Have a check which version of Firefox you now have is it Firefox 3.6.16 ?

Are you able to say more about "It just locks up"

• when does this happen?
• does firefox actually open and display a home page (or blank page if that is what is set)
• do you get any error message?
• Do you only get problems working online,
  if so is that with all or only some web pages.

Of the problems listed in Firefox does not work - Common fixes to get you back up and running can you see a description that fits the problems you are having. See also Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading

Thank you for your reply, John.

It happens when I try to open Firefox

Yes, it opens but I am never able to access any web pages except for the home page.

No error messages.

Problem is with ALL web pages that I have tried to load.

Oh, sorry.

It is Firefox Version 3.6.16

Presumably you are using the same machine and ISP but currently using another browser apparently IE8 . Start off by clearing the browser cache, and temporarily disable any security software.

If the above does not help then have a look at:

• Firefox can't load websites but other browsers can
• Basic troubleshooting

Thank you, John.

Glad to have helped, what worked, just clearing the cache ?

No, actually I ended up deleting 3.6.16 from my machine and downloading 4 AGAIN. The back, forward and refresh buttons were still not working. I looked through the answers on this site until I found the suggestion of creating a new profile to clear up the problem. I did and it worked. Again, thanks for your help.

When you are logged in, please click the Helpful button next to the answer that solved your Firefox support issue, so this thread gets marked as Solved.

Done, John. This is a link to the page that solved my problem:

[http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-...]

Thanks the-edmeister,

Another case where the appropriate solution is the owners own solution rather than one I have suggested. There are often cases where correct answers are not acknowledged, but this one falls into a class that does not exist, but is a common

• 'none of the above'
  • - owner found the solution

It seems to me that could be a good category to add. If I remember I will link this to a discussion that seems related.

Thanks PeaRidge,

With the way the forum works, it is not possible to mark your answer, the one containing the solution of making a new profile as helpful, or as a solution. It is however as the-edmeister suggests a good idea to mark a thread as solved, other users are more likely to discover the solution if a thread is marked as solved.

Making a new profile is of course step #8 of Basic troubleshooting

Now you have made a new profile just be careful,

• if you delete an old profile it deletes all content of that profile folder, so profiles need to be in separate folders/directories
• if you rename a profile, the folder name does not change, that can be confusing
• should you ever have more than one version of firefox installed (in which case you will probably use additional profiles) note that the delete settings option removes all the profile info from all installed versions of firefox
• note if you are cleaning up and removing or rearranging profiles you can do it manually by editing the file profile.ini or by using the user friendly profile manager
• the following article may be also be of interest http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_profile_folder

Maybe you can help me, too. Just upgraded this week from V3.6.16 to V4.0. In my case, trying to switch windows, click on an existing tab, or open a new webpage resulted in a 41 - 44 second delay. Windows Task Manager shows Firefox using 0% CPU with no I/O of any type. So I disabled all plug-ins and reboot, but no improvement. Thought it might be the latest Windows XP Security Patch, so uninstalled it and reboot, but still the long delay. Tried IE 7, but it doesn't have the delay switching its tabs or change windows using the Task Bar. Saw the entry about creating a new profile, so totally deleted my one profile and created a new one from scratch. Still the > 40 seconds delay.

I'm looking for other suggestions to try. I was also looking for where they keep V3.6.16 to see if that has the same problem, but not sure where to look.

Thanks

I recall they were thinking at looking at some reports of problems of slow startup in some instances with Firefox 4.

I use windows XP and have firefox 4 & 3.6 open at the moment. I am not noticing firefox4 as being slow. You could try experimenting with firefox 4 turning the hardware acceleration on and off.

It is easy to revert to firefox 3.6 if you wish, you could also do a custom install, put firefox 3.6 in a different folder and use a separate profile with it. Firefox 4 is advertised as being faster than firefox 3.6 so it should not be slower in switching tabs or windows.

See also

• Install an older version of Firefox
• Firefox takes a long time to start up and comments

I will have to leave it to others to try to explain why your firefox 4 is slow.

For that matter, why did you knuckleheads shove out FF4 in the first place? It breaks professionally built sites. God help the bloggers and others who use tables. Go back to 3.whatever. And pave the cow paths before you decide to upgrade and think you know more than the rest of us schlubs.

@jimellison,

If you have found sites that do not work with firefox 4 but should do , why not give examples in a new thread, but if the problem is with site design it may be more appropriate to discuss it in the forums such as this on mozillazine