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Since the last upgrade, FF no longer runs on my laptop! I get the crash report box but it never restarts upon pressing that option. I can't try the safe mode or the other self-help options because no FF browser window opens.

  • 22 cavab
  • 12 have this problem
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  • Last reply by AliceWyman

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FF worked fine before I accepted the latest update just a few days ago. My friend who lives far away said that she also has problems since the upgrade. When I click on the thumbnail to open FF no window opens, all I see is the crash report. Without the window I can't try the self-helps or give a crash ID (from what I understand from reading the options). None of the options in the crash report restore the browser. When I click on one, the box just pops right back up. Other than general slowness of my system and some possible hacking which got someone into my paypal account this week, I've had no other computer issues. (I've changed my email address with PP & changed my email passwords in case someone is accessing my machine through my email...I'm not very computer literate...I don't believe this can happen, yet no other options were presented). Because my friend also experienced this crash issue I think this is totally related to the upgrade & what ever it did to my computer such that FF no longer loads. Please give me steps to fix this issue without FF running--all the self-help techniques seem to assume that I can run FF, get a browser window, utilize the links therein. I can't get a window open at all!

FF worked fine before I accepted the latest update just a few days ago. My friend who lives far away said that she also has problems since the upgrade. When I click on the thumbnail to open FF no window opens, all I see is the crash report. Without the window I can't try the self-helps or give a crash ID (from what I understand from reading the options). None of the options in the crash report restore the browser. When I click on one, the box just pops right back up. Other than general slowness of my system and some possible hacking which got someone into my paypal account this week, I've had no other computer issues. (I've changed my email address with PP & changed my email passwords in case someone is accessing my machine through my email...I'm not very computer literate...I don't believe this can happen, yet no other options were presented). Because my friend also experienced this crash issue I think this is totally related to the upgrade & what ever it did to my computer such that FF no longer loads. Please give me steps to fix this issue without FF running--all the self-help techniques seem to assume that I can run FF, get a browser window, utilize the links therein. I can't get a window open at all!

All Replies (20)

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Did you try to download the beta Firefox?

Maybe it could work out?

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Thanks for your assistance, Abyssal! I have no idea how to do that. Consider me elderly, a car hit me in a crosswalk 8 years ago & since then anything technical is very hard to grasp! could you assist me? Can this be done through IE? Also, is the beta safe?

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https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox%20crashes#w_get-help-fixing-this-crash

Type about:crashes in the URL bar and hit Enter.

  1. Middle-Click the hyperlinks to bring up each Crash Report page in a new Tab; each page may take a few minutes to load.
  2. Then copy'n'paste the URL of each of those reports into the message box here.
  3. We'll see if we can help you figure out what is causing those crashes to happen.
If you can't open Firefox or keep it open long enough to get the Crash Report ID's, even in the Firefox Safe Mode - see the section entitled - You can't open Firefox because it crashes at startup even in Safe Mode.

Modified by the-edmeister

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Sigh, from what I understand, one has to have a FF browser window open to get these crash report numbers... I'd take a screenshot of the pop-up box...but that feature is in the same program which I can't run! Does IE work to get one's FF crash reports?

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You can't open Firefox because it crashes at startup even in Safe Mode:

   Click the Windows Start button, and select Run... on Windows 2000/XP or press Windows Key + R on Windows Vista/7. Type in "%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reports\submitted" including the quotation marks and click OK.
   In the resulting folder will be a text file for each crash report you have submitted. Using the View menu, arrange them by date to find out which is the newest file; and double-click on it to open it.
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Crash ID: bp-5aa782d9-3137-4905-86d5-efd072120217

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https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/5aa782d9-3137-4905-86d5-efd072120217
{4ED1F68A-5463-4931-9384-8FFF5ED91D92}

Looks like McAfee Site Advisor is the probable cause. Disable or Remove that add-on.

https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Uninstalling%20add-ons#w_how-to-uninstall-extensions-and-themes

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All these instructions say "At the top of the Firefox window". I can't get into FF to start with! Please advise! If I disable McAfee, what keeps my laptop secure? If I enable it again will it cause FF to crash again?

Modified by modadesigns

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You only remove an extension that add extra features to Firefox.
The main McAfee components (services) that protect you will still be running.

See:

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Just an FYI; This issue remains unsolved. Please read the text above & assist

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If I understand correctly you can't start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode because it crashes immediately? If you disable the McAfee extension you only 'lose' a dumb feature that Firefox already provides. You can still keep using the main virus protection. Please find your profile folder. Maybe you can move the extension folder temporarily so Firefox won't find them and load them.

Modified by Ferdinand

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I get NOTHING when I try to load FF but a small pop-up! Nothing. No window opens, no chance for "safe mode" or other tools which reside on the page because no page opens. It sounds like this is a task I'm unable to understand, much less perform. I guess my choices are take it in or live without FF.

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There is a safe mode shortcut in the start menu for firefox

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In Firefox 4+ versions you can use this method to start in Safe mode:

  • Hold down the Shift key while double clicking the Firefox desktop shortcut (Windows)
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YAY!! I have Safe mode!! um, now what?

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Disable or remove McAfee SiteAdvisor in the Firefox Add-ons Manager (Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) then restart Firefox. See these articles for more information:

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1 minute too late ;)

Modified by Ferdinand

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Frankly, I'm scared to do this! Does this leave my computer vulnerable?

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No, as already posted. You only disable an extension that McAfee has created for Firefox, but that isn't working as it should and is creating other problems as well as you can read here:

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YAY! It's up and running! Sending virtual cookies to all who assisted me!

I updated all the old versions of plug-ins, but I still get the red "Need to update" icon beside these programs! Even after restarting FF. I wonder why & if it matters at all...

Modified by modadesigns

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