Ditto.

Not plugins.

Started with logging in to sites like DropBox, Gmail, etc. Hangs the whole browser not just the tab. This happened under 23.0 and I had to create a new profile, not going through that pain again which is always the usual "fix" recommended.

Hi WyldHunter, I guess you were trying Safe Mode because it crashed starting up in regular mode.

What if you start Firefox to a blank page instead of your home page (or previous session, whichever you have set)?

From the Start menu, search box:

firefox.exe "about:blank"

If you have not already, can you disable the protected mode of the Flash Player plugin. See this support article from Adobe under the heading "Last Resort": Adobe Forums: How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox? On 64-bit Windows, the mms.cfg file goes in this folder:

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash

SandRat referred to a new profile. This is a quick way to test how Firefox runs with the plugins it finds on your computer, but otherwise "uncustomized."

Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager by pasting the following into the search box on the Windows Start menu and pressing Enter:

firefox.exe -P

Click the Create Profile button and accept the suggested location. (To avoid data loss do not choose the location of any existing folder containing data.) Then Start Firefox using the new profile. (More info on the Profile Manager: Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles)

Does it work any better?

After testing, to switch back to your regular profile, exit Firefox, start up the profile manager, select your regular profile, and Start Firefox.

I recommend not deleting any profiles without first making a backup of all of them, just in case something were to go wrong during the deletion process.

Hi SandRat, most articles and volunteers would recommend using Reset before a new profile. Well, it's a new profile with part of your data migrated for you.

How long does the tab hang -- indefinitely? If you wait a minute or two, perhaps using another application in the meantime, do you get a slow script stop/continue dialog? I got that problem after a Windows update, and it seems to be going around. Please see whether this thread helps: Flash hangs Firefox (eventually get script continue/stop dialog).

I'm familiar with the "recommendations" including reset, flash hangs Firefox, create new profile, and every other "try this, it isn't Firefox" or not having a stricter API for plugins in the cases when it is the problem, as I've used Firefox from its inception.

After living with this time after time creating a new profile is the fastest and painful if you have many plugins (at least until I began using FEBE and OPIE.

It isn't just a tab hanging, it's the entire browser. Tab isolation isn't working as it should by default (i.e. not using about:config to turn it off).

No, the hang doesn't pop up the "script" issue nor does it ever clear. The browser (all tabs) gray out and that's it. After 10 minutes of leaving it sit with no other applications running crashing is the only option.

I've noticed this bad behavior since V23 and continued (if not worse) with 23.0.1. Not all versions of Firefox have exhibited this behavior but certainly these two. Unfortunately this has been the case 4 times in as many weeks. Never had a browser, even those with "plugins" have this much of a problem.

Just pretty much tired of it.

P.S. don't ask for a crash report since Firefox doesn't pop the standard Crash Reporter nor are there any crash reports in about:crashes. Another issue with this version.

Sadly it is still crashing, even after trying the methods listed above. It seems nearly every site I attempt to go to closes my Firefox and takes me directly to the Crash Reporter.

This only started occurring the last few days, I have not downloaded anything or done anything different than any other day either.

Oops, sorry double post

Hi SandRat, I don't think Firefox has tab isolation in the sense of each tab having an individual killable process; it's still possible for a single tab to take down the browser.

Does the Firefox title bar or Windows Task Manager show Not Responding when you decide to kill it?

I can't tell whether you've disabled Protected Mode or are saying you are not inclined to try it. I resisted for a year until it became impossible use Firefox without disabling it. But each system is different.

It's hard to remotely diagnose something that happens once a week, presumably with a huge diversity of different sites visited. If any common threads come to mind, that could be helpful in debugging it.

Hi WyldHunter, in case your installation of Firefox got corrupted by the 23.0.1 update, you could do a clean reinstall. This is the standard forum procedure description:

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/ and save the setup file to your computer.
2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
   • Windows:
     • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
     • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
   • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
   • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
   1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
   2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

Please report back to see if this helped you!

Yes, flash protected mode is off. I also use flashblock so nothing flash related even loads.

In terms of tab isolation that's what I'd expect; that the entire browser doesn't fail, but I understand in Firefox's case that isn't the case. The comment was more of a "what good is tab isolation if it isn't tab isolation."

I'm aware of the fresh install process (bit of a canned response around here). Been there done that so many times I can do it in my sleep.

It has always struck me as a bit strange that I can update every piece of software on my system; OS, apps, browsers, etc., except in the case of Firefox; it's like a game of Roulette when upgrading or waiting for the next time a profile gets corrupted. Tiring, irritating and a major time waster.

A fresh install also doesn't explain why error reporting isn't working out of the box. Something new with V23 and carried to 23.0.1.

I've done what I had to to get it working again (minus error reporting) but seriously looking at moving browsers if this continues to happen as often as it does. Perhaps the release schedule is getting in the way of full regression testing. I'd rather have a slower release...and stability.

Hi SandRat, I didn't suggest the clean install for you. It's for the original poster in this thread.

The consequences of using a schedule for releasing Firefox will be interesting to study some day. Hundreds of bugs of all ages are fixed in each release, and features often "slip" to a later release if they don't work, so while 6 weeks is somewhat arbitrary, it's hard to know whether the old system of waiting (and waiting, and waiting) until someone decides to ship made for a more stable product. Of course, there are always unanticipated issues due to the relatively small pool of alpha and beta testers relative to the astounding diversity of the installed base.

But back to the hanging. As I commented before, it's hard to know what's going on without steps to re-create the problem. You might try terminating plugin-container.exe to see whether the problem is caused by a plugin. However, I believe that's the extent of the isolation available. Unfortunately, there's no way to halt problem scripts or otherwise terminate particular content suspected of being a problem.