When using facebook, Firefox locks up and nothing works except a hot shutdown on Windows Vista
About twice a week, usually, but not always, when using facebook, my screen locks up, no buttons or clicks on links work and I get a message in the Firefox title bar that says: "Firefox not responding". I'm running Windows Vista Home Premium on a Toshiba Satellite laptop and the only other window open is my email account on GoDaddy, but this happens even when that is not open. My hard drive LED begins glowing steady "on" when this occurs when usually it is flashing or not glowing at all. It frequently happens when changing facebook pages or trying to close facebook. Sometimes I get a "wait" hourglass, sometimes not. I have tried leaving the computer alone to let it sort out on it's own, and I have tried machine gun tapping on the "close" button. Either way the only resolution is a hot shutdown (hold down the computer power button until the computer shuts down) and wait a few minutes before reboot. On reboot, the same facebook page will open automatically and sometimes will lock up again when I try to close that window. On more rare occasions this lockup happens on sites other than facebook. My computer guru has looked at my setup and tells me my computer is fine and virus free. Since I'm a computer doof I don't know what he is talking about. Any ideas? Is there a difference between a "crash" and a "lockup" or do they mean the same thing?
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The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions, Open websites, and some Preferences.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
- Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
- Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
- Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Thanks mixalis88. I ran through the process on that and I'll wait to see how it works. I didn't even know that was available because I don't what most of the stuff on menus mean or do. I did get a little confused at the end of the process when it asked me to confirm my email address because there was no button labeled "confirm" or "change" and I didn't want to leave the page before I did what it told me to do for fear of losing all the data or not completing the process properly. But it seems to have done it's thing and I'll know in a week or so if it worked.
Do you have any cleanup or other security software running on a scheduled base that may cause such issues by possibly corruption files in the Firefox Profile Folder?
No, I do all that manually. I have turned off all automatic updates and security scans. I only run those when they notify me that something needs attention or I just feel that it is time to do so. Sometimes, Norton will be running a background scan while I'm working but that doesn't seem bother other apps or programs and it always tells me that it is doing it. This lock up issue happens when that is not running.