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error message when firefox opens

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  • 3 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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I was unable to load firefox. It gave a message that firefox was running and that i needed to restart my computer. I did that several times and it still did not work. When I restarted the computer it recommended I restore due to issues, I did so and then Firefox would not loaded. So then I uninstalled firefox and reinstalled it. After uninstalling, I get the message above, but after i click ok, it does allow me to use firefox, but i have concerns.

error message: Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features.

I was unable to load firefox. It gave a message that firefox was running and that i needed to restart my computer. I did that several times and it still did not work. When I restarted the computer it recommended I restore due to issues, I did so and then Firefox would not loaded. So then I uninstalled firefox and reinstalled it. After uninstalling, I get the message above, but after i click ok, it does allow me to use firefox, but i have concerns. error message: Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features.

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Make sure that you allow the loopback connection that Firefox uses to communicate with the software security device in the firewall.

See How to stop Firefox from making automatic connections


Rename secmod.db (secmod.db.old) in the Profile Folder in case there is a problem with the file.
You may have to rename cert8.db (cert8.db.old) as well.
Firefox will create new files.

The file cert8.db stores user certificates and intermediate certificates send by websites, so if you have certificates that you want to keep then you may want to export them now and import them after having removed cert8.db.

See Tools > Options > Advanced > Encryption: Certificates: View Certificates

If that works then you can delete the renamed files or undo the changes if you want to revert the process.