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Why does Firefox like to freeze on me?

  • 14 replies
  • 10 have this problem
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  • Last reply by FredMcD

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I have been having an issue with Firefox freezing "sporadically" on my PC. In a nutshell, Firefox freezes typically once per boot-up cycle. By freeze, I mean that my whole PC locks up and is unusable, no clicking is allowed for any task, but my mouse is free to scroll around. Once the computer unfreezes, typically under 1 minute later, whatever action I had taken will pop up (including but not limited to ctrl-alt-del). This freezing only occurs on certain websites, and only after boot-up. The frequent problem I have isolated is yahoo mail, where the browser becomes stuck on "read s.yimg.com".

As far as I know, this only occurs shortly after boot up. If I magically avoid culprit sites, the PC eventually reaches a state where I have yet to witness a freeze. So say I get lucky on a few websites and edit a word doc for an hour, when I eventually load yahoo mail, it may NOT freeze.

I am currently running Firefox version 43.01. I had been using 36.04 until I updated to 43.0, and the problem started occurring on 36.04. I ran Firefox via safe mode, and also manually disabled all add-ons, but the problem persisted.

Also gave google chrome a shot, and I did not come across this same issue.

Anybody see this before? Curious for any insight you are able to provide, and a possible solution. While it may seem like a stupid question (do stupid questions actually exist?), could this be a virus? My gut tells me no, but I am no computer specialist.

Thanks!

I have been having an issue with Firefox freezing "sporadically" on my PC. In a nutshell, Firefox freezes typically once per boot-up cycle. By freeze, I mean that my whole PC locks up and is unusable, no clicking is allowed for any task, but my mouse is free to scroll around. Once the computer unfreezes, typically under 1 minute later, whatever action I had taken will pop up (including but not limited to ctrl-alt-del). This freezing only occurs on certain websites, and only after boot-up. The frequent problem I have isolated is yahoo mail, where the browser becomes stuck on "read s.yimg.com". As far as I know, this only occurs shortly after boot up. If I magically avoid culprit sites, the PC eventually reaches a state where I have yet to witness a freeze. So say I get lucky on a few websites and edit a word doc for an hour, when I eventually load yahoo mail, it may NOT freeze. I am currently running Firefox version 43.01. I had been using 36.04 until I updated to 43.0, and the problem started occurring on 36.04. I ran Firefox via safe mode, and also manually disabled all add-ons, but the problem persisted. Also gave google chrome a shot, and I did not come across this same issue. Anybody see this before? Curious for any insight you are able to provide, and a possible solution. While it may seem like a stupid question (do stupid questions actually exist?), could this be a virus? My gut tells me no, but I am no computer specialist. Thanks!

All Replies (14)

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Do you have NVidia’s network access manager or Forceware Network Manager software installed? Disable / remove it. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/connectivity-crashing-firefox-43-update


Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options)
key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?

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No I do not have either of those two programs installed.

And I tried safe mode, the problem still exists under the right conditions.

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johnnyjohnny2015 said

And I tried safe mode, the problem still exists under the right conditions.

What conditions?

Start your Computer in safe mode with networking. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites. Is the problem still there?

Starting The Computer In Safe Mode;
Free Online Encyclopedia

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By "right conditions", I was referring to yahoo mail as I explained in my original question. The issue is not limited to yahoo mail, but yahoo mail is the one site I have pinpointed as consistently causing the issue. Sorry if I was unclear about that :)

Next time I boot my PC I will boot to safe mode and report back on what happens.

Any idea what could be causing this issue?

Thanks for the help!

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Just gave two ideas a shot: 1.) Ran PC after boot-up as administrator (issues reported above are all under regular user account). Same "freezing" issue occurred. 2.) Ran PC in safe mode with networking, signed into regular user account, and the freezing occurred once again.

Once again I will reiterate that this issue doesn't occur in google chrome, meaning the issue comes down to Firefox and my PC. This leads me to believe it is a hardware issue, but I am curious what the experts think. Thanks again!

Modified by johnnyjohnny2015

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I've called the big guys to help you. Good luck.

Type about:support in the address bar and press Enter. Under the main banner, press the button; Copy Text To Clipboard.. Then in the reply box at the bottom of this page, do a right click in the box and select Paste. This will show us your system details. No Personal Information Is Collected.

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Application Basics


Name: Firefox Version: 43.0.1 Build ID: 20151216175450 Update Channel: release User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:43.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/43.0 Multiprocess Windows: 0/1 (default: false) Safe Mode: false

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It will be interesting to see what can be done with the system details. My guess is the issue has more to do with my PC than Firefox, but you never know.

I will add the disclaimer that this is not a huge problem, so you don't need to go crazy trying to find a solution, especially since you don't have my specific PC, meaning you are limited in areas to look for an issue.

Nonetheless, thanks for the help, it would be cool if we could figure out the issue.

Take care!

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One way to find out,

Start your Computer in safe mode with networking. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites. Is the problem still there?

Starting The Computer In Safe Mode;
Free Online Encyclopedia

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I gave that a shot, and yes, in safe mode with networking, the freezing problem still occurs on yahoo mail (accessed the same way as I do normally).

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Any ideas or have we concluded this question is a lost cause?

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I've called the big guys to help you. Good luck.

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Thunderbird often freezes on me when I DELETE AN EMAIL!!! I have to re-start the program in order to continue. It also often freezes when I try to delete all emails in the TRASH file!! What the heck is going on now??

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Are we talking about Thunderbird, or Firefox?