Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile":

• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#w_8-make-a-new-profile

There may be extensions and plugins installed by default in a new profile, so check that in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions & Plugins" in case there are still problems.

If that new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.

See:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

See:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_crashes
• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Firefox+crashes
• https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/latest-firefox-issues

If you have submitted Breakpad crash reports then post the IDs of one or more Breakpad crash reports (bp-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx). You can find the IDs of the submitted crash reports on the about:crashes page. You can open the about:crashes page via the location bar, like you open a website.

See:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Breakpad (Mozilla Crash Reporter)
• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Mozilla+Crash+Reporter
• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/How_to_get_a_stacktrace_for_a_bug_report

Thank you for taking the time to respond. However, if you had thoroughly read my post, you would have seen that I stated:

"I've tried all of the 'tricks' (new profile, ff safemode, etc) to no avail."

I've been an IT pro since the days when 56k modems & ATA133 were considered 'cool' and 'fast', and in that time I've become an expert on how to RTFM, and how to perform basic troubleshooting techniques - including browsing through the FF help topics. That being said; I have already investigated all of the potential & common solutions provided by your links - none of which adequately address the problem that I am, and have been having since FF4.

To be clear:

the problem

FF8.x closes immediately after launching (blink & you'll miss it) FF8.x frequently 'hangs' after the third consecutive (failed) launch attempt. FF8.x does *not* generate crash reports for these events, therefore I have no report data to submit.

negative results

• The crashing behavior occurs with a new/clean profile
• The crashing behavior occurs after a clean FF install
• The crashing behavior occurs in *FF* safemode
• The crashing behavior occurs after ensuring Windows & drivers are up to date.
• The crashing behavior occurs after confirming the pc is malware/virus-free
• The crashing behavior occurs *without* 'roboform' or 'Trusteer Rapport' installed. (Never been installed)

positive results

The crashing behavior *DOES NOT* occur in *WINDOWS* safemode, thus leading me to suspect a driver conflict. Upon further investigation, I found that the crashing behavior *DOES NOT* occur when the following files associated with my ATI HD5670 video card are prevented from loading:

• ati2cqag.dll
• ati2dvag.dll
• ati3duag.dll
• atikvag.dll
• atiok3x2.dll

Therefore, I strongly suspect that a conflict with one of these files is causing my crashing problem. I would appreciate it If someone would attempt to confirm my results, or at least look into this report further. My system specs (& previously posted problem report) can be found by following the link below.

Please see my first post from 3/22/11:

FF4 Crashes after hardware upgrade