Firefox crashes
Firefox keeps crashing unexpectedly - please help advise
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I have already tried all of the things in these articles with no success. Please help.
Did you try a new profile without any extensions enabled?
Try to create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
There may be extensions and plugins installed by default in a new profile, so check that in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions & Plugins" in case there are still problems.
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
Try a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before reinstalling a fresh copy of Firefox.
- C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Installation_directory
Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.
- Firefox 16.0.x: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible, to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
- Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you will also lose your personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
- It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other profile data are stored in the Firefox Profile Folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.
You need to scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
- http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
- http://www.superantispyware.com/ - SuperAntispyware
- http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx - Microsoft Safety Scanner
- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Windows Defender: Home Page
- http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot Search & Destroy
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
See also:
- "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
An add-on that restored stability to my installation is Memory Fox. (I am in no way associated other than as a user.) What tipped me off is that the crashes began occurring after I had uninstalled it in the belief that memory problems had been fixed in FF. When the possible connection dawned on me I re-installed it and the stability returned.
After installation you need to pull down "Tools" click on Memory Fox and check "Activate Memory Fox - browser only." I had failed to do that and thought I was barking up the wrong tree until I noticed it, checked it and the problem went away. It may not help you but is worth a try.
My guess is that it is garbage collecting data and eliminating it's addressability before it is executed as instructions by something.