Firefox stopped working
When I open Firefox and then either click on a bookmark or enter an address the browser does nothing.
Edge connects to the internet correctly.
I have rebooted and pulled the battery.
Chosen solution
By any chance, do you run Webroot security software? If you have Windows 10 or 11 and 64-bit Firefox 97, there is an incompatibility with Webroot which disables Firefox.
If you do not run Webroot security software, please ignore the rest of this.
Webroot is working on a fix, and Mozilla also is working on a fix.
Until then, a couple users confirmed that uninstalling and reinstalling WebRoot resolved the issue.
If you can't do that or it doesn't work, several other users confirmed that one temporary workaround is to run Firefox 97 in backwards compatibility mode. Here is how you would set that up:
(1) Open the Properties dialog for your Firefox shortcut. Either:
- right-click a Desktop shortcut, then click Properties
- right-click a pinned Taskbar icon, then right-click the Firefox (or Mozilla Firefox) item, then click Properties
(2) Switch to the Compatibility tab
(3) Check the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode for"
(4) If the selector for that option is not set on Windows 8, switch it to Windows 8
(5) Click OK and then start Firefox (if Firefox won't start because it is already running, you might need to restart Windows)
As a result of this change, you may notice that some Windows 10-specific features and styling are disabled. However, I am not aware of any major changes. If you experiment with this, let us know your experience.
All Replies (2)
Chosen Solution
By any chance, do you run Webroot security software? If you have Windows 10 or 11 and 64-bit Firefox 97, there is an incompatibility with Webroot which disables Firefox.
If you do not run Webroot security software, please ignore the rest of this.
Webroot is working on a fix, and Mozilla also is working on a fix.
Until then, a couple users confirmed that uninstalling and reinstalling WebRoot resolved the issue.
If you can't do that or it doesn't work, several other users confirmed that one temporary workaround is to run Firefox 97 in backwards compatibility mode. Here is how you would set that up:
(1) Open the Properties dialog for your Firefox shortcut. Either:
- right-click a Desktop shortcut, then click Properties
- right-click a pinned Taskbar icon, then right-click the Firefox (or Mozilla Firefox) item, then click Properties
(2) Switch to the Compatibility tab
(3) Check the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode for"
(4) If the selector for that option is not set on Windows 8, switch it to Windows 8
(5) Click OK and then start Firefox (if Firefox won't start because it is already running, you might need to restart Windows)
As a result of this change, you may notice that some Windows 10-specific features and styling are disabled. However, I am not aware of any major changes. If you experiment with this, let us know your experience.
https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/97.0.1/releasenotes/
Fixed Works around problems with WebRoot SecureAnywhere antivirus rendering Firefox unusable in some situations