Microsoft already released an update KB4474419 to add support for SHA-2 code to Windows 7 in 2019. That’s why Firefox has also started signing installers of newer versions with more secure SHA-2 code.īy default, Windows 7 doesn’t contain support for the SHA-2 signature code and that’s why if you try to run Firefox or other software installer signed with SHA-2 code, you receive error messages and the installation fails.

Now-a-days many software companies are implementing SHA-2 signing mechanism to provide more security to the end user. Both algorithm are used to authenticate that the product installer is genuine and coming directly from the real developer company and was not tempered with during download. The SHA-2 is a Secure Hash Algorithm which provides better security compared to the older SHA-1 algorithm used by installers of older versions of Firefox. It happens because the setup installer of Firefox newer versions (100+) is signed with SHA-2 code (also known as SHA-256 digest) and Windows 7 doesn’t support this signing code by default. Older versions of Firefox (released before version 100) do not cause any problem and can be installed without issues in Windows 7. The setup installer fails and displays error messages such as “Installer encountered an error”, etc.Īs soon as the error message occurs, the setup wizard is closed and you can’t install Firefox browser in your Windows 7 device. You have a Windows 7 computer and you are trying to install Firefox 100 or later version in your device.

Firefox for windows 7