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Crash on startup

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Firefox (and chrome, but not edge) crashes on startup. There's no crash report. The window shows up as an outline for a fraction of a second and then is gone. It doesn't show up in task manager. I've uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times. I've updated windows and my antivirus. I've tried a few other fixes that came up from searching for a fix, but so far nothing has helped.

Firefox (and chrome, but not edge) crashes on startup. There's no crash report. The window shows up as an outline for a fraction of a second and then is gone. It doesn't show up in task manager. I've uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times. I've updated windows and my antivirus. I've tried a few other fixes that came up from searching for a fix, but so far nothing has helped.

All Replies (14)

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We're sorry to hear that your Firefox seems to be crashing when you open it. Please perform the following steps to give us a crash report ID that helps us find out more about the cause of the crash.

  1. On the keyboard, press [Windows] The image "Windows key" does not exist. + [R]. This should bring up a Run window that contains a text field.
  2. In that text field, type %APPDATA% and press Enter. An explorer window should open.
  3. From that explorer window, double-click on the Mozilla folder, then double-click on Firefox and then on Crash reports. Double-click on submitted.
  4. Now, you should see a list of files that contain reports. Go to View > Arrange Icons by > Modified to get the most recent files at the top of the window.
  5. Open the most recent 5 files with a text editor and copy the IDs.
  6. Paste each ID with bp- into the reply window on the forums.

Thanks in advance!

You can find more information and troubleshooting steps in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.

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There's no crash reports file or folder.

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Seburo said

We're sorry to hear that your Firefox seems to be crashing when you open it. Please perform the following steps to give us a crash report ID that helps us find out more about the cause of the crash.
  1. On the keyboard, press [Windows] The image "Windows key" does not exist. + [R]. This should bring up a Run window that contains a text field.
  2. In that text field, type %APPDATA% and press Enter. An explorer window should open.
  3. From that explorer window, double-click on the Mozilla folder, then double-click on Firefox and then on Crash reports. Double-click on submitted.
  4. Now, you should see a list of files that contain reports. Go to View > Arrange Icons by > Modified to get the most recent files at the top of the window.
  5. Open the most recent 5 files with a text editor and copy the IDs.
  6. Paste each ID with bp- into the reply window on the forums.
Thanks in advance! You can find more information and troubleshooting steps in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.

There's no crash reports file or folder.

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What security software are you running? Can you try Windows in Safe Mode to see if you have the same start up issues.

Press Windows key + R (force Windows to start into safe mode every time you reboot the PC).

   Press the Windows Key + R.
   Type msconfig in the dialog box.
   Select the Boot tab.
   Select the Safe Boot option and click Apply.
   Choose Restart to apply the changes when the System Configuration window pops up.
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jonzn4SUSE said

What security software are you running? Can you try Windows in Safe Mode to see if you have the same start up issues. Press Windows key + R (force Windows to start into safe mode every time you reboot the PC). Press the Windows Key + R. Type msconfig in the dialog box. Select the Boot tab. Select the Safe Boot option and click Apply. Choose Restart to apply the changes when the System Configuration window pops up.

I'm using malwarebytes. Booting in safe made worked. I tried another uninstall and removed all mozilla files then restarted and reinstalled but still nothing. Just fyi, there's no profile on the mozilla browser so it's not add ons that are causing this.

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So if Firefox works in Safe Mode, did you remove Malwarebytes?

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Some problems occur when your Internet security program was set to trust the previous version of Firefox, but no longer recognizes your updated version as trusted. Now how to fix the problem: To allow Firefox to connect to the Internet again;

  • Make sure your Internet security software is up-to-date (i.e. you are running the latest version).
  • Remove Firefox from your program's list of trusted or recognized programs. For detailed instructions, see

Configure firewalls so that Firefox can access the Internet. {web link}

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Did you check the Windows Event logs ?

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jonzn4SUSE said

So if Firefox works in Safe Mode, did you remove Malwarebytes?

I tried adding firefox to the exceptions, nothing. I then uninstalled malwarebytes and had a look through windows security settings incase there was something blocking it in there, but still nothing.

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So Malware has been uninstalled and you're still having the same issue?

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jonzn4SUSE said

So Malware has been uninstalled and you're still having the same issue?

Yup. Just have windows defender now.

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You need to have Event Viewer open and see what's happening when Firefox goes BOOM. https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-event-viewer-windows-10

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jonzn4SUSE said

You need to have Event Viewer open and see what's happening when Firefox goes BOOM. https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-event-viewer-windows-10

Ok, so I thought I had the event, it popped up around the time I tried opening firefox, but then when I tried to repeat it to make sure no new events came up.

I'll add the event that I think it might be anyway.

Log Name: Application Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP Date: 13/01/2022 17:32:06 Event ID: 16384 Task Category: None Level: Information Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: DESKTOP-MQ4N2QE Description: Successfully scheduled Software Protection service for re-start at 2121-12-20T17:32:06Z. Reason: RulesEngine. Event Xml: <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">

 <System>
   <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP" Guid="{E23B33B0-C8C9-472C-A5F9-F2BDFEA0F156}" EventSourceName="Software Protection Platform Service" />
   <EventID Qualifiers="16384">16384</EventID>
   <Version>0</Version>
   <Level>4</Level>
   <Task>0</Task>
   <Opcode>0</Opcode>
   <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
   <TimeCreated SystemTime="2022-01-13T17:32:06.4478370Z" />
   <EventRecordID>1431</EventRecordID>
   <Correlation />
   <Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
   <Channel>Application</Channel>
   <Computer>DESKTOP-MQ4N2QE</Computer>
   <Security />
 </System>
 <EventData>
   <Data>2121-12-20T17:32:06Z</Data>
   <Data>RulesEngine</Data>
 </EventData>

</Event>

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Any help would be appreciated...