This appears to cause other problems - in edgy. It's another problem with compreg.dat, and removing the file is the cure.
This is reported upstream: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=353115 -- firefox 1.4.99 upgrade still have compreg.dat, creates issue https://launchpad.net/bugs/30791 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs