Member Avatar for ear4aak

Hi all,
Wondering if anyone could help with a problem I've got with Firefox.
Love the program, but following an update a few weeks ago (I think) normal mode does not load properly, and crashes mid-way through opening the program.
I can open and use firefox in its safe mode and everything works fine. Only problem being that the extensions and themes don't work in safe mode.

Wondering if anyone knows how I could sort the problem.
I've tried completely (or so I thought) unistalling firefox, and then reinstalling. However, after reinstalling I still get the same problem (also a skin that I though I'd uninstalled is still active!)
I've tried to unistall in a variety of ways inc. add/remove progs, and the firefox uninstaller itself.

Seems a little weird to me, but if anyone knows of a way to sort the problem, or completely unistall, so I can reinstall, it would be great,

Thanks,
Adrian

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Good call by — this is a classic symptom of a badly behaved add‑on or theme: Safe Mode runs because it disables extensions/skins, while normal mode loads the offending item and crashes. For anyone landing here later, the short, practical checklist below helps diagnose, fully clean a broken install, and avoid data loss.

Always back up before deleting anything. Export bookmarks (Bookmarks → Show All → Import and Backup → Export HTML) or copy your entire profile folder. On Windows the profile lives here:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\   (Vista/7/8/10/11)
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\   (Windows XP)

To test without touching your current profile, run the Profile Manager and create a fresh profile:

firefox.exe -P

If you want a true clean reinstall, uninstall Firefox, then check and remove leftover folders that can contain globally installed extensions/themes:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\   (64-bit Windows)

Remove only after backing up anything you need. If you prefer to keep data, create a new profile and copy only selected files: places.sqlite (bookmarks/history) and your password files (logins.json + key4.db for recent Firefox; older installs used signons.sqlite + key3.db) — be cautious when moving password files between major versions.

When re-adding extensions, use a binary search or add them one at a time and restart to identify the culprit. Modern Firefox also offers “Refresh Firefox” from about:support to quickly return to a clean state. If crashes persist after a clean profile and reinstall, check crash IDs (about:crashes) and investigate third‑party interference (antivirus, shell/toolbars). Thanks to for the original tip and to for confirming the fix.

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Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

After loading Firefox in Safe Mode, load up your themes browser, select the default theme, select "Use Theme", and uninstall the remaining themes. Then load up your extensions manager and uninstall all of them. After doing this, try to start Firefox in standard mode.

Sometimes a theme or extension can cause Firefox to load improperly. My recommendation is to install extensions one at a time and restarting Firefox each time a new one is installed (if it won't start, start up in Safe Mode and remove the last one you added).

Member Avatar for ear4aak

chrisbliss18, your a star! Thanks.
That was my problem. I went into safe mode, uninstalled all of my extensions and themes, and the loaded firefox in its normal mode.
As simple as that!
In finding all my favorite extensions, I stumble upon a few more (I recommend colorful tabs, its brill!)
Thanks again,
Adrian

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