I did start a new thread and it appears FF suddenly thought my flash plugin was too old and disabled it. Reinstalling the old version worked fine so now i'm all happy again. It was a combo of FF being weird and me not paying attention to a flash version installer. (I installed the IE one instead of the FF one by blindly following directions)

Thanks, Keira.

For the record, here is the solved thread started by KeiraTG, in case it helps anyone:

• https://support.mozilla.org/questions/926470

I DON'T BELIEVE IT! Firefox 13.0 AND Flash 13.3.300.257 FINALLY fixes the #@$%& problem!

Can you imagine? An issue that for SOME REASON didn't exist, finally gets resolved by the two kids on the block? I am totally surprised (insert rolling eyes here).

This is seriously more trouble than I need. I switched to Firefox because it gave me the least trouble - and indeed I have spent years advocating it to others. But since it went over 3.0 its been NOTHING but trouble. Firefox points to Flash - Flash blames the browser, and round and round it goes. I'm on Windows 7, 32 bit, 512RAM. With Firefox down, the computer is fine. Firefox starts, the pc SLOWS, for a bit as the memory use settles down. Once on the web however - GEESH. Click on a News page with a video? FREEZE. Too many tabs open at once (more than two basically), FREEZE. Facebook - OMG. I try to stay off YouTube altogether or I'd be restarting my computer all day long. Whether just scrolling the news feed or actually trying to engage, Firefox FREEZES. I'm pretty tech-savvy, and so for more than a year now I've been trying all the FIXES(?), updating and scanning and uninstalling and setting and safe-modes and this and that and the other. My question is when will there be a VIABLE option to all this WORK? I just want to use the browser. Firefox has all my Stuff stored and I know where it all is and I LOVE it that way - but it won't FUNCTION and the Updates to both browser and flash just make it WORSE! Version 10, 11, and 12 seem to have the SAME Problems! What do we do? IE is out. My computer balks at Chrome and Opera doesn't work like I want. Anybody??

Just an observation: My ***IE6*** & Flash 10 play youtube *better* than FF10, 11, 12, 13 14 & Adobe's verbose written code stuffed mega-byte behemouth, Flash 11. Indeed, youtube *plays* with IE6; with FF, etc., it simply freezes, again and again and again and again.

The problem is the techs & code writers are confusing 'different' with '*up*grade.' Adding bells and whistles and changing GUIs do not an upgrade make, either to a webpage or to a browser (or to a cell phone, television, automobile, etc.).

So far, I'm underwhelmed by the so called 'digital revolution.'

My TV takes longer to come on and to change channels--but I can see numbers for volume "control," etc. Wow, keen! I can't record shows without a digital decoder nor even receive over-air signals--but I can sharpen and brighten the picture with the precision of a laser--instead of just using my eye (which I do anyway--and so does everyone else). That's just swell! And the pic--when it isn't freezing due to poor signal-- isn't sufficiently "great" enough to warrant these (and numerous other) trade-offs. Solid state television blows digital away. Instant on--indeed, instant everything. And--this is the four letter word today among developers--it's simple.

My automobile, plastic made, small, with a suspension sys that insures I feel the road--and every bump in it--can digitally tell me the time, speed, etc.; but it can't 'digitally' tell me how many gallons of gas I have left. Swell.

My phone can wirelessly connect to Facebook, TV shows, even films. But when I dial a number, I still have to press a &**$# button to make it start calling. Spiffy.

The digital age, instead of simplifying things, has in many way become a testament to complexity worship, with the ever constant idol of change-for-change-sake blessing each and every bell, whistle, button, beep and "upgrade."

Perhaps, someday, this binary age will catch up with the past. For now, it's stuck in the age of the vacuum tube. Soooo yesterday, man, soooo yesterdy.

@mdlark1966M after trawling the internet for days to try and solve this problem and uninstalling flash plug in only to keep finding it reappearing i stumbled across this page and your answer , i thought well give it a go and hey presto it worked - many thanks