-> Tap ALT key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar

-> go to Help Menu -> select Restart with Add-ons Disabled

Firefox will close then it will open up with just basic Firefox. Now do this:

-> Update Firefox to the latest version by going to Help Menu -> About Firefox -> click Check for Updates -> if an updated version is found then download the latest version and install it. After that follow these steps:

-> Update ALL your Firefox Plug-ins https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/

-> go to View Menu -> Toolbars -> select Menu Bar , Navigation ToolBar , Add-on Bar -> unselect All Unwanted/Incompatible Toolbars

-> go to Tools Menu -> Clear Recent History -> Time range to clear: select "EVERYTHING" -> click Details (small arrow) button -> place Checkmarks on Cookies, Cache -> click Clear Now

-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> Content -> place Checkmarks on:

1) Block Pop-up windows 2) Load images automatically 3) Enable JavaScript

-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> Privacy -> History section -> Firefox will: select "Remember History"

-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> Security -> place Checkmarks on:

1) Warn me when sites try to install add-ons 2) Block reported attack sites 3) Block reported web forgeries 4) Remember Passwords for sites

-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Offline Storage (Cache): click Clear Now button

-> Click OK on Options window

-> click the Favicon on SearchBar -> click Manage Search Engines -> select all Unwanted Search Engines and click Remove -> click OK

-> go to Tools Menu -> Add-ons -> Extensions section -> REMOVE All Unwanted/Suspicious/Incompatible Extensions (Add-ons)

-> go to Tools Menu -> Add-ons -> Appearance section -> REMOVE All Unwanted/Suspicious/Incompatible Themes (Persona)

-> Restart Firefox

You can enable your Known & Trustworthy Add-ons and Themes later. Check and tell if its working.

The Status Bar has been replaced by the Add-ons bar that extensions can use for icons and information.

You can use this extension to get the Status Bar back:

• Status-4-Evar: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/status-4-evar/

Most extensions have options to put icons on places other than the Status Bar but the extension mentioned by cor-el is fine.

If you really want to get to grips with Firefox you need to do some reading -

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features/

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Toolbar_customization

http://www.computertechtips.net/64/make-firefox-4-look-like-ff-3-6/

and when you get some spare time -

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/central/

The Status bar (renamed to add-ons bar), the status reporting, and urls are still not back inside the bar, so you will still need to install - Status-4-Evar

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/235283/

which restores use of status bar functionality in the replacement add-ons bar, explicit directions in this page of mine.

• http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/status4evar.htm

The above is item #10 in the following:

You can make Firefox Firefox 5.0 look like Firefox 3.6.19, see numbered items 1-10 in the following topic Fix Firefox 4.0 toolbar user interface, problems (Make Firefox 5.0, or 4.0.1, look like 3.6). Whether or not you make changes, you should be aware of what has changed and what you have to do to use changed or missing features.

• http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx4interface

Thank you for the help. I did remove some of the add ons and that seems to stop FF from crashing. I also stopped my Spyware Doctor from scanning e-mail and browser. So far so good.

Ruth

Perfect! Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was missing.

Ruth

Thank you for all the articles. I know I should spend more time researching and educating myself...

Ruth