Tonnes said

In that case I’m afraid this is something your system administrator should take care of primarily. Are you able to add an exception for Firefox? Also, are you in a Citrix environment?

(1) I confirmed with Administrator. There is no latest update on Symantec since this problem started. Also, system was working fine and firefox was working well with existing Syamantec. (2) I am not able to add any exception because I am simply not able to get inside of Firefox. Moment I click the icon, it tried to open Firefox and crashes.

Please help.

please adjust the preferences that cor-el was proposing while in windows safemode.

VickMoz12 zei

(1) I confirmed with Administrator. There is no latest update on Symantec since this problem started. Also, system was working fine and firefox was working well with existing Syamantec. (2) I am not able to add any exception because I am simply not able to get inside of Firefox. Moment I click the icon, it tried to open Firefox and crashes.

For 1) : The issue may have started after one of Symantec’s updates resulting in a new issue, which has happened previously. For 2) I referred to the Symantec Exceptions section in your screenshot that could allow you to set exceptions for programs.

philipp said

please adjust the preferences that cor-el was proposing while in windows safemode.

I tried this solution in SAFE mode. When I returned to normal mode, Firefox does not crash at startup but every tab is crashing. I am not able to open a single webpage with this modified option. Screenshot attached.

Please advise.

please give us the new crash report id from this tab crash - maybe that contains more clues...

VickMoz12 said

philipp said

please adjust the preferences that cor-el was proposing while in windows safemode.

I tried this solution in SAFE mode. When I returned to normal mode, Firefox does not crash at startup but every tab is crashing. I am not able to open a single webpage with this modified option. Screenshot attached.

Please advise.

This is the Crash Id for tab crashes after implementing co-rel solution:

Crash ID: bp-37d7d8ab-e5c0-42f3-afd0-7841e1170715

philipp said

please give us the new crash report id from this tab crash - maybe that contains more clues...

Here it is. Thank You.

Crash ID: bp-37d7d8ab-e5c0-42f3-afd0-7841e1170715

thanks, this is still looking like the same crash reason and pointing to something that's wrong with fonts on your system. could you try to copy the windows fonts folder (C:\Windows\fonts) from another working computer and override the contents on your machine with that and see if this is making a difference?

philipp said

thanks, this is still looking like the same crash reason and pointing to something that's wrong with fonts on your system. could you try to copy the windows fonts folder (C:\Windows\fonts) from another working computer and override the contents on your machine with that and see if this is making a difference?

No luck Sir ! I overrode the fonts and now entire browser is crashing. With older fonts atleast it was opening the page and tabs were crashing. But now firefox doesn't even open. Don't know what to do :(

Here us the latest crash report : Crash ID: bp-906f64fd-1c29-4ce1-babe-3a6f41170716

You could try removing Firefox’s local cache:

1. Open Firefox in Safe Mode.
2. Enter about:profiles in the URL bar and press Enter.
3. Find the entry telling "it’s the profile in use and cannot be deleted."
4. For that profile, click Open Folder for the Local Directory entry, NOT the Root Directory (that's your profile itself!)
5. Exit Firefox.
6. Clear the contents of the cache folder you just opened.
7. Try starting Firfox in regular mode.

Additionally: I rely on philipp's expertise with regard to not thinking it is Symantec related, but would be curious to see what happens if you disable it, which should be possible by stopping/disabling its service that I don't know the name of currently, even if it was just for minutes and to test, of course.

Tonnes said

You could try removing Firefox’s local cache:

1. Open Firefox in Safe Mode.
2. Enter about:profiles in the URL bar and press Enter.
3. Find the entry telling "it’s the profile in use and cannot be deleted."
4. For that profile, click Open Folder for the Local Directory entry, NOT the Root Directory (that's your profile itself!)
5. Exit Firefox.
6. Clear the contents of the cache folder you just opened.
7. Try starting Firfox in regular mode.

Additionally: I rely on philipp's expertise with regard to not thinking it is Symantec related, but would be curious to see what happens if you disable it, which should be possible by stopping/disabling its service that I don't know the name of currently, even if it was just for minutes and to test, of course.

Thanks. As said earlier, I am not able to open the Firefox even with SAFE mode. Moment I click on SAFE mode option, it temporarily tries to open the window and crashes. So I am not able to clear any cache or perform any of those "about:" operations. Disabling Symantec wont work because it was working fine with same. No new update has come from them.

Please advise.

I mean Firefox was working fine with this same version of Symantec.

