Member Avatar for Solicited

Okay so I recently downloaded waterfox the a 64bit browser made by the makers of firefox.
but now none of my other browsers work Opera/firefox/ie9/chrome
If I uninstall waterfox it makes no difference nothing works.

(I have also already tried taking off Use proxy for local servers)
I would really just like to have Opera and Chrome back waterfox is far to slow and chrome is just better for what I do.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

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A practical checklist to isolate and fix this without reinstalling Windows. Since already ran the system-file check and uninstalling Waterfox didn’t bring other browsers back, treat this as a network-stack / proxy / filter-driver problem rather than a missing OS file. The steps below go from least invasive to more intrusive — test after each step so you know what changed.

Start by isolating IP vs DNS vs proxy (open a Command Prompt as Administrator and run these): 

ping 8.8.8.8
ping google.com
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
  • If ping to 8.8.8.8 succeeds but google.com fails → DNS problem.
  • If ping to 8.8.8.8 fails → IP/driver/router problem.

If those point at the stack or proxy, reset the Windows network layers (again, elevated CMD) and reboot after the winsock reset:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
netsh winhttp show proxy
netsh winhttp reset proxy

Other quick checks before a system restore: inspect the hosts file at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts for odd entries; verify Internet Options → Connections → LAN settings (and each browser’s own proxy settings); temporarily disable any third‑party firewall/AV; and try Safe Mode with Networking or a portable browser build to rule out profile/extensions. Look in Programs and Features for VPN/tap‑windows/WinPcap/other network helpers that might install filter drivers, and in Device Manager for suspicious network filter drivers (show hidden devices).

If nothing helps, a restore to a point before Waterfox was installed (as suggested) or an in‑place Windows repair are reasonable next steps — back up personal files first. This sequence builds on and ’s ideas but focuses on winsock/proxy/driver causes because SFC already came back clean.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Is this Win 7, or 8? That will probably make a difference. Have you tried booting the recovery partition to reinstall the OS (after backing up all your data, of course)? My guess is that the installation put a new DLL on the system that replaced one of the standard ones, and that is causing the problem, yet the uninstall did not restore the original.

Member Avatar for gerbil

"the installation put a new DLL on the system that replaced one of the standard ones" That would be just too naughty. I thought M$ and the industry had stomped that path to hell looong ago, and sorted it. Maybe not.
But if your suggestion is the case here, then running...
sfc /scannow
...should repair the system.

Edited by gerbil
Member Avatar for Solicited

Win 7
running sfc/scannow
Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations

Edited by Solicited
Member Avatar for caperjack

not made by the firefox people .
Waterfox is a high performance browser based on the Mozilla Firefox source code.

i would try a system restore back to before you installed waterfox

also if you read there development pages you will see that all releases had bugs,that were fixed in next release ,so maybe they will fix your bug in next release

Edited by caperjack
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