Firefox says I have to uninstall a previous install before it will continue. I have done that and I still cannot install firefox

Question

I am trying to insrtall firefox. Every time I try I get a message that I must uninstall a previous firefox that apprently never uninstalled. I am told to reboot my compurter to make that happen but it never goes away. I have tried this three times now and am getting no where.

Answer 1

Several take home messages here:
always back up before you update.
always back up anything you don't want to lose. Kind of like flossing. Only floss the teeth you don't want to lose.
Norton is very, very bad software, and you should get rid of it.
You don't need antivirus software on your mac. Antivirus software on macs causes more trouble than it is worth.
Your hard drive may be failing and thus may not be salvageable.
You could try booting into the recovery partition and seeing if you can repair your hard drive.
If that doesn't work, then there is a small chance that a third party utility (like Disk Warrior or TechTool) might be able to fix your drive (if it is not failing).
If that doesn't work, you may be able to send your drive and a lot of cash to a drive recovery service and see if they can get your files off it.
In the mean time, get notes and slides from a (smart) friend.