Kwatanta Nazarce-nazarce

All of your personal settings, bookmarks, and other information are kept in your Firefox profile. * For more information on Firefox profiles, see the [[Profiles]] article. Firefox will only use one profile at a time. It does this by putting a lock file in your profile folder when it starts. When you exit Firefox, the lock file is removed. If the lock file already exists when you start Firefox, or in a few other cases where the profile cannot be opened, Firefox displays an error message: "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system." [[Image:firefoxalreadyrunning.png]] __TOC__ {for fx3} = The previous Firefox session did not close = <!-- see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=399108 and https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=407981 on Firefox 3 delayed shutdowns --> Firefox needs a little time to shut down completely before you can reopen it. If you just closed Firefox a short while earlier, wait a minute and then try again. {/for} = Firefox did not shut down normally = If Firefox did not shut down normally when you last used it, Firefox might still be running in the background, even though it is not visible. Restart your computer to see if the problem goes away. {for win} Instead of restarting your computer, you can also use the Windows Task Manager to close the existing Firefox process: # Right-click on an empty spot in the Windows task bar and select {menu Task Manager} (or press {key Ctrl}+{key Shift}+{key Esc}). <!-- Image needed? <br/> <br/> [[Image:notron360sucks-taksmanager.png]] <br/> <br/> --> # When the Windows Task Manager opens, select the {menu Processes} tab. <!-- Image needed? This one is on Windows XP <br/> <br/> [[Image:TaskManagerProcesses.png]]<br/> <br/> --> # Select the entry for '''firefox.exe''' (press {key F} on the keyboard to find it) and click {button End Process}. # Click {button Yes} in the "Task Manager Warning" dialog that appears. <!-- Image needed? This one is on Windows XP: <br/> <br/>[[Image:TaskMgrWarning.PNG]]<br/> <br/> --> # Repeat the above steps to end any additional firefox.exe processes, if more than one entry is found, then exit the Windows Task Manager. # Start Firefox normally. {/for} ;:{note}'''Note:''' If this is a recurring problem, see [[Firefox hangs#Hang at exit|Firefox hangs - Hang at exit]] for possible causes and solutions.{/note} If restarting the computer didn't help, it may be that Firefox previously exited without deleting the lock file. # Restart your computer. After it restarts, don't try to start Firefox. # Go to your Firefox profile folder - see [[Profiles#How to find your profile|How to find your profile]]. # Delete the lock file {filepath {for win}parent.lock{/for}{for mac,linux}.parentlock{/for}} ** {for win}If you attempt to delete the {filepath parent.lock} file and receive the error, "Cannot delete parent: The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable", restart the computer and run the error-checking tool [http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265 Chkdsk] (Windows 2000, XP) or [http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=186365 ScanDisk] (Windows 98, ME){/for}{for mac}You need to use a free utility like Onyx or Maintain to turn on visibility for invisible files to show {filepath .parentlock}. This file contains no information, and deleting it will unlock the profile.{/for}{for linux}You will need to turn on the display of hidden files. In the File Browser window, select the {menu View} menu and make sure {menu Show Hidden Files} is checked.{/for} = Profile folder is unavailable = If Firefox cannot find the [[Profiles|profile folder]], it will report that the profile is in use or already running. This can happen if you manually delete, rename or move the profile folder; if you run Firefox from removable media; or if the profile folder is stored on a network drive. In such cases, you should restore the Firefox profile folder to its original name and location. <!-- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=278860 --> = Access rights = Firefox must also have the right to create files in the profile folder. This can happen if you try to use a profile from a file system mounted with read-only (e.g. a remote Windows share which doesn't have "Allow network users to change my files" checked). To check if the profile folder has the proper permissions: {for win} # Go to your Firefox profile folder - see [[Profiles#How to find your profile|How to find your profile]]. # Go up one folder. # Right-click on your profile folder, and select {menu Properties}. # Click on the {menu General} tab. # Make sure '''Read-only''' is not checked marked.<br/> <br/>[[Image:readonlyprofile.png]]<br/> {/for} {for mac} # Go to your Firefox profile folder - see [[Profiles#How to find your profile|How to find your profile]]. # Go up one folder. # Hold down the {key Ctrl} key while you click on your profile folder, and select {menu Get Info}. # Make sure '''Ownership & Permissions''' is set to '''Read & Write'''. {/for} {for linux} # Go to your Firefox profile folder - see [[Profiles#How to find your profile|How to find your profile]]. # Go up one folder. # Right-click on your profile folder, and select {menu Properties}. # Click on the {menu Permissions} tab. # Make sure '''Folder access''' is set to '''Create and delete files'''. {/for} = Restoring data from a locked profile = If you are unable to unlock the profile using the above methods, use the Profile Manager to create a new profile and migrate your data from the locked profile to the new profile. For information on how to do this, see [[Recovering important data from an old profile]]. {note}'''Note:''' If you make a mistake entering the [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Command_line_arguments command line argument] to start the Profile Manager, you may get the message that Firefox is already running. ||'''Incorrect'''|'''Correct''' -Profile Manager|-ProfileManager|| For more information about the Profile Manager, see [[Managing profiles]].{/note} <!-- MZ credit --> <br/> <br/> '''''Based on information from [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_in_use Profile in use (mozillaZine KB)]'''''