Second time after updating all portableapps , firefox did not start , giving just an error message:
Couldn’t load XPCOM
It happened first time with 101.0 and today with 101.0.1
What I found out to make it running again:
downloaded FirefoxPortable_101.0.1_English.paf.exe from https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
extracted with 7-zip
copied all the folder and overwritten the original in portableapps folder
Firefox started again and all my bookmarks and plugins are still with me
Question: what to do now , so I will not have to repeat this operation for the third time after next update?
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This will happen to a local or portable install of Firefox or Thunderbird when the extraction of files causing corruption or can't complete due to locked files. It's usually a result of drive corruption but can also be caused by viruses, etc. Please scan your drive for errors (logical and physical) and run a full antivirus scan on your system.
If this does happen to you, you don't need 7-Zip. You can perform a standalone upgrade to reinstall: https://portableapps.com/support/portable_app#upgrading
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Scanned with ClamWin portable and it discovered viruses in some portable apps and in PortableAppsPlatform.exe itself!
Is that possible?
Any app you're running on your local PC can get infected. That said, ClamWin has a higher false positive rate than most Windows antivirus. You can double check any EXEs that show as infected by uploading them to VirusTotal. That's how we scan every file in 70+ antivirus engines before release. Most files will have a couple false positives. If something is detected in 10+ antivirus engines and it's not a generic warning (PUA/Potentially Unwanted Program, Encryption Service, Mining Utility, etc) then it's probably infected.
If Windows Defender is disabled on your PC, I highly recommend re-enabling it. If you're using an older/unsupported version of Windows, I recommend installing Microsoft Security Essentials.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thank you John for detailed answers.