Do you know how many profiles you have? If there is one, you could find it as follows:

1. Click the Windows Start button or press the Windows key to open the Start Menu.
2. Type %appdata% in the search box and press the Enter. The hidden AppData\Roaming folder will open.
3. Double-click the Mozilla folder.
4. Double-click the Firefox folder.
5. Double-click the Profiles folder.
6. If you only have one profile: this is folder ending with .default that should reside there. If you have more, open the one you are sure of that it’s the one you always use. Recent file dates indicate it is the one used.
7. If you are sure this is the right profile, open the folder that has the same path but with Local in the folder structure instead of Roaming - that’s the associated cache folder, i.e. <user>/AppData/Local/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles, and then the subfolder with .default or other recent one.

As it seems your profile is jacked up by now, you could also simply add a new profile and start is as explained here. Simply adding -p to your current startup link or a copy of it eases it. Then try starting Firefox with the new profile.

I'll no longer respond to Symantec things if you are unwilling to disable it. Personally I would be able to do so and be curious if those entries no longer occur in crash reports and how they look like. Simpy put, some security product that used to work with Firefox should not mean it still works due to updated definitions.

Nevertheless, did you add an exception in the product as suggested?

I deleted all profiles, removed cache, uninstalled Firefox, reinstalled version 54. Nothing in Local or Roaming of APPDATA. Fresh installation. Still when I tried clicking it to open, it crashed.

Latest Crash Id : Crash ID: bp-86c863db-0630-4d1c-ba28-657391170716

You could try this: - Open Windows Services by pressing Start and entering services.msc in the search box, then hit enter (or using the menus) - Find the Windows Font Cache Service and stop it, if not already. If it is not running, start it instead. - Try starting Firefox.

And sorry but this is the 3rd time I ask: did you add an exception in Symantec for Firefox?

Edit: I’d also recommend to restore the default font settings as explained here, since the previous copy action seems to have made things worse.

This could be related with the recent switch in Firefox 52+ from Cairo to Skia for canvas/content rendering.

Firefox 52+ has changed from Cairo to Skia for canvas/content rendering.

• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/52.0/releasenotes/
• When not using Direct2D on Windows, Skia is used for content rendering

You can modify these gfx.*.azure.backends prefs on the about:config page: to revert to the old font rendering swap the skia,cairo order to cairo,skia or remove the skia and leave cairo.

• gfx.canvas.azure.backends = direct2d1.1,cairo,skia
• gfx.content.azure.backends = direct2d1.1,cairo,skia

You can open the about:config page: via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

Tonnes said

You could try this: - Open Windows Services by pressing Start and entering services.msc in the search box, then hit enter (or using the menus) - Find the Windows Font Cache Service and stop it, if not already. If it is not running, start it instead. - Try starting Firefox. And sorry but this is the 3rd time I ask: did you add an exception in Symantec for Firefox? Edit: I’d also recommend to restore the default font settings as explained here, since the previous copy action seems to have made things worse.

Hi, I am not allowed to disable Symantec on my laptop. But I guess I have resolved the issue with some trial and error by taking below steps : (1) Cleared the cache by following steps given by you - both in local and roaming (2) Deleted both profiles (3) Uninstalled firefox completely (4) Removed all components of Mozilla from laptop (5) Restarted Windows in SAFE mode (6) Again restarted in normal mode and installed Version 54 (7) No changes in About:Config (not even Cairo, Skia), no changes in Font (8) No changes in Syamntec

Somehow it is not crashing now. Is there anything that I can check and upload the report here so that we all know how this painful problem got resolved on its own? Please advise. I am happy to have it restarted after grueling efforts of a week.

You did great.

I am glad to hear that your problem has been resolved. If you haven't already, please select the answer that solves the problem. This will help other users with similar problems find the solution more easily. Thank you for contacting Mozilla Support.

Thanks all for your great support. Happy with the experience and assistance I got here. Have already marked the solution. Thanks again !

FF crashes & won't work in safe mode either. Last night a Win 7 update came thru' & this morning there was a FF update which I installed. Total failure. I had to Restore back 2days to get FF working so I can recover all my passwords etc. Looks like I'll have to use IE until FF get their act together. Every update since about 48 or 50 has reduced the functionality of FF & this latest one just crashes. How about giving us a browser that works? One that doesn't need a nerd who understands all that gobbledegeek to get running. One that works on all platforms & doesn't need tweaking & twerking & jiggling & juggling just to make it go. How about you give us back an older version that works until you get this one sorted out. Keep It Simple - the KISS principle is a great rule to follow. I've been a FF user since day 1 but sadly I must bid you farewell until you get your act together, I simply can't afford to waste the time needed to use FF, I've stuck by you for as long as I could but enough is enough.