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Firefox freezing on "Connecting...", and other issues? Hanging?

  • 6 replies
  • 86 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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Basically, I open Firefox, it works okay for a bit (though it lags), then eventually, it starts 'hanging', as it is called. I can open tabs and go into options and the such, but it won't load any webpages or anything.

I will close Firefox, then try to reopen it. It'll say:

"Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system."

Firefox is not visibly running. If I press Ctrl+Alt+Del, and go to Processes, I'll see firefox.exe. If I try to End the Process, it'll give me a warning, then when I press 'Ok', it won't close.

It'll only close if a Restart my laptop. (Also, whenever this happens, my laptop takes AGES to restart/turn off.) Then once I open Firefox again, the whole issue repeats itself.

  • There is nothing wrong with my internet connection.
  • None of my virus scans have found anything wrong.
  • I have tried completely uninstalling Firefox, then reinstalling it. (Even with CCleaner and Advanced System Care 4)
  • I've tried Disk Defrags, Clean-Ups, etc.
  • IE And Google Chrome can load the same pages just fine.
  • I have tried many of the solutions in Firefox Troubleshooting for Hanging; none have worked.

It's really irritating. My favorite sites work best with Firefox, and I'm just too used to it overall. I don't want to have to use Google Chrome or IE. I prefer Firefox, and I hope someone can help me fix this problem.

Also, I don't want to download any previous versions of Firefox, as they lag, and end up with the same problem, eventually.

Basically, I open Firefox, it works okay for a bit (though it lags), then eventually, it starts 'hanging', as it is called. I can open tabs and go into options and the such, but it won't load any webpages or anything. I will close Firefox, then try to reopen it. It'll say: "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system." Firefox is not visibly running. If I press Ctrl+Alt+Del, and go to Processes, I'll see firefox.exe. If I try to End the Process, it'll give me a warning, then when I press 'Ok', it won't close. It'll only close if a Restart my laptop. (Also, whenever this happens, my laptop takes AGES to restart/turn off.) Then once I open Firefox again, the whole issue repeats itself. * There is nothing wrong with my internet connection. * None of my virus scans have found anything wrong. * I have tried completely uninstalling Firefox, then reinstalling it. (Even with CCleaner and Advanced System Care 4) * I've tried Disk Defrags, Clean-Ups, etc. * IE And Google Chrome can load the same pages just fine. * I have tried many of the solutions in Firefox Troubleshooting for Hanging; none have worked. It's really irritating. My favorite sites work best with Firefox, and I'm just too used to it overall. I don't want to have to use Google Chrome or IE. I prefer Firefox, and I hope someone can help me fix this problem. Also, I don't want to download any previous versions of Firefox, as they lag, and end up with the same problem, eventually.

All Replies (6)

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Click the orange Firefox button, go to Add-ons, then Extensions and remove the Freeze. com NetAssistant you have installed.

This is so called Adware which uses its database of paid subscribers to feed you ads based on your search results and runs continually in the background which slows down your system.

You also appear to be running some very old plugins which expose your system to attack. Please visit the Plugins Check page and update where necessary.

I'd also suggest you download the free edition of Malawarebytes from here: http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free and run a full system scan in order to eliminate malware as the culprit considering the above.

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I was having the same problem for about 6 months and have been trying to find the solution to this annoying lag problem.

I found a post that suggested that it was a Java problem so I Googled Java and my OS which is 10.4.11 and installed the version provided by Apple and VOILA, it is running smooth and fast again.

I hope it does the trick for you too. Try it!

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I thought the Java suggestion worked and that it was the cure... and I was wrong, same problem keeps reoccuring... I have tried both suggestions above and neither one worked! :-(

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I'm having a similar problem. I did a clean install of FireFox on my Windows Vista laptop. I had no problems going to google.com and other sites I was having problems with. As soon as I started adding extensions and themes, FF would hang everytime I went to any site. I had to start in safe mode because FF would keep trying to recover the session. I don't have this problem with my desktop which has FF 6.0. I think and wait to update that after 6.0.3 or so.

Here is what the Problem Report says:


Description A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Problem signature Problem Event Name: AppHangB1 Application Name: firefox.exe Application Version: 6.0.2.4262 Application Timestamp: 4e6163d9 Hang Signature: bc2e Hang Type: 0 OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Hang Signature 1: 6f823394cd79011cd003624bc869567c Additional Hang Signature 2: b711 Additional Hang Signature 3: 3ef0a56e0bef8eea811a68c89635d66d Additional Hang Signature 4: bc2e Additional Hang Signature 5: 6f823394cd79011cd003624bc869567c Additional Hang Signature 6: b711 Additional Hang Signature 7: 3ef0a56e0bef8eea811a68c89635d66d

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my PC is 4 yrs old, windows vista ultimate 64 bit OS, and worked fine with Firefox 3.6.4. Then upgraded, now it lags/ freezes and sometimes crashes!

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The default of the pref network.http.max-connections has been increased from 30 to 256 in Firefox 6+ versions.

You can try to decrease the value of the pref network.http.max-connections from 255 to a more modest setting like 30 as used in Firefox 3 versions.