hello, it might be a hardware issue with your keyboard (a misfiring key which launches the shortcut for the console) - can you try it with a different one?

otheriwise, can you try to replicate this behaviour when you launch firefox in safe mode once?

Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

Are you getting the split screen, with the Web Console opening below the page, or the separate window (Browser Console)? Neither should block you from using Firefox; you should be able to close either one by clicking the "x" in the upper right of the Web Console's black toolbar or the upper right of the window for the Browser Console.

Thanks jscher and phillip, I'm getting the separate window (Browser Console). 95% of the time I can close it, the other 5 it will not close and the window with the browser freezes. When it does close, most of the time it comes right back, making it very annoying, since I'm helping to stop what I'm doing and close the box. It has happened on different types of sites. In some cases it was on secure sites, while I was in the process of entering log-ins and passwords. I'm not a developer and I don't want to see it. I just want to turn off or disable the feature.

You can check for problems caused by a corrupted localstore.rdf file.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Corrupt_localstore.rdf

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

Phillip, I think you hit the nail on the head. I changed my key board batteries and the problem seems to have gone away. Thanks a ton!