Problems Solved
PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT
Why won’t 64bit Firefox load?
Q I have the 64bit Firefox Portable Edition working just fine on my PC that runs 64bit Windows 7. When I double-click Firefox.exe in the prepared folder, it opens in 64bit mode with all my addons. However, if the browser is closed but I click on a web link in an email, for example, Firefox launches in 32bit mode. Moreover, my add-ons aren’t available. My question is, how can I force Firefox to always open in 64bit mode when I click on links? I’ve checked in Default Programs and there’s only one instance of Firefox. I've followed various tips and tricks that I found online but nothing seems to stop it happening. I’d welcome any advice on any settings that I can change.
Colin Culpitt-Smith
A Before we explain what’s going on, it’s important that you (or other readers) understand that portable apps are not installed in the traditional sense of the word. So, even though you’ve copied Firefox Portable Edition into a folder on your PC’s hard drive so it’s permanently available – as opposed to truly portable, on a USB stick or other removable drive – it’s not actually ‘installed’ so far as Windows is concerned. It’s just that the program file is there to be launched manually, by you, whenever you want.
With that clear, we’re confident that this perplexing problem has a really simple explanation – which is that you also have a standard ‘desktop’ edition of Firefox installed, in the traditional sense. For whatever reason, this edition of Firefox was installed as the 32bit version. This could be because at the time your PC was running a 32bit edition of Windows, or you simply didn’t
