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Firefox crashes before it starts

  • 7 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 19 views
  • Last reply by Ira01

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I had v. 3.xx of Firefox--never upgraded because the upgrades would not work with some add-ons I liked. Yesterday it stopped working properly--this followed a problem I had Real Player, which also stopped working properly. I tried reinstalling v. 3.xx, but then it would not start--crashes before it opens. I've since tried lots of things: removing real player, removing every other program I've installed in the past few days (e.g., update of Adobe Air, or Flash Player), installing Firefox 11, the latest version, with the download from the official Mozilla site--both on top of the nonfunctioning v. 3.xx, and also after v. 3.xx had been uninstalled. I've rebooted my computer numerous times in between these steps. Nothing seems to work

I had v. 3.xx of Firefox--never upgraded because the upgrades would not work with some add-ons I liked. Yesterday it stopped working properly--this followed a problem I had Real Player, which also stopped working properly. I tried reinstalling v. 3.xx, but then it would not start--crashes before it opens. I've since tried lots of things: removing real player, removing every other program I've installed in the past few days (e.g., update of Adobe Air, or Flash Player), installing Firefox 11, the latest version, with the download from the official Mozilla site--both on top of the nonfunctioning v. 3.xx, and also after v. 3.xx had been uninstalled. I've rebooted my computer numerous times in between these steps. Nothing seems to work

Chosen solution

If you hold down the shift key while you try to start Firefox 11, does it start up? This tries to start is up in Safe Mode, which temporarily resets all customizations of Firefox.

Also, run all Windows updates, and then, Update your Graphics Driver.

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All Replies (7)

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Chosen Solution

If you hold down the shift key while you try to start Firefox 11, does it start up? This tries to start is up in Safe Mode, which temporarily resets all customizations of Firefox.

Also, run all Windows updates, and then, Update your Graphics Driver.

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Yes, version 11 it did start in safe mode, thank you! I didn't know how to do that. I suppose now I should graduatlly reinstate add-ons, one by one?

Thanks again.

Ira

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Ok, I went back and found the posted instructions for what do do if it starts in safe mode. The very first suggestion--disable hardware accelleration--worked for me. I think that rather than look for a graphics driver update i'll just try it without acceleration. Graphics driver updates can cause problems themselves, sometimes...

thanks again for you help....I'm now back up and running.

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Would you mind typing "about:support" into your address bar, pressing enter, and copying the graphics information into this thread?

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Sure. Here it is:


Adapter Description NVIDIA NVS 3100M

Vendor ID10de

Device ID0a6c

Adapter RAM512

Adapter Driversnvd3dum nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um

Driver Version8.17.12.6721

Driver Date2-18-2011

Direct2D Enabled false

DirectWrite Enabled false (6.1.7601.17776)

ClearType ParametersClearType parameters not found

WebGL RendererGoogle Inc. -- ANGLE (NVIDIA NVS 3100M ) -- OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 1.0.0.930)

GPU Accelerated Windows0

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Would it be possible for you to update to the newest drivers from www.nvidia.com, restart your PC, re-enable hardware acceleration, and test? I'm trying to determine if this is an issue with Firefox that needs a bug report to the developers.

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I am reluctant to do that when everything is working ok now. my fear is that if there is any incompatibility of the new driver with other programs, or even with other firmware on my laptop, then I'll have other problems with my computer that may be a very large hassle to fix. which is why I do not generally update display drivers if things are working ok as they now are.