Firefox Has Crashed In Vista But Can Be Accessed From Safe Mode?

Question

Techno22 0 Junior Poster

15 Years Ago

Not sure what to do.

microsoft:windows-vista-7-8

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Latest Post 15 Years Ago Latest Post by royng

Dani AI

Generated 9 Months Ago

OP reported Firefox 3.6 crashed on Vista but ran in Safe Mode and later started working again after a reboot. Several good ideas already appeared in the thread — on profiles, on add‑ons, on reinstall and on malware checks — so below are focused, non‑destructive diagnostics that help locate the real cause and preserve the profile.

Important distinction: Windows Safe Mode (booting Vista with minimal drivers/services) is different from Firefox Safe Mode (Firefox startup with add‑ons/themes disabled). Which one worked points to different causes. A quick way to test Firefox Safe Mode and to manage profiles:

Start -> Run -> firefox -safe-mode
Start -> Run -> firefox -P

If Firefox only runs in Windows Safe Mode, suspect a third‑party service, driver or security tool. A clean boot helps isolate that: run msconfig, choose Selective startup, hide Microsoft services, disable the remaining services and startup items, then reboot and re-enable items in small groups to find the offender. Before changing services, create a System Restore point.

Check crash data before reinstalling. Use Event Viewer (Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer -> Windows Logs -> Application) and look for Error entries where the Faulting application is firefox.exe; note the Faulting module and exception code. Also enter about:crashes in Firefox to get crash IDs — those IDs and the Event Viewer lines are the fastest way to identify whether a plugin, graphics driver, or Firefox core is failing.

Common culprits: out‑of‑date plugins (Flash/Java), the graphics driver or hardware acceleration. Try disabling plugins via Add‑ons -> Plugins and turn off hardware acceleration (Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> uncheck "Use hardware acceleration when available"). Preserve profile data before major steps by copying the profile folder:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

Copying that folder preserves bookmarks (places.sqlite), extensions and prefs. Collecting Event Viewer entries and about:crashes IDs is the shortest route to a durable fix when a simple reboot only masks the underlying conflict.

All 36 Replies

crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster

15 Years Ago

Get Opera :).

Try re-installing FF.

Chronister 0 Light Poster

15 Years Ago

Create a new profile for Firefox (make sure to backup any of your bookmarks (ex. xMarks)) and start from there. Your profile file might be corrupted. Or, take the previous person's suggestion and switch to Opera (j/k).

crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster

15 Years Ago

I meant re-install FF, not the OS :).

Rik_ 111 Nearly a Posting Maven

15 Years Ago

Often malware is the cause of browser problems. Have you scanned your system thoroughly?

royng commented: good idea never thought of that before +1

Portgas D. Ace 7 Posting Pro in Training

15 Years Ago

Get Google Chrome :P

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333Geek -2 Newbie Poster · Answer 1 · 2011-03-22T14:32:53+00:00

333Geek -2 Newbie Poster

15 Years Ago

which version of firefox are you using?

Techno22 0 Junior Poster · Answer 2 · 2011-03-22T14:48:22+00:00

Techno22 0 Junior Poster

15 Years Ago

which version of firefox are you using?

3.6

Techno22 0 Junior Poster · Answer 3 · 2011-03-22T14:50:15+00:00

Get Opera :).
Try re-installing FF.

Prefer FF to Opera.
Afraid that I will lose everything if I re - install.

Techno22 0 Junior Poster · Answer 4 · 2011-03-22T14:52:23+00:00

Create a new profile for Firefox (make sure to backup any of your bookmarks (ex. xMarks)) and start from there. Your profile file might be corrupted. Or, take the previous person's suggestion and switch to Opera (j/k).

Prefer FF.
It does work fine in Safe Mode which suggests that everything is still there.

333Geek -2 Newbie Poster · Answer 5 · 2011-03-22T15:20:50+00:00

I think the problem is with the update of your Firefox or one of the Add-on. Try uninstall/disable the most recent add-on, and see if it fixed the problem.

I'm a big fan of Firefox.

