Firefox crashing a lot

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Messages
4,704
I have firefox version 3.0.4 installed on my machine. It is constantly crashing on me. A couple times a day. I have tried reinstalling it and it does not help.

Is this a problem with the newer versions of firefox? I have used it for a couple years and it seems like it has done this since I formatted my PC and put the newest version (at the time) of firefox on it.

Next time it does crash I will post the message it says. The only thing that has kept me going insane is the built in feature which lets you load the previously open windows (so that it saves the pages you were looking at).

I have noticed it seems to almost always do it when I click on a link and it is opening up a new window. I will also have many windows open at once. Sometimes over 20. Not sure if that makes a difference but I do know it will do it with just a few open.

Any suggestions? Other programs to try? Sometimes I will try to open a page and it will make it crash every time and have to navigate there using IE. Not sure if IE still has the security issues but will use it if they have been fixed. Thanks and sorry for the long post.

Ryan
 
Have to admit I've only been running it in Linix for the last couple of years - but this hasn't been my experience. IE is simply way too likely to be under attack at any given moment - this is not a browser to consider unless you're in a corporate enviorment and like the IT guys to have full employment.
First off - take advantage of one of windows few advantages - and try to download the newest update to Firefox - they have had some very quick patches following a major update - this is probably why Firefox is less attacked than IE - if you can get something going on a MS product - you just might be able to get a month of use out of it before the next patch Tuesday?
Is your memory all still good ? Had a similar weird problem a few years back - one stick had gone bad - because of the way the memory was configured - this meant the another "good" stick was rendered in-operative. Box still ran and I didn't notice a performance hit until strange problems surfaced
 
Ryan, I had a very similar if not the same problem (by description) with new Firefox 3 when it came out. I tried googling and found out that there is some sort of incompatibility between my antivirus browser plugin (AVG) and firefox. I turned it off and voila - no problems since. I'd suggest you do the same - google your error message (there might be an error code, or library name in which the error is happening) and see what comes out (I remember there was also a problem with Java runtime environment, and some more). Just a suggestion.

Good luck,

Pavel
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I am running AVG so that might be the culprit. It hasn't happened since I posted but as soon as it does I will do a search although it seems to be a pretty generic message from what I remember.

Thanks!
 
I also had a problem with AVG and Firefox. Mozilla just released a new update for Firefox. Do a complete uninstall, re-boot and re-install. See if that does the trick. I'm using v3.0.4 and no (touch wood) problems.
 
Yes, upgrade to the newest version of firefox. They fixed a lot of problems.
 
You already have the current non-beta version of FF.

I have not personally had conflicts with AVG and FF, but YMMV.

I am not a computer expert by any stretch, my expertise starts and ends with actually using programs, rather than understanding their guts. However, I think your first major problem is having 20 windows open. Windows apparently use much more system resources than tabs. I almost always have a lot of tabs open, usually a minimum of 20. Sometimes when I'm really busy, I'll have over a 100. When those tabs are relatively simple text based pages, I have few problems, but if they are content rich pages like video (youtube for example) then FF hogs a LOT of system resources and can get overwhelmed.

I would recommend a few things. First off, use tabs instead of windows. Not only does it become way easier to switch between pages, but it's quicker to load, quicker to close, and uses less resources.

Then, download the "Read it Later" extension. That extension is a lifesaver, and works essentially as a bookmarking tool for reading pages later. You can click an option to have simple bookmarks, or for pages to be saved to your computer so that you can read them offline.

Next, download the NoScript extension. This is a great extension for security, but also it has the added benefit of keeping the content on pages down unless you have specifically approved it.

Also download Adblock and subscribe to the Easyfilter (if I remember the name right) filter set. It will filter out almost all of the ads on your pages, which will most importantly for you, keep down a LOT of system resources being used to load and maintain ads.
 
I had a few issues a couple of months back on my mac w/Firefox and I ended up just moving over to Opera. I like Firefox beter but it was doing some screwy hings that affected more than just firefox.
 
When you reinstalled did you remember to dump what was in "application data" for Firefox? Reinstalling will make no difference if you don't because all your settings and whatnot are in there, so if something in there is buggered...

Note: You may have your machine not set up to show 'hidden files' - tools/folder options/view/hidden files and folders [switch that to view hidden files and folders].

Windows XP/2000.

C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\

EDIT to add - If you haven't done it already - now would be a good time to back up your bookmarks etc. The FEBE add on is outstanding in that regard.
 
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Thanks for all the replies.

I will follow the suggestions and work on it today. Hopefully I can get it resolved with all the good advise.

Thanks again!

Ryan
 
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