Firefox crashes
bp-246727e7-eff9-41f4-b6dc-d906c2151115
Firefox has been crashing when I open it for over a week now, and I really miss it. The problem started when I updated the SilverLight and Adobe add-ons/plug-ins. Firefox has never opened since. I have re-installed it, un-installed and then re-installed it, tried running it in Safe Mode, tried installing it in Safe Mode, tried re-installing it after deleting the C-drive folders, and even tried uninstalling Silverlight and Adobe and re-installing Firefox without them even in the system. I tried re-installing them and then re-installing Firefox--nope. Finally, I went back to restore point in my computer from a week before the problem.
When the computer was restored, Firefox was there--version 41-something (Oddly, it was set to upgrade itself), which wouldn't open because it could not find a file called XPCOM. I can't get into Firefox to reset it to the factory settings, which I'm sure include XPCOM.
What now? I love Firefox, and I'm not ready to be done with it...
Chosen solution
Thank you for the report ID. That one is an "out of memory" fault. Firefox apparently requested a small chunk of 152 contiguous bytes of memory and was declined. System memory was about 83% full, which starts to get borderline for Firefox.
There is a bug report on file linking this (or a similar) problem to some of the operations listed in the crashing thread:
Row 10: nsPermissionManager::InitDB(bool)
Row 8: nsNavHistoryContainerResultNode::SetContainerOpen(bool)
Comments in the bug speculate that perhaps some changes in Firefox 42 involving a change of format to one or both of these databases causes excessive memory use just after installation. Did you just update to Firefox 42, or have you been running it for a while?
One possibility would be to take one of the two databases out of the equation.
- places.sqlite contains your history and bookmarks. If deleted, Firefox will start a new one by importing from your last bookmark backup.
- permissions.sqlite contains mostly site-specific permissions for cookies (allow/block), popup windows, and plugins (allow/ask/block) -- other information in here is accumulated over time automatically and probably you don't care about it.
I'm not sure you want to lose either of those...
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (18)
Sorry to hear about the crashes and thank you for the report ID. That particular report indicates Firefox was not able to get enough memory from Windows, since memory was 92% full. I don't think we can solve that, Firefox does tend to crash more when memory is over 80% full.
The XPCOM error usually indicates damage to the program folder. For that, I suggest:
Clean Reinstall
We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed.
(A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 42.0 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)
(B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable).
(C) Rename just the current program folder, either:
(64-bit Windows folder names)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox
(32-bit Windows folder names)
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files\OldFirefox
(D) Run the installer you downloaded in (A). It should automatically connect to your existing settings.
Will Firefox start and run more normally?
Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:
- \OldFirefox\Plugins
- \OldFirefox\browser\plugins
Otherwise, there's no reason to keep the old folder except research/curiosity.
Signature OOM | small
Attention Sumo's there are 30 related bug reports.
igd10umd32.dll = User Mode Driver = Intel(R) Graphics Technology
IPSEng32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection
Total Virtual Memory 4294836224 Available Virtual Memory 159346688 System Memory Use Percentage 92 Available Page File 6236446720 Available Physical Memory 456089600
Firefox uses too much memory (RAM) - How to fix This article describes how to make Firefox use less memory to make it run faster and prevent crashes.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-slow-how-make-it-faster
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-many-cpu-resources-how-fix
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-responding
jscher2000 said
Sorry to hear about the crashes and thank you for the report ID. That particular report indicates Firefox was not able to get enough memory from Windows, since memory was 92% full. I don't think we can solve that, Firefox does tend to crash more when memory is over 80% full. The XPCOM error usually indicates damage to the program folder. For that, I suggest: Clean Reinstall We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed. (A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 42.0 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.) (B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable). (C) Rename just the current program folder, either: (64-bit Windows folder names) C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox to C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox (32-bit Windows folder names) C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox to C:\Program Files\OldFirefox (D) Run the installer you downloaded in (A). It should automatically connect to your existing settings. Will Firefox start and run more normally? Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:Otherwise, there's no reason to keep the old folder except research/curiosity.
