Fixing “Chrome registration failed” error on Firefox 2.0.0.8+
Posted by shannonclark on November 1, 2007
Since the update to Firefox 2.0.0.8 I have been experiencing a problem of three “Chrome Registration Failed” error messages being presented to me every time I restarted Firefox.
With today’s update to Firefox 2.0.0.9 I had hoped that the problem would have been resolved.
Nope. Instead it only got worse, whenever I tried to update my add-ins and then edit their options, the add-ins pane froze. Looking on Mozilla.org I found one suggestion for a fix (delete the extensions.ini, extensions.cache and extensions.rdf files from your profile). On doing that however not only did it NOT fix my problem, but in fact it made it worse – every single add-in I had installed was reset to a “needs restart” and even after a restart the add-ins were not installing.
So on experimentation I tried the following:
(all this is on Windows Vista)
Right click on the Firefox icon on your desktop.
Select “run as administrator”
And poof – problems gone, all add-ins installed and working.
I then closed Firefox and restarted it (figured running as administrator is not a good general practice).
But count me as in the “pox on both your houses” camp here – to both Microsoft and to Mozilla.org. Microsoft for having such a clunky OS that occasionally you have to run processes as administrator (i.e. as “root”). And Mozilla.org for two serious bugs – first error messages that are BEYOND useless – reporting on an error WITHOUT NOTING WHAT CAUSED THE ERROR. And second, for building a USER application (a browser) which for some reason does something during the installation process of components (i.e. add-ins) which requires administrator rights.
Seriously bad coding somewhere.
And this is a case where Google failed me. Nothing I found after searching almost literally 100+ websites and online discussions had this fix, not even discussions on Mozilla.org (which reported inaccurate fixes for this problem in fact).
So hopefully this will help someone and the last two hours of my life which was wasted on fixing this will at least help someone else.
Update – some of the comments make it clear I was unclear in the above. After initially running Firefox as administrator I have not had to do so again, something about that one running fixed what I can only suspect were either permissions or registry issues. This fix has survived reboots and subsequent installations of additional Firefox plugins. Glad it has been helpful to a few of you (about 100 people or so a day have been reading this due mostly to Google searches)
bobo said
i doubt my comment will stand out in the 50 comments you already got but thank you sooo much!!!
shannonclark said
Glad to still be helpful years after I first encountered this bug – everyone of the now 365+ comments is appreciated!
Sam said
Like many other it seems, this was starting to tick me off to say the least. Bloody legend mate, probably saved me a couple hundred bucks down the line, no doubt one day I would’ve had enough and put a brick through my screen :/.
Find it funny I would still put up with that every time over using IE.
Scott said
Thank you so much! I’m glad you went through the trouble of figuring this out a while ago…if u saved hundreds of us 2 hrs a piece, then i believe your time was more than well spent. I cant believe I considered going to a computer tech for something that had such a quick and easy fix…thanks again!
Kim said
Thanks from me too!
Debbie Warren said
Thanks for the fix.This has been driving me nuts.
greengrass88 said
hey thanks been driving me nuts for weeks my daughter said google it and hey presto fixed you should be awarded the medal of honour cheers Simon
Braddd said
Hi can someone please re-publish the solution, ive gone back to the start as far as i can, but i cant see it..
thanks
shannonclark said
see the actual blog post which has the very simple solution – right click, run as adminstrator
Braddd said
Hi, so the soultion is to run as admistirator?
because ive only just got this problem since update my firefox, is there any way of reversing this update or downloading the older version before 3.5.3 i believe is the newest…
thanks
Gregor said
You’re a legend, that has to be one of the quickest fixes I have ever had for any problem, usually hours scouring forums, googling etc, and there it was, top of the pile and a straight forward answer.
Much appreciated
Gregor
charliedone1 said
you saved the world from the evil “chromester wont install”….thanks for the fix. worked for me.
rosie said
OMG THANK GOD! life saver!
Jared said
OHHH THANNNKYOU!!!!
deviners said
wow, seriously, thank you sooooooo much!
Linda S said
Thank you sooooo much, this bug has been bugging me for ages, now it works again after clicking run as adminstrator, once, then starting normally. YAYAYAYAYAY
Kate said
Am sure this is a good fix, but I don’t have a firefox icon on my desktop and obviously creating it as a shortcut from my quick launch doesn’t work (no administrator option).
what now?
shannonclark said
try opening up an explorer window, navigating to your applications and right clicking from there?
Lydia said
THANK U!!!!
james said
Hi. I dont know much about pc’s. Please can you explain how to get to the administrator stuff to do this solution as my desk top icon is a shortcut and in the list of programmes from the start menu right clicking there doesnt give me the option either. I am in vista.
PO said
Perfect thanx.
maura said
I tried disabling all my add ons and run as admin. icon and the chrome reg. still keeps stopping me from getting in first time! is there something else i’m not doing?? maura
CarlW said
Firefox should pay you a bunch of money for correcting this infuriating bug so easily for so many users.I was just at the point of dumping Firefox completely forever from my PC until I found your post. Can’t believe they don’t have an auto fix download yet. Wonder how many users will be dumping Firefox who do not find your solution?
james said
I still cant find the run as admin option and it is SERIOUSLY doing my head in now with the chrome message coming up all the time. If only I knew how to dump fire fox and put something else on.
