (I dont, but lets pretend). If I run
> the uninstaller, will the profile still remain on my computer and stay
> there forever, unless I manually remove it?

That is correct.

> If you ask me, that's not a very complete uninstall.
> Of course I know lots of programs do that.
> I've used computers long enough to know what to look for when I
> uninstall something and know I have to often manually remove something
> else.

Most people uninstalling the program are not trying to get rid of it
completely, they are just trying to solve some issue. Such as in your
case, your issue could have been easily solved by running the
uninstaller, then reinstalling, easier, I would think then scrubbing the
registry.

>
> The most common issue goes like this.
> I run the uninstaller for "shitpile". A prgm that's supposed to make
> my toilet flush whenever I connect to the internet. The program dont
> work, so I want to remove it. I run the uninstaller which removes
> most of the files from C:\program files\shitpile
> Yet, it leave the shitpile directory behind, and that folder still
> contains at least one file (usually the exe file from the program, or
> the uninstall.exe file. I've learned over the years to manually
> remove these useless folders and files. Often .DLL files are also
> left behind in the Windows/system folder too.
>
> Good Day !!!!
>
>

Lee