I've been having this problem for months and what little response I've gotten from Firefox has advised me to do all the things in this entire thread. And the problem persists. By following your advice, I've lost my bookmarks and passwords twice, and each time it took 2-3 days of experimenting to get them back; and the troubleshooting hints above have caused other problems I'd rather not get into. Look, I love Firefox, but I am sick and tired of losing my work due to an untimely crash while Firefox doesn't seem to have the skill or knowledge to provide a diagnostic program that could maybe point out some settings that I might change. You are leaving me no choice but to change my default browser to the hated IE (simply because my computer NEVER crashes while I am in IE), and I will check back with you occasionally to see if you've figured out how to diagnose and fix the problem. I've been able to copy the windows crash reports for the last ten or so crashes, so if you give me a way to send them to you in PDF or Word format, I'd be glad to do so.

pfw51, please start a new thread with your crash reports (not the windows ones, Firefox's) Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly)

Hi pfw51, based on your other threads, I think your issues may be somewhat different than this poster. If you don't mind, I'm going to continue over there:

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/960587#answer-441387

I first reported this problem on 4/16/13 and have followed ALL of the advice and none of it has helped. There has been a deafening silence as to what to do next. I have gone back to 3.6.28 and have been using it since then (5 - 6 hours per day) with NO problems. There is obviously a problem with builds post 3.6, but it seems to be beyond the wit of FF engineers to identify the cause. Bearing in mind that FF is now up to version 22, it would appear that this product is in melt-down.

I believe FF now stands for 'Fire Fighting' mode as opposed to FireFox.

Shame because I like FF, but when websites stop supporting FF 3.6, I will have to switch to something stable.

These same FF symptoms started happening to me about a bit over a week ago (around May 27 2013). FF was set to auto-update to new versions so not quite sure what version running before/when it started happening.

Windows 7 x64, NVIDIA graphics card, Gigabyte motherboard, Intel i7 CPU - Logitech mouse keyboard.

The system has had no other history of problems and all hardware checks out fine (and continues to run just fine when not using FF). What concerns me most is how the bug brings the whole of windows 7 to a screeching halt without error (even in the system event logs) - the CPU just hangs, mouse/keyboard freeze, and no other processing allowed whatsoever so even Ctrl-Alt-Del to task manager does not work: A hard reset required.

FF seems to work fine in safe mode (but I did not test this exhaustively), but not in normal mode even after a safe mode reset . I initially put it down to a buggy add-on, but all add-on's are standard well known ones and no new ones added before it started happening.

I have been over all other changes to the system with a fine tooth comb - Nada. It is a mystery, but the severity of the error will mean I will re-install FF to investigate further with extreme reluctance, which is a shame because it is otherwise a good piece of software.

Hi jeltz191, to tease out which aspects of safe mode are necessary for you to run Firefox 21 on your system in normal mode, you can try changing the settings individually. Although you say your extensions are standard, it is possible for them to get out of sync with Firefox after an update. You certainly should try disabling them. And of course disabling Firefox's use of hardware graphics acceleration. If you have never tweaked your Flash settings because up to now you didn't have any problems with Flash, I would look at those as well.

It may be worth starting a new thread, including your add-on details. You can do that here:

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new/desktop/fix-problems

I probably should say I do not believe FF is the lone cause here in this problem. It is just not reasonable to expect that an app like FF can bring a PC to a halt all on its own - the symptoms are much more that of a low level kernel driver getting stuck in a loop.

What I suspect is it might be that FF is asking something quite unusual of a display/keyboard or mouse driver - and this brings to light a bug in that driver that halts the PC. - This is just idle speculation on my part.

When I get some more time I might reload FF and investigate a bit further.

rnewfie - I am having the same problems. Just halts everything randomly, and only when on FF. I'm going to test out 3.6.28, but may just go over to Chrome or another Browser if that doesn't work. It is too much for me to deal with, as much as I love FF.

I had that problem and I used this forum to investigate the glitches one at a time. I submitted copies of the Windows crash reports and after searching all the diagnostic codes I found out that the problem wasn't so much in Firefox at all, but something in Firefox was interacting with the McAfee Security Center that came with my U-Verse. I had long ago turned off the McAfee firewall and real-time scanning because I am on a wireless gateway that has its own firewall, plus the Microsoft Security Essentials is always running. But when I checked the McAfee settings the firewall was back on again. So I turned it off again, made sure I told it to "never" turn back on, and rebooted. Then I checked it again, and not only had the firewall come back on, but real-time scanning too (even though I have another... and better... spyware that is constantly running). I turned it off again. The next morning when I booted up it was back on again. So I used the Windows Uninstall to completely remove anything with the name McAfee on it (there were three programs on the list) and rebooted. Immediately my four-year-old computer booted up twice as fast as it had been, everyday functions are much faster, and I have not had a single crash. I still get the occasional freeze-up but its always on web sites that never seem to stop loading, and if I wait a few seconds it frees itself up. The only issue now is that when I close Firefox, it sometimes keeps running in the background and I can't reopen it until I go into the task manager and stop the process. What's weird is that when it is churning in the background it is using 300,000-450,000 KB, when it normally uses about 180,000 when it is open. Not sure why that is. But at least I'm not crashing any more... for now.

I have now given up on FF, having been using it with no problems for years. To summarise, the latest version which doesn't crash literally within 1/2 hour, is 3.6.28. Later versions only work in safe mode. IE never crashes, but is slow. I am now using Chrome, which has not caused one single problem since installation. I was quite happy with FF, but 3.6.28 is such an old version now and because I can't run later versions, I am worried about security fixes - So, it's Chrome from now on - Much more solid and quicker. Coupled with the fact that FF is updated almost on a daily basis, I think that the development of this product is completely out of control and no-one seems to be able to make versions later than 3.6.28 work. Okay, I hear you say, 'Well, it works for millions of other people', but in my experience, I know MANY people who have given up on it for various reasons. I can't see FF surviving when there is Chrome and IE around.

