[SOLVED] How to uninstall Firefox

**ervand** · 06-26-2008, 12:04 AM

I need to COMPLETELY uninstall firefox.

Reason why:
I installed one plug in that removes all the icons from the mozilla firefox toolbar. It worked as it should have and did what it promised. There is one problem to it - there is no way to uninstall it from "add-ons" window. it is just not there and I really want it off. Another problem is I messed with the mozilla regestry, not the windows one (regedit), but the one that actually comes with mozilla. It made my pages load EXTREAMELY slow, and sometimes stop loading.

What I already tried:
- I unistalled mozilla firefox from control panel.
- deleted a remaining folder from "Program Files"
- restarted a computer
- cleaned my regestry with Regestry Mechanic.
- went to a website and found out there is a new version (Firefox 3).
- I downloaded that and installed it.

When I runned firefox I was surprised.

All my plugins from were still there (adblock, google preview, and so on) as well as the one I couldn't unistall. Pages are loading as slow as they were, so I am guessing there is something that comes with firefox that doesn't get unistalled when you try to. How do I get to it? Or how do I COMPLETELY unistall firefox.

mommabear · 06-26-2008, 03:19 AM

Extensions and plugins are also in the hidden files talked about in these instructions. That's why they showed up again.

Quote:

If you're experiencing strange issues in any version of Firefox, doing a complete uninstall and cleanout as covered below is also recommended to resolve this.

In any case, to completely remove all traces of Firefox from your system follow these steps:

1. Backup your bookmarks as a Bookmarks.html file. In Firefox 2 go to the Bookmarks menu, select 'Organize Bookmarks', then select File>Export. In Firefox 3, go to the Bookmarks menu, select 'Organize Bookmarks', then select 'Import and Backup'>Export HTML. Note the difference between .HTML and .JSON Bookmark files is explained in more detail in the Advanced Tweaking section of the guide.

2. Go to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP; or Control Panel>Programs & Features in Windows Vista, and if a 'Mozilla Firefox' entry (or similar) exists, select it and click Change/Remove and uninstall it. During uninstallation, tick the 'Remove my Firefox personal data and customizations' box as well.

3. Go to your \Program Files\Mozilla Firefox directory and delete it and all of its contents if it still exists.

4. Delete the following directories if they exist:

In Windows XP -

\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla

\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla

In Windows Vista -

\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Mozilla

\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\

Note that this will delete all of your bookmarks and saved settings, so make sure you've backed up your bookmarks as covered in step 1. You might also want to note down any passwords which you might othewise forget.

5. Find and remove all Firefox/Mozilla-related entries in the Windows Registry. Using the Windows Registry Editor (Start>Run>Regedit), delete the following keys - that is, right click on their name in the left pane of Registry Editor and select Delete:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxURL\]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\firefox.exe]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MozillaPlugins]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\mozilla.org]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MozillaPlugins]

Note: If you also have Mozilla Thunderbird or any other Mozilla products installed, make sure to only uninstall entries under the keys above which relate directly to Firefox by name.

If you are not confident with using the Registry Editor, see the Windows Registry chapter of the TweakGuides Tweaking Companion for more detailed instructions and other registry cleaning alternatives.

The steps above will remove all the major Firefox-related settings and traces which can cause problems with newer or even existing installations. In most cases you should only have to undertake Steps 1 and 2 of the above list. However again I must stress that if you are updating to Firefox 3 or newer from an older version of Firefox, or having strange problems with Firefox and nothing else in this guide works to resolve it, then I strongly suggest you follow all the steps above so you can remove all traces of Firefox.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Firefox_3.html

or
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox

**ervand** · 06-26-2008, 05:20 PM

Thanks this did help.
Everything is back to normal.
I am marking this topic as SOLVED.
Thanks again.

06-26-2008, 12:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
ervand I helped the forums. Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 184 OS: Windows XP Pro SP2	[SOLVED] How to uninstall Firefox I need to COMPLETELY uninstall firefox. Reason why: I installed one plug in that removes all the icons from the mozilla firefox toolbar. It worked as it should have and did what it promised. There is one problem to it - there is no way to uninstall it from "add-ons" window. it is just not there and I really want it off. Another problem is I messed with the mozilla regestry, not the windows one (regedit), but the one that actually comes with mozilla. It made my pages load EXTREAMELY slow, and sometimes stop loading. What I already tried: - I unistalled mozilla firefox from control panel. - deleted a remaining folder from "Program Files" - restarted a computer - cleaned my regestry with Regestry Mechanic. - went to a website and found out there is a new version (Firefox 3). - I downloaded that and installed it. When I runned firefox I was surprised. All my plugins from were still there (adblock, google preview, and so on) as well as the one I couldn't unistall. Pages are loading as slow as they were, so I am guessing there is something that comes with firefox that doesn't get unistalled when you try to. How do I get to it? Or how do I COMPLETELY unistall firefox. __________________

06-26-2008, 05:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
ervand I helped the forums. Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 184 OS: Windows XP Pro SP2	Re: How to uninstall Firefox Thanks this did help. Everything is back to normal. I am marking this topic as SOLVED. Thanks again. __________________