Firefox reports wrong version

I am using Firefox 3.6.3. I know this because I have downloaded the latest version and ran it and have been doing so for months now. When I click on "Check for Updates" it says that there are none available. The problem is that some sites say that I am not using the latest. Whatbrowser.org says that I am using Firefox 2, but in "About Mozilla Firefox" it says that Im using 3.6.3. Heres a photo: http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/pebaker2/firefoxgrab.jpg

I am curious what the pane at the bottom is all about, the one that says 2.0.0.17.

pebaker2 said:

I am curious what the pane at the bottom is all about, the one that says 2.0.0.17.

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That is weird that it is saying that. Mine says 3.6.3 at the bottom. Do you have two versions of Firefox installed? When you installed the new one did you overwrite the old one or put it in a different folder? You might want to try and do is reinstall it again and see if that works.

Check that your cookies are enabled, because one (at least) of them will tell the site you're visiting what browser version you're using. Nice thing about Mozilla browsers is that you can set them to ask you what cookies to accept. Be discerning, as many cookies are portals to advertisements - and nothing else!

EM - when FFox is updated, it auto-deletes previous versions.

I suspect it's the "ant.com toolbar" that it mentions.

hughvane said:

EM - when FFox is updated, it auto-deletes previous versions.

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You are right about that but you can have two versions of Firefox which I did intentionally do for awhile to test the new version while keeping the old. I brought it up because the OP said he also manually downloaded the new version. If you don't put it in the same folder and overwrite the old one then you will have two versions. There are some issues when you have two copies of Firefox.

Although I think technologist might be right. It could be the toolbar that is causing the problem.

Check "About Mozilla Firefox" botton, if it says the edition is 3.6.3, no doubt that is Firefox portable edition 3.6.3, I guess Firefox 2 is the old one you have used before.

I used to keep two versions of FF (2 and 3), but deleted the old a while back. I reinstalled FF in the last few days making sure to replace the Firefox application I previously had -- I dragged Firefox into the Applications folder and clicked "replace", so I definatey overrided the last version. Also Spotlight only shows one version installed.

I deleted all cookies and whatbrowser still says that Im using Firefox 2. I will get rid of the toolbar and see what happens.

EDIT: I went to System Profiler and theres no doubt about it that I only have 3.6.3 on my computer. I made a grab of this too: http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/pebaker2/systemprofilergrab.jpg

Welp, uninstalling the Ant toolbar didnt work either. Would I need to go back and blow away all FF preferences and files on my computer? I dont know how to back up my bookmarks and preferences and the thought of doing that kinda makes me paranoid.

Since removing the toolbar didn't work then you can try a proper uninstall: Uninstalling Firefox

Basically all you do is delete the current version and manually delete your user profile. Make sure you backup your bookmarks and other things you want beforehand. So in other words instead of overwriting the old version you should completely delete it and reinstall from the beginning.

There are a few ways to backup your bookmarks but this is the way I prefer to do it. Open up your bookmarks window and in the import and backup menu and select export to html. Save your bookmarks wherever you want. If you are paranoid then you can also backup your whole profile folder before you delete by either copying or dragging it into a different folder. The bookmarks is the important data because your preferences can easily be reselected when you reinstall Firefox.

Running two versions of Firefox using the same profile can corrupt your user profile so it's best to create a new one.

Ok, Ill try that next. Before I do I am going to backup my FF profile. Where do I find the folder?

Nevermind! Here we go, hope it works!

The article I gave you a link to gives a link to where your profile is.

From your home folder open /Library/, then /Application Support/, then /Firefox/, then /Profiles/. Your​ prof​ile ​fold​er is with​in this​ fold​er.

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Did you at any point use something to change your user agent string? It's possible that while your using FF3, your user agent string is reporting that you are using Firefox 2.

Open up Firefox and in the address bar type about:config. In the filter box, type general.useragent. What do you see?

Ding! It worked! I backed up my profile and bookmarks, performed a complete uninstall of FF with CleanMyMac, and deleted my profiles folder. Then I dloaded the new 3.6.3 for the fourth or fifth time and finally websites are recognizing my browser as FF3. So strange.

Does anyone know what it was that is stored in profiles that made FF report as the former version?

Thanks for the help!

I don't know what exactly was stored in the profiles but when you use two versions of Firefox they both access the same profile unless you tell them to use two different profiles which is the correct way to do it.

Since they both write and access the same profile Firefox 2 must have left something of itself in your profile. I didn't have the same problem as you but I had other problems when using two versions of Firefox that used the same profile. When you install the application itself it only overwrites the program and not your preference folder where your profile is.