Hello Rich,

this problem could probably be caused by a Firefox extension.

To make sure that no extension is causing the problems, start Firefox in Safe Mode by following the instructions in the Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode article.

Kind regards, Tobbi Firefox Support Volunteer

SOLUTION IN BRIEF

I had problems with the chrome://global/content/contentAreaUtils.js:910 script, which I solved by disabling the Add-on Plugin named Google Update 1.2.183.9. In the Tools menu select Add-ons, select Plugins, find Google Update 1.2.183.9, and select Disable. Caution: this may not be the best solution, as disabling an Add-on stops it from doing what it is supposed to do.

SOLUTION IN DETAIL

PROBLEMS

A number of people have posted problems relating to the scripts chrome://global/content/contentAreaUtils.js:910 and chrome://global/content/bindings/browser.xml:187

Problems reported include Firefox opening slowly and/or with an "unresponsive script" message, web pages loading slowly, and script errors occurring when trying to save images or download things.

PREVIOUSLY SUGGESTED SOLUTION

Previous posters on this or other threads have suggested the problem is caused by an Add-on. (Add-ons are found in the Tools menu. There are three kinds: Extensions, Themes, and Plugins.) They suggest following 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fix common Firefox problems to identify the particular Add-on that is causing the problem, and to update it (if it is out of date) or to disable it.

However, Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems directs you to identify the offending Extension or Theme randomly, sorting through them one by one until you find the offender. This can be time consuming if you have a lot of them. Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems better suggests to start by honing in on a particular suspect Add-on.

SUGGESTED SOLUTION: SUSPECT GOOGLE ADD-ONS

I noted that both scripts people report problems with start with "chrome,” so I suspected the problem Add-On would be from Google and have something to do with their Chrome browser. Using the Tools menu I looked through my Add-Ons and found only two related to Google. One was downloaded after the problems started so I ignored it. The other is the Plugin named Google Update 1.2.183.29.

I tried to update it via Find Updates in the Add-ons window. This launched Mozilla Plugin Check, which lists Google Update 1.2.183.9 as “Unable to Detect Plugin Version.” Clicking “Research” did not yield any easy to find information about a newer version, so I chose to Disable the update entirely via the Add-ons window. Firefox now runs fine.

Note that disabling an Add-on will stop if from doing what it is supposed to do. I do not know what Google Update 1.2.183.9 does and could not readily find anything definitive about it in the Research results, although one person said, “There are several parts of Firefox which are updated by Google. One is the security ‘blacklist’ for spoofed sites and another is the Google Search in the navigation bar. The update may be for something else. Look in your about:config file and see if there's something added over and above the search and security. Might not hurt to see what the Google update plugin is linked to.”

My solution above is off base. In another thread a user wrote, "URLs that start with chrome:// actually refer to the browser window (so stuff like menus, dialog boxes, toolbars) and not to Google's Chrome browser. So not all "chrome://" errors have anything to do with Google. However an extension you don't recognize is often a good suspect."

FINALLY a solution that works. When I disabled the Google Update the problem went away.