Recently while trying to open .html files with Mozilla firefox I ended up facing error “Firefox Couldn’t load XPCOM.” which was kind of very strange because I never faced such error earlier and all these files were opening perfectly with other web browsers which was good enough to ensure that this problem is solely dependent upon mozilla firefox files or its settings rather than of Windows files. After checking over internet i found that I am not the only one to face this error there are many other users out too and after doing some more research over this I found that this has something to do with the system restore procedure because i too have restored my system to an earlier date to fix some internal issues and since then I have been facing this error. Therefore if you too are facing this error don’t worry here I have mentioned few troubleshooting steps that you may try in order to fix mozilla firefox couldn’t load XPCOM error. I have listed them in priority order starting from the first fix and then moving to subsequent fixes till your issue is not resolved but before you proceed lets get familiar with what actually is XPCOM
What is XPCOM ?
XPCOM (Cross Platform Component Object Model) is a cross-platform component model from Mozilla. It is similar to Microsoft COM and CORBA. It features multiple language bindings and IDL descriptions thus programmers can plug their custom functionality into the framework and connect it with other components. It is one of the main things that makes mozilla application environment an actual framework. Follow the below given steps to learn how to fix firefox couldn’t load XPCOM in Windows.
How to fix Firefox Couldn’t Load XPCOM Windows 8.1/8/7 – Steps to Follow
- What we are going to do here is perform clean uninstallation of mozilla firefox and removing residual registry files of mozilla firefox.
Note – Normal Uninstallation process won’t help so you need to remove each and every entry of mozilla firefox from windows registry.
- Go to Control Panel -> Programs -> Uninstall a Program -> Select Mozilla firefox
- While Uninstalling make sure that “remove personal data” is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
- After uninstalling delete the folder at “C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\” or “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\” to ensure that no residual files are leftover.
Note – If you are unable to perform the uninstallation try to boot your system in safe mode and then proceed with the regualr uninstallation process.
- That’s it now just reinstall Mozilla firefox and this time you will no longer face the same issue.