For something site-specific, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site. This flushes obsolete files and parameters that may be playing some role in the malfunction.

(1) Bypass Firefox's Cache

Use Ctrl+Shift+r to reload the page fresh from the server.

Alternately, you also can clear Firefox's cache completely using:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced

On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site:

• right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
• Alt+t (open the classic Tools menu) > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"

In the dialog that opens, you can remove your facebook.com cookies without affecting other sites' cookies.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?

One possible cause for the "slow script" dialog with the continue or stop options is an interaction between a Windows update issued last year and the Flash Player plugin's protected mode feature. I had that problem last Summer: Flash hangs Firefox (eventually get script continue/stop dialog).

However, unless Adobe has changed something, this does not apply to Windows XP.

Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

Try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox (you need to close and restart Firefox).

• Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

See also:

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

But, my Flash player plugin is only ever activated when I visit Youtube. It's never activated when I visit photo sites. And, as you said, I'm running Windows XP.

But, this is something I'd have to do everytime I visit a certain page, right? That's not really a solution, then, is it?

Hi FireFoxFan1, creating a new profile is a quick diagnostic test that distinguishes between problems in your existing settings folder and problems that will affect Firefox on your system even after a reset (without performing a Firefox reset).

Create a new Firefox profile

A new profile will have your system-installed plugins (e.g., Flash) and extensions (e.g., security suite toolbars), but no themes, other extensions, or other customizations. It also should have completely fresh settings databases and a fresh cache folder.

Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager using Start > search box (or Run):

firefox.exe -P

Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

You'll click the Create Profile button. I recommend using the default location suggested, in other words, don't choose a different folder. Then start Firefox in the new profile you created.

Does Facebook work any better?

When returning to the Profile Manager, you might be tempted to use the Delete Profile button. But... it's a bit too easy to accidentally delete your "real" profile, so I recommend resisting the temptation. If you do want to clean up later, I suggest making a backup of all your profiles first in case something were to go wrong.

I actually did this, today, and searched around my usual haunts. It seems that the new profile runs better, so it may be a corrupted file. I'm currently on my default profile, and this is the one I want to use.

Do you have an idea of what files may need to be deleted/renamed/recreated? Also, I named the new profile something very different from the default one, so I'm thinking of deleting it even though you caution against it. It says very clearly when I go to delete it which one is being deleted (I put the new profile on a new folder on my desktop). But, since you cautioned me against it, I haven't gone all the way to deleting it.

Hi FireFoxFan1, perhaps it would make the most sense for you to use the Reset feature? You will need to reinstall Status-4-evar and recustomize your toolbar. More info in this article: Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings.

Note that your System Details List shows that you have a user.js file in the profile folder to initialize some prefs on each start of Firefox.

user.js Preferences

---

Your profile folder contains a user.js file, which includes preferences that were not created by Firefox.

The user.js file is only present if you or other software has created it, so normally it wouldn't be there. you can check its content with a plain text editor if you didn't create this file yourself.

The user.js file is read each time you start Firefox and initializes preferences to the value specified in this file, so preferences set via user.js can only be changed temporarily for the current session.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved

Is this something that can be deleted, then?

You should avoid creating a new profile folder on the desktop, but accept the default location as offered by Firefox. That will created a profile with a random file name part and the trailing file extension as the name that you set for the profile and is shown in the Profile Manager (new profiles: xxxxxxxx.Default User).

You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder.

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)

You can delete the user.js file in the old profile.
You can delete the prefs.js file as well to reset all prefs including prefs set via the user.js file.

Note that Windows hides some file extensions by default.
Among them are .html and .ini and .js and .txt, so you may only see the name (user) without file extension.
You can see the real file type (file extension) in the Properties of the file via the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer.

I've already created the new profile on my desktop, though. That's done. I don't see why it matters. In fact, if you want it to be a temporary test profile, you'd want to seperate it as far from your program files as you could.

The Firefox profile folder isn't located in the Firefox program folder, but in a hidden location in %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\

This is driving me crazy. I'm still getting this .js script errors. Every time I try a Yahoo image search, after loading the first page, I start getting .js script errors. Why can't Firefox correct this?

Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.

I didn't put 2 and 2 together and remember your earlier thread: Why do I keep getting this unresponsive script error?

This was my last diagnosis in that thread:

• Since you have done a clean install (removing C:\Programs\Mozilla Firefox\), that should rule out files dropped into the program folder hierarchy, at least until external software detects that its files are missing (most commonly at the next restart of Windows)

• Since you have done a Reset, or replicated the problem in a new profile, that should rule out settings problem except for system-installed plugins (still just Flash?) and extensions (none mentioned), at least until you start customizing

• Since you have disabled hardware acceleration, that should minimize the effect of any performance problems caused by graphics card driver incompatibilities

What does that leave? If the problem is with complex pages, presumably that means pages which pull in resources from a wide range of sources (multiple servers) and which use plenty of JavaScript. Could any of these be a factor?

• Security software which filters/cleans web retrievals?

• Security, privacy, or parental control software, or host file entries, which block or redirect requests to some sites?

• Security or privacy software that alters browser requests by removing or replacing some headers (e.g., referring site header)?

• Proxy, private VPN, or TOR service that alters the way Firefox's requests appear to websites?

• Malware? You can do supplemental scans using the tools listed in this article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware.

I would add: if you haven't already disabled the protected mode of the Flash Player plugin, please do that now. The following pages provide information on how to disable the feature.

• Adobe support article under the heading "Last Resort": Adobe Forums: How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?

• Manual steps: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/968190?page=5#answer-509209

• Batch file to automate the manual steps: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/982093#answer-518078

I've turned off my Windows firewall, security settings in the browser are set at default levels or below, and I've had no malware on my computer.

I got a script error ending in .js#xfbml=1:79 when I accessed Daily Kos, today. Yes, this happens on "complex" pages. As I've said before, anything that loads any kind of photo albums or videos usually triggers the script errors. Firefox has the hardest time rendering these pages correctly, or I should say that they do render them correctly but not before a buttload of script errors that hang my page for minutes at a time.

This does not happen in Internet Explorer.

How can I find a glossary or code for .js script errors? I assume there must be one since they are numbered.

I just got this one:

https://docs.google.com/gview/resources_gview/client/js/2711508188-gview_local_gview_base_mod.js:531

Hi FireFoxFan1, the :531 refers to line 531 in the script.

If Firefox is encountering an error on that line, the error will be listed in the Browser Console (Ctrl+Shift+j to open). You can "unclick" the CSS button to reduce the clutter of incompatible style rule warnings in the console.

If you get a continue/stop dialog referring to that line, it may be part of a loop in the script that is running over and over without exiting, and might not be the line that actually is causing the problem.

I'm still getting these, and it's getting worse. Just in this session:

Script: chrome://global/content/globalOverlay.js:105

Script: http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1:29

Script: http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js:79