- \OldFirefox\Plugins
- \OldFirefox\browser\plugins
Thanks for your help, but I was not having any difficulty with Firefox crashing. that only started happening after I updated add-ons, and it has NEVER started since. It's using no more memory now than it would have been that day, two weeks ago, or two months ago.
I'm still not sure how memory ties into getting a new XPCOM to load.
Anyway, I read about a "fix" on line that sort-of works. I added another user profile to my computer that is not the administrator. then I downloaded and installed Firefox there and it works perfectly!
Now, I can't believe Firefox wants to re-establish and re-install all of my preferences, favorites, and programs--a month of work!--and not log myself in as the administrator--so that I can use Firefox.
Are you SURE there isn't something I can do?
Thanks once again for your help!
jscher2000 said
Sorry to hear about the crashes and thank you for the report ID. That particular report indicates Firefox was not able to get enough memory from Windows, since memory was 92% full. I don't think we can solve that, Firefox does tend to crash more when memory is over 80% full. The XPCOM error usually indicates damage to the program folder. For that, I suggest: Clean Reinstall We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed. (A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 42.0 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.) (B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable). (C) Rename just the current program folder, either: (64-bit Windows folder names) C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox to C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox (32-bit Windows folder names) C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox to C:\Program Files\OldFirefox (D) Run the installer you downloaded in (A). It should automatically connect to your existing settings. Will Firefox start and run more normally? Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:Otherwise, there's no reason to keep the old folder except research/curiosity.
- \OldFirefox\Plugins
- \OldFirefox\browser\plugins
Thanks for your help, but I was not having any difficulty with Firefox crashing. that only started happening after I updated add-ons, and it has NEVER started since. It's using no more memory now than it would have been that day, two weeks ago, or two months ago.
I'm still not sure how memory ties into getting a new XPCOM to load.
Anyway, I read about a "fix" on line that sort-of works. I added another user profile to my computer that is not the administrator. then I downloaded and installed Firefox there and it works perfectly!
Now, I can't believe Firefox wants to re-establish and re-install all of my preferences, favorites, and programs--a month of work!--and not log myself in as the administrator--so that I can use Firefox.
Are you SURE there isn't something I can do?
FredMcD said
Signature OOM | small Attention Sumo's there are 30 related bug reports. igd10umd32.dll = User Mode Driver = Intel(R) Graphics Technology IPSEng32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection Total Virtual Memory 4294836224 Available Virtual Memory 159346688 System Memory Use Percentage 92 Available Page File 6236446720 Available Physical Memory 456089600
Firefox uses too much memory (RAM) - How to fix This article describes how to make Firefox use less memory to make it run faster and prevent crashes.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-slow-how-make-it-faster
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-many-cpu-resources-how-fix
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-responding
Thanks for your help, but it didn't do me much good, I'm afraid.
Now, I read about a "fix" on line that sort-of works. I added another user profile to my computer that is not the administrator. then I downloaded and installed Firefox there and it works perfectly!
Now, I can't believe Firefox wants to re-establish and re-install all of my preferences, favorites, and programs--a month of work!--and not log myself in as the administrator--so that I can use Firefox.
Are you SURE there isn't something I can do?
So the current issue is that you need to transfer at least your bookmarks from your old Firefox profile folder to your new Firefox profile folder. Saved passwords and most preferences also can be copied over. But it's usually safer not to try to copy over add-ons if you can tolerate reinstalling them from their actual sources. It's a bit of a project.
You'll need to open both profile folders in separate windows, and close Firefox while copying files. This article describes what the various available files are: Recovering important data from an old profile.
Oh wait, you don't really want to use a whole new Windows user profile.
So going back to your problem.
Why did you mention XPCOM? Did you get an XPCOM error trying to start Firefox? If you got an XPCOM error trying to start Firefox, please follow my earlier suggestion for a Clean Reinstall.