Hi alwaysforgiven821, could you start a new question with your operating system, Firefox version, and add-on information? You can do that here:

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new/desktop/fix-problems

Hi rnewfie,
Sorry we are not trying to ignore you and your problems but others keep posting questions in your thread.

I first reported this problem on 4/16/13 and have followed ALL of the advice and none of it has helped. There has been a deafening silence as to what to do next. I have gone back to 3.6.28 and have been using it since then (5 - 6 hours per day) with NO problems.  

I believe you did say however that the newer versions do not crash if you use Firefox's safe mode. If instead you start the current Fitefox Release: Firefox 21with

• all plugins disabled
• all extensions disabled, and only the default theme
• hardware acceleration disabled

Do you still get crashes ?

Please post a couple of crash IDs from such crashes. (Preferably not empty crash reports! - if you can check them before pasting).

Additionally you could try disabling the new JIT java compiler:

• see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_crashes#JIT_compiler
• try setting the javascript.options.methodjit preferences to false in about:config

Does that prevent crashes or give crash reports that are not empty ?

John99, Not posting additional questions at all, just agreeing with the original poster that there is a problem and describing symptoms.

pfw51. I do tend to agree it is the interaction of FF with something else. But I only use Microsoft windows standard firewall and security essentials - no Mcafee at all, never been installed. The only external third party stuff is Spybot S&D 1.6.2.46. Mouse./keyboard is Logitech drivers, video is signed NVidia drivers. Any commonality here? (YES now I ask a question of users with similar problems)

Jeltz

Yeah, I didn't post a question. I don't really want to deal with starting a new thread, either. Don't see the point in spending hours trying to fix a problem and seeing my computer freeze anymore. Maybe something in a future release will fix whatever it is. I'll keep an eye on a few threads and forums and see if anyone comes up with an answer. Until then, it is Chrome or build 3.6.28 for me.

If instead you start the current Fitefox Release: Firefox 21 with all plugins disabled all extensions disabled, and only the default theme hardware acceleration disabled Do you still get crashes ? Yes, yes and yes.

Please post a couple of crash IDs from such crashes. (Preferably not empty crash reports! - if you can check them before pasting). It never produces crash reports despite setting it to do so. All that happens is the PC completely hangs - No disk activity, keyboard and mouse inoperative.

Additionally you could try disabling the new JIT java compiler: Did that too, still crashes. Tried versions 4 up to 21 - every version crashes within minutes.

Hi alwaysforgiven821, you wrote:

I don't really want to deal with starting a new thread, either. Don't see the point in spending hours trying to fix a problem and seeing my computer freeze anymore.

These problems generally relate to an interaction between Firefox and your specific configuration. Unfortunately, that means spending a little time trying different settings because no one else will have your exact setup.

I can't tell whether you tried running Firefox 21 in Safe Mode (Firefox's Safe Mode) as a quick test. It really is quick:

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

The difficulty that rnewfie has is, when Safe Mode runs smoothly, how do you tweak regular mode to work equally well? Usually it's a fairly simple matter of stripping out unnecessary extensions, updating the others, and disabling hardware graphics acceleration. That didn't work for rnewfie, as you can see.

By way of a PS, Looking at the 'What’s New in Firefox 4' (the start of the versions which don't work for me), there is a whole host of changes including :- 'Uses JägerMonkey, a new, faster JavaScript engine that is up to six times faster than Firefox 3.6' and 'Certain graphics rendering operations are now hardware-accelerated.' Although I have turned off hardware acceleration and JavaScript to no avail, I also noticed in the 'System Requirements' page, it states :- Recommended Hardware Pentium 4 or newer processor that supports SSE2 - I don't have SSE2. Is this a problem? It says that SSE2 is a recommendation, but is mentioned in the 'requirements' page. Is it a recommendation or a requirement?

Hello rnewfie,

Try clearing your Java cache, and History.

If you're not sure how to do that go here. --> I'm a Link.

If you still have problems, and are running a 64 bit operating system you may want to install Waterfox instead of Firefox. If you do install Waterfox, you should update your plugins on the Waterfox Download page below.

Waterfox Support/Forum

http://www.overclock.net/t/975626/waterfox-11-0-13-mar-2012-firefox-64-bit

Waterfox Download

http://waterfoxproject.org/downloads/

Sincerly,

Michael

Waterfox is an unofficial version of Firefox, please use at your own risk.

Copyright © Waterfox. Mozilla®, mozilla.org®, Firefox®, Thunderbird®, Bugzilla™, Camino®, Sunbird®, SeaMonkey®, and XUL™, as well as the Mozilla logo, Firefox logo, Thunderbird logo and the red lizard logo are all trademarks of the Mozilla Foundation. Logo by Miloš Mirkovic

Try clearing your Java cache, and History. I have done this previously. Also, created a new profile after uninstalling and installing various versions. I am running 32bit Windows XP.

rnewfie,
If Firfox 21 works in Safe Mode then as jscher says it should be possible to get Firfox21 working for you. Two thoughts

1. Did you try disabling the jscompiler by changing the pref ?
2. Is Firefox 21 actually crashing, are you getting at least empty crash reports, or is it possible it is merely hanging ?
   • Did you get crash reports from fx 21 with as much as possible disabled ?
     (If so please paste a couple of Crah IDs into a post)

Another unofficial alternative may be at least for test purposes to try Firefox portable as an additional browser.

Hangs may be slightly different problem. As hangs occur after startup it may be of interest to watch Firfefox's memory usage.