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Version 3.6.12 hard-crashes(deleted from program files) by taking over my CPU(100%)when I open New York Times webpage(including no other websites).

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  • Last reply by mulieri

mulieri
mulieri
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I am using WIN XP on a Dell 8400 machine. I recently upgraded to Firefox 3.6.12. I download the New York Times daily and for the first time ever doing so caused my Firefox to crash with message of Sorry from Firefox and subsequent loss of connectivity with the internet (I have no other browser and Firefox browser was destroyed permanently)

I regained internet connectivity by downloading an old version of Firefox (Mozill Firefox 2.0.0.12) . This version proved to be immune to the New York Times website bug and I was able to use the site with no problem. When I updated this old version to my current Firefox 3.6.12 the crashing problem was re-established.

Something has changed in the current version that makes Firefox susceptible to crashing by the current New York Times Website (accessing the NYT website with the 3.6.12 Firefox before 11/15/2010 did not cause this crashing problem).

Is there an option available in the 3.6.12 Firefox that would protect against CPU overloading?

I am using WIN XP on a Dell 8400 machine. I recently upgraded to Firefox 3.6.12. I download the New York Times daily and for the first time ever doing so caused my Firefox to crash with message of Sorry from Firefox and subsequent loss of connectivity with the internet (I have no other browser and Firefox browser was destroyed permanently) I regained internet connectivity by downloading an old version of Firefox (Mozill Firefox 2.0.0.12) . This version proved to be immune to the New York Times website bug and I was able to use the site with no problem. When I updated this old version to my current Firefox 3.6.12 the crashing problem was re-established. Something has changed in the current version that makes Firefox susceptible to crashing by the current New York Times Website (accessing the NYT website with the 3.6.12 Firefox before 11/15/2010 did not cause this crashing problem). Is there an option available in the 3.6.12 Firefox that would protect against CPU overloading?

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of your add-ons is causing your problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).

  • Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.

See Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems and Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems

You can also check for problems with Out-Of-Process-Plugins.
See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Plugin-container_and_out-of-process_plugins

Other things that need attention.

Your user agent shows a corrupted Firefox 3.6.12 user agent: 

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101026 Firefox/3.0.11 NET_mmhpset ( .NET CLR 3.5.30729)

See Web sites or add-ons incorrectly report incompatible browser

mulieri
mulieri Question owner
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Thank you cor-el for the mass of information on fixes. Some of it is beyond my computer lingo knowledge. I'm wondering if more info about my own troubleshooting attempts might narrow down the potential causes of my problem. Since it appears that the mozilla/questions website posting did not include what I filled in for the troubleshooting box I'll include my content here in hopes it will give you help.

Troubleshootings: The Firefox crash does not occur immediately on opening the NYT website.

After a minute of normal downloading behavior, imminent crash is signaled by onset of an almost linear rise in CPU Usage Meter reading (WIN XP) from a few % to a steady 100% over a period of about 1 minute. After 1/2 minute or so of steady 100 % CPU usage, mouse triggered scrolling of the NYT webpage becomes slower and slower followed by Firefox total crash.

I tried downloading the New York Times web-page on another Dell Machine hooked to the same cable internet router (Comcast) and did not have the CPU-crashing problem. This machine has an older version of Firefox (3.0.17)

I recently averted this rise in CPU % usage with Firefox 3.6.12 by noticing an add of some type (including an Add Block Tab at it's top right corner) at the top of the NYT page. I clicked the Add Block, chose to block the ad, and the CPU usage immediately dropped from 100 % to about 4% and the NYT website download was rendered safe again.

Unfortunately, in my panicked action, I did not notice the content of the ad. It may have had a lot of red background and was in a box about 1/4 of screen width wide by 1/6th or so of screen height.