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Firefox crashes

  • 6 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by John99

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Firefox is crashing constantly and when I try to open again is writting The application or DLL C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\xul.dll is not a valid Windows image. Please checkthis against your installation diskette.

bp-d0cc613b-3789-4a1a-a812-7db492150727

Firefox is crashing constantly and when I try to open again is writting The application or DLL C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\xul.dll is not a valid Windows image. Please checkthis against your installation diskette. bp-d0cc613b-3789-4a1a-a812-7db492150727

All Replies (6)

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Hi FirefoM, Sorry you are having problems with Firefox.

It is possible your Firefox install is damaged, or maybe you have a malware issue. Try a clean reinstall of Firefox. That involves deleting the program files. Do not try to uninstall or use any third party uninstaller, just follow the instructions lower down. Make sure you use an official copy of the Firefox installer, for instance from getfirefox.com or moziilla.org

If you have malware you will need to scan with multiple and up to date tools. Again I will give details lower down.

Please post back to say how you get on and what you did.


Clean Install

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox . This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location.

To do a clean reinstall of 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 mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu New Fx Menu and click the close button Close 29).
  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.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.


Malware Issues

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one. Windows 8 has antivirus built-in already.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

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I did it but still have this problem and when I am trying to download something Firefox is closing.

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Is Firefox improving ? Please expand on your reply by answering these questions so I may understand the situation better.

  • Did you try all six of those scans|tools listed ?
  • What did they report and find ?
  • Presumably Firefox opens ok or you would not be able to attempt downloads.
    • Have the ... not a valid Windows image messages stopped now ?
    • Or do you still have that issue?? and the download problem ?
  • Is Firefox only crashing or closing when you try to download something ?

Please paste in another two or three recent Crash report IDs and mention what you were doing at the time of the crash (If you remember e.g browsing or downloading)

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http://www.mattsilverman.com/2009/06/how-to-download-firefox-without-a-web-browser.html

also,

Using another computer, Download Firefox Full Version For All languages And Systems {web link} onto a thumb drive. After, plug the thumb into your system.

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John99 said

Is Firefox improving ? Please expand on your reply by answering these questions so I may understand the situation better.
  • Did you try all six of those scans|tools listed ?
  • What did they report and find ?
  • Presumably Firefox opens ok or you would not be able to attempt downloads.
    • Have the ... not a valid Windows image messages stopped now ?
    • Or do you still have that issue?? and the download problem ?
  • Is Firefox only crashing or closing when you try to download something ?
Please paste in another two or three recent Crash report IDs and mention what you were doing at the time of the crash (If you remember e.g browsing or downloading)

Firefox stop crashing, not a valid Windows image messages stopped. When I am trying to download something Firefox is closing.

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Thanks for the reply. You did not answer the part of my long question

  • Did you try all six of those scans|tools listed ?
  • What did they report and find ?
It is possible they give some clues. Also could you please look in about:crashes. When Firefox closes, after you attempt a download is it crashing ? Have you got entries for crash reports ? Does the problem only happen with one site, or with one sort of download. For instance music files or videos ? What sort of things have you attempted to download ? Is it all downloads and all sites that you try ?

To test if you can download something try with one of the avatars in this forum. They are very small files image.png but Firefox treats them as a download if you right click and use the option save image as ...

It is probably a better test to try an avatar you have not already seen try this link -> /groups/forum-moderators -> /user/KadirTopal -> Now right click on the face picture and use save image as ... . Firefox should normally try to download the picture for you. Does that work ? and does Firefox close down or not.