Westabot said
Go to the Firefox.com on the front page you will find: Explore the full range of add-ons available at addons.mozilla.org. Click on that and type Chrome in the search box. You will get a list of Chrome add-ons. Choose Chrome View and download it. Restart Firefox and it will start right up. PROBLEM SOLVED!
shannonclark said
I have no idea what this commenter is talking about – this may be new, but certainly not the fix I found in 2007 when I first encountered this problem.
laura said
unfortunately this didnt help me, but thanks for the suggestion, it was worth a try.
shannonclark said
Laura,
If you see this – what was your problem & configuration? You are one of the few people for whom the solution didn’t work – I’d like to know more both to see if I can help you and to help anyone else who comes here in a similar configuration & situation?
Shannon
james said
please someone help me. I am begging people now.
Where is the run as administrator option? I have right clicked on the thunderbird icon in my start pannel and the shortcut on the desktop and I have noting and cant find any moxilla icons anywhere else. I am begging someone to tell me where to find this run as admin button to get rid of these stupid chrome messages.
thanks in advance.
shannonclark said
well my solution is mostly for Firefox, haven’t encountered these issues with Thunderbird.
That said try the following:
- when you right click on the application icon on your desktop select the “open file location” this should open up where Thunderbird (and in a file folder nearby probably Firefox) has been installed
- see if you see the Run as Administrator option when you right click on the .exe file (if you don’t see extensions it will be the file named Thunderbird or Firefox)
If you do not see Administrator options then likely your account you have logged in with does not have Administrator rights – are you on a shared computer? Or on a computer which has been locked down (on a corporate network or locked down by parents etc?) If so you may need to contact whomever has Administrator rights on your machine
hope this helps
Shannon
Ken Dornan said
Hi Shannon,
This problem has been bugging me for some time so I finally got round to Google and to your fix.
Thank you for publishing it and for taking the time to figure it out [something I would fail at]
Ken
Mr. C said
Yeppers….experienced the same thing….closed firefox…reopened by run as admin…and poof !!! No more Chrome Window error THANKS !!!
Megan said
Thanks!!!
andy said
Man, you rock. Your solution worked perfectly the first time. Yours was the first site that popped up under a google search of chrome registration failure, so I’m one of the lucky ones who didn’t waste a lot of time on bad fixes. Thank you, thank you!
sara said
after following y’alls instructions the error message went away but now i can’t get into yahoo games which is bout main thing i do online…i’m not happy cause i have no clue how to fix this problem now!!
shannonclark said
I have no idea why you wouldn’t be able to get into Yahoo Games.
But a few suggestions:
1. Try clearing your cache
2. Try logging out of Yahoo entirely and logging back in (I assume you can load other applications on Yahoo)
3. Is it all of Yahoo or just specific games? if specific games look at whether you need to update your Flash player (which was patched in the past month to fix some serious security issues)
hope this helps
Shannon
Angela said
Hi Shannon,
I thought it was just me and something I’d done wrong. It was driving me nuts. Wonder why Firefox didn’t come out with a fix. Doesn’t matter, you did!
Thankyou
Heather said
Add me – a 60 year old techie woman – to the many grateful people who have found your solution to this MOST ANNOYING PROBLEM WITH FIREFOX!!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to help others.
John said
Thanks so much – I’ve been going mad recently. So easy when you know how. John
Ramesh said
Thanks so much, I am so much irretated by these messages that is arround 10 message for the run of firefox and I have no option except to click OK button. Then i suddenly found this page in view of finding the solution before i reinstall the firefox and chrome both on my laptop. and viola the run as administartor and the problem gone.
Thank you again.
Sergio M said
I’m surprized that this problem is still happening since you put up your wonderful solution in Nov. 07!! I don’t know how to smack somebody awake at the responsible levels! But many thanks…SM
Tim said
Had the same problem. After enabling and disabling extensions, add-ons, etc., I found a relatively simple solution (for me). I uninstalled the “Skype extension for Firefox” and bingo. Problem gone!
JakinW said
Finally.. a solution.
I have had this problem for weeks and like you searched without finding your solution. Thank you.
sonny said
hey, thanks! it did work for me too!
Gary said
almost 4 years and this is still not fixed? wtf
there is no way in hell i am running firefox as administrator.
time to find a browser that works i guess
shannonclark said
well you only have to run it once and it has only been 2 years not 4
the issue is around Vista – not just Firefox – how certain files for the installation get installed (or more specifically not registered correctly always on installation), running as Administrator allows vista to move the files/set the permissions correctly.
