Firefox freezes loading pages
Hello
I have spent 3 days trouble shooting this and can't resolve it. Firefox won't load pages, just get a grey spinning circle forever. No other message. I close firefox and restart, it won't start as it is still running in background. Task manager will not close it. I have to reboot the PC. I have tried deleting profiles, which helps for a few minutes then it locks again. I tried re-installing firefox and again it works for a few minutes then nothing. I have completely deleted all 'appdata' and still no luck. New profile doesn't help. I checked all security settings, firewall, etc. and nothing helped. I tried safe mode and the problem still exists. I have used firefox for years and now may have to walk away. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Chosen solution
Hi Philipp I tried firefox 37b5 and it didn't work but I installed it over firefox 36. This time I tried firefox 37b6 and installed over a working firefox 35 and so far it works. I have only tried a few websites so far but no hanging. I will continue to test it and report back any issues.
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Start your Computer in safe mode with networking. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites.
Hi Fred
Windows safe mode with networking, firefox works. I tested several sites that I use and all seemed to work. No hanging after the first minute.
That means one of your other programs is the issue.
Open the options on all of your protection programs, and tell them to leave the browsers alone.
Also, check the programs that are on your computer
Windows: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs. Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. Linux: Check your user manual.
Go thru the list. If you find something that you don't know what it is, use a web search.
I use windows firewall and all looks good there. I ran several checks for malware but have come up empty.
Malewarebytes - nothing TDSS killer - nothing Microsoft Security Essentials - nothing Eset online scanner - nothing adwcleaner - nothing combofix - nothing rogue killer x64 - nothing ZHPcleaner - nothing sfcscannow - nothing found, ran 5 times to be sure
Not sure what else to check.
What I want you to do not is to Refresh Firefox. This will remove everything that is in the program, returning it to its factory settings. Your information will be saved to your desktop in a folder called; Old Firefox.
After, use the new profile Firefox will create. Do Not make any changes for now, Just surf around for a while. Is the problem still there?
Refreshing Firefox {web link} is a LAST RESORT ! !
Refreshing Firefox -- easily fix most problems
If you're having problems with Firefox, refreshing it can help. The refresh feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks and open tabs. Everything else, like user settings and add-ons are removed.
Once you are sure the problem is gone, use these links;
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
I refreshed firefox but it didn't help. Load one web page then hung indefinitely and wouldn't shut down.
Gonna try firefox 37 beta
I uninstalled firefox 37 beta5 as it didn't work and I re-installed firefox 35. Restored my profile and all works. Firefox 36+ just doesn't seem compatible with my system. I am totally stumped as to why firefox 35 works without issue.
In what way did the new profile not work?
If you made no changes to the new profile, then the problem is likely one of the other programs on your computer.
Start your Computer in safe mode with networking. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites.
I refreshed firefox 36.0.1. I made no other changes. I immediately open gmail signin page and it loads. I type in my name and password and it hangs. Grey spinning circle never stops. I close firefox and the window closes. Shortly after firefox crash reporter opens and i click to close firefox, it completes and sends the error report and closes. I then try to open firefox but a window pops up saying firefox is already running and can't open. At this point a reboot is needed.
I tried a clean install of firefox 36.0.1 with no addons or changes and same as above. It makes no difference the website. Not one website works, nothing.
When I tried firefox 36 in windows safe mode it worked. But once out of safe mode it stopped. If I use firefox 35 it works perfect and I can use my old profile. I just copy and pasted all info from my profile into new profile and everything loads and functions. Firefox exits properly.
Last night I re-ran several spyware and antivirus scans, just to be sure. Nothing was found. I used combofix2 and ran it twice to be sure. I reran sfc scannow. Everything else on my PC works except firefox 36+. Seems to be specific to my PC.
I have switched back to firefox 35 for now.
Open your file browser. Now go to the computers Programs Folder.
Make a list of all the programs and folders in this folder. You can also make snap-shots and post them.
Here is a screen caps of my program files folders. I included program files and program files x86 folders.
I do not see anything myself. Maybe someone else will.
I know that many things have been tried and I appreciate the perseverance here. There was mention of a crash report before you received a message that Firefox was already running. Do you happen to have the crash report id from about:crashes?
- Is there a parent.lock file in the profile folder?
- Are the profile folder access rights correct? See where to check here
- Is Malwarebytes set to run full time or only "on demand"? via source
Hold tight I am going to ask for a second pair of eyes as well.
Modified
Thanks Fred for the help. I am so stumped on this.
Guigs
I don't have the crash reports anymore as I uninstalled Firefox 36.0.1 and reinstalled 35.0.1.
Yes, there was a parent.lock file but it was 0 kb in size. I had deleted it before to test if it was an issue but it didn't help.
I checked Firefox 35.0.1 and it is set to read only but that said i don't have issues with 35 as for 36 i am not sure.
I have Mawarebytes set run on demand. I use windows firewall and Microsoft Security Essentials.
hi, please try updating to firefox 37 beta and see if the issue is still reproducible there: https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/beta/
Chosen Solution
Hi Philipp I tried firefox 37b5 and it didn't work but I installed it over firefox 36. This time I tried firefox 37b6 and installed over a working firefox 35 and so far it works. I have only tried a few websites so far but no hanging. I will continue to test it and report back any issues.
I posted this for someone else having the same problem. It sounds as if you are a little more tech savvy but I'm just going to post it like I did for others. I'm sure you don't need the step by step but it's late and I'm to tired to edit it. I haven't had any problems with it since taking these steps 12 hours ago.
I was having this same exact problem for the last week. It started happening after Firefox updated. I tried a few different things that didn't help. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling which didn't help either. I finally fixed the problem tonight.
Here are the steps I took to fix it. Make sure you are logged into sync and hit the sync button to update it. This will save your bookmarks and user settings.
If you want to be able to restore your current session go into your main drive and click users, your user name, AppData, Roaming, Mozilla, Firefox, Profiles, open that folder and copy sessionstore-backups and save it to your desktop or somewhere you can remember.
After you have done that uninstall Firefox. Now restart your computer into Safe Mode.
Go into your main drive usually C on most computers and click users, your user name, AppData, Roaming. Click the Mozilla folder and delete it. Now hit the back button and click on Local. Find the Mozilla folder in there and delete it too.
You can now restart your computer and install a fresh copy of Firefox. Once it is installed you can log into sync and it will restore all your settings and bookmarks.
If you want to restore your previous session close Firefox and make your way back to AppData, Roaming, Mozilla, Firefox, Profiles, open the new profiles folder (Example: abcd1234.default) and paste the folder you saved called sessionstore-backups in there.
You can now open Firefox and all your tabs will be there, and after a few mins all your settings and bookmarks will be restored by sync. You shouldn't have any more problems following this method. The pages no longer stop loading and it closes like it is supposed to.
I am using Firefox 37.0.2 and LastPass. I disabled LastPass and I am able to use the search button in Allrecipes.com. If LastPass is on, it hangs Firefox. Same thing happens with Outlook.com. If I have to click on the Log In button, it hangs Firefox. With LastPass, it hangs; off, it's fine.
@Dc828 If the above information does not resolve your issue, please consider creating a new thread containing the specific details of your issue.
Doing so will allow the Mozilla volunteers to give you solutions that are more helpful to you. This may help them to solve your problem faster and more efficiently.
Please, feel free to post the link to your thread on this thread for volunteers interested in assisting you.
Thank you.