Techno22 0 Junior Poster · Answer 6 · 2011-03-22T15:26:56+00:00

Thank you.
I have been fooling around with it since, and it has
come right for some reason that I am not sure about.
Just thankful to have it working.
Everything seems to be intact, too.
Appreciate your help, and also that from other contributors.
Yes, when it is working properly Firefox is best of all.

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 7 · 2011-03-22T15:44:29+00:00

3.6 is one of the new version, sometimes it will experience problem try using google chrome or opera. Opera is simple and easy to use, it is also fast. Chrome works the same. Try both and you see which one you want

333Geek -2 Newbie Poster · Answer 8 · 2011-03-22T15:57:51+00:00

Techno22,
Congrat!!!

And for some note, I've been using Vista, it has lots of bugs, that's why I upgraded to Windows 7.

Techno22 0 Junior Poster · Answer 9 · 2011-03-22T16:53:58+00:00

I meant re-install FF, not the OS :).

That's what I thought you meant.
Thanks for your help.

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 10 · 2011-03-22T17:44:52+00:00

Yeah, try scanning for virus maybe your application was corrupted

Techno22 0 Junior Poster · Answer 11 · 2011-03-23T03:11:43+00:00

Yeah, try scanning for virus maybe your application was corrupted

Did exhaustive scanning.
Nothing found.

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 12 · 2011-03-23T06:23:27+00:00

Then it has nothing to do with malware anyone. Try re downloading firefox from the internet

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 13 · 2011-03-23T06:59:19+00:00

Yeah like i have stated before try google chrome or opera. Internet explorer might not be so good

crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster · Answer 14 · 2011-03-23T07:23:41+00:00

Did exhaustive scanning.
Nothing found.

What is found depends on the scanners used. Because the ones used find nothing does not mean it is clean.

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 15 · 2011-03-23T07:25:35+00:00

What is found depends on the scanners used. Because the ones used find nothing does not mean it is clean.

Try using different anti virus software

333Geek -2 Newbie Poster · Answer 16 · 2011-03-23T07:36:58+00:00

Yeah like i have stated before try google chrome or opera. Internet explorer might not be so good

To me, I used all kinds of browser: Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE, and Safari. In my opinion, you want to switch from Firefox, I would recommend Chrome. It's fast, reliable, and comes with lots of Apps and Extensions.

333Geek -2 Newbie Poster · Answer 17 · 2011-03-23T07:42:15+00:00

Yeah, try scanning for virus maybe your application was corrupted

I agree with you and Rick from RCE, there might be virus; but I don't think Firefox is corrupted since Techno22 can use it in Safe mode. The recent update of Firefox and/or update of Vista probably the main cause of this problem.

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 18 · 2011-03-23T08:46:37+00:00

I would recommend you camino. It is very easy and free too.

crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster · Answer 19 · 2011-03-23T10:27:09+00:00

I would recommend you camino. It is very easy and free too.

Well, as far as I am aware, the OP would have to be running MAC OS X in order to run it.

benmar -5 Posting Whiz in Training · Answer 20 · 2011-03-23T11:46:08+00:00

benmar -5 Posting Whiz in Training

15 Years Ago

try to used google chrome......

Portgas D. Ace 7 Posting Pro in Training · Answer 21 · 2011-03-23T11:52:36+00:00

I'm so glad everyone understands, the high quality of Google Chrome, It just makes me happy inside. :)

crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster · Answer 22 · 2011-03-23T12:46:36+00:00

It's all well and good recommending this and that, but it does not solve the OP's problem.
Maybe he has no wish to use anything other than FF?
Can we concentrate on what might be the problem? :)

royng -3 Posting Pro · Answer 23 · 2011-03-23T15:29:00+00:00

Ok, crunchie. Ask he to reset the setting to default but backup his data in hard disk first

susheelsundar 0 Junior Poster · Answer 24 · 2011-03-23T16:37:44+00:00

susheelsundar 0 Junior Poster

15 Years Ago

do virus check once.

Firefox Has Crashed In Vista But Can Be Accessed From Safe Mode?

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