Michael said
It Worked! It has been driving me nuts! This is an example of how dependent we have become on the ‘System’ to fix all our problems. We must keep the power in our own hands or we will become slaves to the system. Shannonclark…keep up the good work. Thanx for your interest in the community. Keep the spirit alive that this is OUR internet, not Microsoft’s etc. I hope you will be able to help those still having trouble.
anand said
Thanks dude That helped
Jo said
Almost Thanksgiving in 2009, and now I have someone and something else to be thankful for. Yours was the first site I clicked on in my Google results. Fixed in an instant. Fabulous.
shannonclark said
glad to help – sorry the help is still needed 2+ years later, but happy that I’ve been able to help so many people with what is a surprising but simple solution to a truly annoying problem
Michael said
Thank you so much. I’ve been trying everything to fix this and it worked. I was running Windows 7. Thanks again. Very much appreciated.
morg287 said
omg thanks so much i have been looking for a way to fix this for ages =O thanks so much =)
Christine said
Thank you soooo much. I was ready to give up on Firefox! Maybe they will get there act together…in another lifetime.
Mau Loran said
Well 11/11/09, the problem is still present with Win7. Like everybody I’m grateful to you for solving that pain in the butt problem.
Vincent Sparreboom said
Wauw, wished that all fixes were so easy, thanks a lot!
Karla said
This did not do it for me. Now what?
shannonclark said
What OS & Firefox versions are you running? In the past 2+ years you are one of the only people who had this issue to report that running as Admin didn’t fix it. What have you done and what error messages are you still getting? Happy to help if I can.
fluffy said
Dang! this was driving me insane (but not to IE, interestingly). and now, everything’s hunky-dory, so thank you very much.
Speed.d said
You Legend. Worked 100% Tnx
Zing said
Wow, that sounds like a wonderful fix.
1. I saved a backup of my FF bookmarks page
2. Uninstalled FF and restarted
3. Downloaded and installed FF and *STILL* had the error
So, I went the nuclear option…
1. I saved a backup of my FF bookmarks page
2. Uninstalled FF
3. Ran CCleaner to remove all dead DLLs
4. Removed *ALL* FF folders from the Programs folder
5. Restarted and reinstalled FF and voila! error gone
shannonclark said
overkill but would work – my fix is a lot easier
Zing said
Steps to Fix FireFox “Chrome Registration” Error
(The Nuclear Option – THIS *REALLY* WORKS!!!)
I made these directions as SIMPLE as possible and for ANY PC…
1. Download/install Opera or make sure that you have Windows IE available before doing this because we are going to completely remove Mozilla FireFox and Reinstall it and you will need another functional browser while Firefox is gone.
2. Download CCleaner here: http://www.ccleaner.com/
3. Install CCleaner
4. Close Firefox
5. Open CCleaner
6. In CCleaner Navigate to “Tools”
7. In “Tools” navigate to “Uninstall” and uninstall Mozilla Firefox
8. REMOVE OLD DLLs: In CCleaner navigate to “Registry” and click “Scan for issues”
9. When scan is done, click “Fix selected issues”
10. Navigate to Microsoft “Start” button in lower-left of screen
11. Select “Computer” > “C:drive” > “Program Files”
12. In “Program Files” find the folder named “Mozilla Firefox”
13. Right-click and remove “Mozilla Firefox”
14. Navigate to your “Recycle Bin” and empty it
15. Shut down and restart your PC
16. Select “Computer” > “C:drive” > “Program Files” and make *SURE* that the “Mozilla Firefox” folder is not there. If it is, repeat previous steps…
17. Open Windows IE or Opera, google “Download Firefox” and reinstall it. (Here’s the link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html)
shannonclark said
I approved this comment but DO NOT recommend this solution – vastly more complex (and tricky) than is needed to fix the problem. Just run ONCE as Administrator and the issues with permissions will be fixed if they were broken during an upgrade or new installation.
Zing said
I understand that my solution may seem extreme. Shannon, your solution is WAY quicker and probably better. But, I posted it because Vicki had said that “I tried the quick fix and got nowhere. Nothing changed. HELP”
One important item to remember if anybody uses my “nuclear option” is, save a copy of your bookmarks, they WILL be gone. There are tutorials out there for saving the FF bookmarks page.
neil said
this fix didnt work for me straight away…i tried running as administrator but got the same error… but then i tried running as administrator, disabling/enabling extensions ( within add ons window) and i havnt looked back … so thank you
Corrina said
Thank you!! This has been driving me batty for two days!
shannonclark said
Braddd,
The solution is to run as adminstrator.
There isn’t another easy solution – uninstalling and reinstalling may fix it – but the issue is with the installer & Vista, at times (fairly often if the number of people who search & view this post every day is any indication) the permissions on certain files for Firefox don’t get set correctly during the installation process – as a result when it runs you get the Chrome Registration errors etc. It isn’t version of Firefox specific (I first encountered this bug in 2007 – many many many versions earlier than the current version). You do not generally want to run an older version as frequently the new versions correct security issues which have been found with earlier versions and/or include support for modern web standards which more and more websites are using (HTML 5 for example being a big new set of changes)
Hope this helps
Shannon
Vicki said
I tried the quick fix and got nowhere. Nothing changed. HELP