The closest I ever got to having Firefox installed was after using a system restore that took my system back to 5 days before it I updated those Silverlight and Adobe add-ons upon Firefox's request. Once the system was restored to that restore point, Firefox was there and didn't open because "XPCOM couldn't be loaded" or the like. I thought yet another clean re-install would get me a "loadable" XPCOM, but even if it did, Firefox still crashes before starting every single time--when I am logged in as the administrator. That single XPCOM message was the only hiccup in a continual string of crashes-before-start-up for two weeks now. Any ideas?
Using a System Restore is never safe and should only be considered as a last resort.
Using System Restore can cause your Firefox installation to get corrupted because only white-listed files are restored, so always be cautious with using System Restore.
- You may lose data in the Firefox profile folder like .js and .ini files
- You may need to reinstall affected software
So you should definitely do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder.
You can find the full version of the current Firefox release (42.0) in all languages and all operating systems here:
Are there any submitted crash report files in your current/old Firefox profile folder? This article describes how to find the report ID numbers on disk if you can't run Firefox: Firefox crashes - asking for support.
jscher2000, here are the details from just trying to start Firefox moments ago:
AdapterDeviceID: 0x0116 AdapterDriverVersion: 8.15.10.2509 AdapterSubsysID: 00000000 AdapterVendorID: 0x8086 Add-ons: %7B972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd%7D:42.0,newtabtools%40darktrojan.net:55 AvailablePageFile: 7058595840 AvailablePhysicalMemory: 1058451456 AvailableVirtualMemory: 155623424 BIOS_Manufacturer: INSYDE BlockedDllList: BlocklistInitFailed: 1 BreakpadReserveAddress: 235864064 BreakpadReserveSize: 67108864 BuildID: 20151029151421 CrashTime: 1448115437 EMCheckCompatibility: true Email: gmail.com FramePoisonBase: 00000000f0de0000 FramePoisonSize: 65536 InstallTime: 1446681559 Notes: AdapterVendorID: 0x8086, AdapterDeviceID: 0x0116, AdapterSubsysID: 00000000, AdapterDriverVersion: 8.15.10.2509 DWrite- DWrite+ D2D1.1- D2D1.1+ D2D- D2D+ OOMAllocationSize: 152 ProductID: {ec8030f7-c20a-464f-13a3a9e97384} ProductName: Firefox ReleaseChannel: release SafeMode: 0 SecondsSinceLastCrash: 534 StartupTime: 1448115277 SystemMemoryUsePercentage: 83 TelemetryEnvironment: {"build":{"applicationId":"{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}","applicationName":"Firefox","architecture":"x86","buildId":"20151029151421","version":"42.0","vendor":"Mozilla","platformVersion":"42.0","xpcomAbi":"x86-msvc","hotfixVersion":"20150902.02"},"partner":{"distributionId":null,"distributionVersion":null,"partnerId":null,"distributor":null,"distributorChannel":null,"partnerNames":[]},"system":{"memoryMB":6092,"isWow64":true,"cpu":{"count":4,"vendor":null,"family":null,"model":null,"stepping":null,"extensions":["hasMMX","hasSSE","hasSSE2","hasSSE3","hasSSSE3","hasSSE4_1","hasSSE4_2"]},"os":{"name":"Windows_NT","version":"6.1","servicePackMajor":1,"servicePackMinor":0,"installYear":2012,"locale":"en-US"},"hdd":{"profile":{"model":"TOSHIBA MK6465GSXW","revision":"GJ00"},"binary":{"model":"TOSHIBA MK6465GSXW","revision":"GJ00"},"system":{"model":"TOSHIBA MK6465GSXW","revision":"GJ00"}},"gfx":{"D2DEnabled":true,"DWriteEnabled":true,"adapters":[{"description":"Intel(R) HD Graphics Family","vendorID":"0x8086","deviceID":"0x0116","subsysID":"00000000","RAM":null,"driver":"igdumd64 igd10umd64 igd10umd64 igdumdx32 igd10umd32 igd10umd32","driverVersion":"8.15.10.2509","driverDate":"8-31-2011","GPUActive":true}],"monitors":[{"screenWidth":1366,"screenHeight":768,"refreshRate":60,"pseudoDisplay":false}],"features":{"compositor":"none","d3d11":{"status":"available","version":41216,"warp":false,"textureSharing":true,"blacklisted":false},"d2d":{"status":"available","version":"1.1"}}}},"settings":{"addonCompatibilityCheckEnabled":true,"blocklistEnabled":true,"isDefaultBrowser":true,"e10sEnabled":false,"telemetryEnabled":true,"isInOptoutSample":false,"locale":"en-US","update":{"channel":"release","enabled":true,"autoDownload":true},"userPrefs":{"browser.cache.disk.capacity":358400,"browser.newtabpage.enhanced":false,"browser.startup.homepage":"<user-set>","privacy.donottrackheader.enabled":true}},"profile":{}} Theme: classic/1.0 Throttleable: 1 TotalPageFile: 12744462336 TotalPhysicalMemory: 6387777536 TotalVirtualMemory: 4294836224 URL: Vendor: Mozilla Version: 42.0 Winsock_LSP: MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP] : 2 : 1 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP] : 2 : 2 : MSAFD Tcpip [RAW/IP] : 2 : 3 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IPv6] : 2 : 1 : MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IPv6] : 2 : 2 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll MSAFD Tcpip [RAW/IPv6] : 2 : 3 : RSVP TCPv6 Service Provider : 2 : 1 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll RSVP TCP Service Provider : 2 : 1 : RSVP UDPv6 Service Provider : 2 : 2 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll RSVP UDP Service Provider : 2 : 2 : MSAFD RfComm [Bluetooth] : 2 : 1 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll
useragent_locale: en-US
This report also contains technical information about the state of the application when it crashed.
Modified by will19008
What is 40darktrojan.net:55/?
Modified by will19008
will19008 said
What is 40darktrojan.net:55/?
I think it's part of this email address: newtabtools@darktrojan.net.
We can learn a lot more from the online version of the crash report -- more details about what was happening at the time, related bug reports, comments from other users with the same problem. Can you retrieve any submitted crash report IDs as described in the article I linked to before?
Crash ID: bp-1081729e-3427-49a7-93db-36bd52151121
Thanks!
Product Firefox Version 42.0
Release Channel release OS Windows NT OS Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
Signature OOM | small
Sumo's there are 30 related bug reports
igd10umd32.dll = Intel(R) Graphics Technology
IPSEng32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection
- see if there are updates for your graphics drive drivers
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration
- disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)
https://forums.adobe.com/message/4468493#TemporaryWorkaround
- disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/891337 See also:
removed the "Chosen Solution" tag as this thread isn't solved
Chosen Solution
Thank you for the report ID. That one is an "out of memory" fault. Firefox apparently requested a small chunk of 152 contiguous bytes of memory and was declined. System memory was about 83% full, which starts to get borderline for Firefox.
There is a bug report on file linking this (or a similar) problem to some of the operations listed in the crashing thread:
Row 10: nsPermissionManager::InitDB(bool)
Row 8: nsNavHistoryContainerResultNode::SetContainerOpen(bool)
Comments in the bug speculate that perhaps some changes in Firefox 42 involving a change of format to one or both of these databases causes excessive memory use just after installation. Did you just update to Firefox 42, or have you been running it for a while?
One possibility would be to take one of the two databases out of the equation.
- places.sqlite contains your history and bookmarks. If deleted, Firefox will start a new one by importing from your last bookmark backup.
- permissions.sqlite contains mostly site-specific permissions for cookies (allow/block), popup windows, and plugins (allow/ask/block) -- other information in here is accumulated over time automatically and probably you don't care about it.
I'm not sure you want to lose either of those...
I decided to import all of my Firefox preferences, bookmarks, etc., into Chrome. Then I uninstalled Firefox, deleted my user preferences, reinstalled it, and imported them back from Chrome--bam! Done. It's working as well as ever! Apparently that much memory isn't as big a problem as one might think--Firefox never had a problem with it before and isn't now. Thanks for your help!
Modified by will19008