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

In the address bar, type about:crashes<enter>. Note: If any reports do not have BP in front of the numbers, click it and select Submit.

Using your mouse, mark the most resent 7 - 10 crash reports, and copy them. Now go to the reply box below and paste them in.

If you can't get Firefox to open, you will have to do this the hard way. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/mozillacrashreporter Open the file browser / explorer on your computer. Note: You may have to enable Show Hidden Folders / Files. Enter this in the address bar;

Windows: %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reports\submitted Win 7/Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reports\submitted Win XP/2000: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reports\submitted

Mac OS: /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Crash Reports/submitted Linux: /home/<username>/.mozilla/firefox/Crash Reports/submitted

Copy the last 5-7 Recent File Names in the folder. Post the information in the reply box below.

Start your Computer in safe mode. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites.

Starting The Computer In Safe Mode;
Free Online Encyclopedia

Many thanks for the reply FredMcD - The vast majority of them do begin with 'bp' - here's the last ten or so. I'll try clicking 'Submit' on a non-bp one now...

bp-7117ded2-5083-4996-b8b2-b20e02150122 22/01/2015 19:55 bp-7964343a-1029-4683-a2b2-49a282150122 22/01/2015 19:55 bp-d23d27d2-d0d2-4182-9eef-935f32150122 22/01/2015 19:55 bp-c094c5cb-4732-4b4f-a094-2433c2150122 22/01/2015 19:53 bp-14d6a0f4-9572-4a66-8362-1e5062150122 22/01/2015 19:53 bp-85d6a7bc-7882-48fe-a9be-f7db12150122 22/01/2015 19:53 bp-01e70fc7-e914-4278-885a-da1a22150122 22/01/2015 19:52 bp-ca83fd3f-774a-4684-9b8e-500302150122 22/01/2015 19:52 bp-0399cbbf-3a20-4be9-b5c8-224aa2150122 22/01/2015 18:47 bp-bf7b00a5-15b6-4348-a252-bf9632150122 22/01/2015 18:47 bp-385d5ddd-2466-498e-a3bf-00ff72150122 22/01/2015 18:47

You can try to disable OMTC and leave hardware acceleration in Firefox enabled.

• about:config page: layers.offmainthreadcomposition.enabled = false

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

You can try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

• Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

You need to close and restart Firefox after toggling this setting.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

Thanks to FredMcD and Cor-el for your assistance - it has been a stressful few days...

I think I have solved the problem - I uninstalled Adobe CS3 and then used System Restore to step back 3 days to a point just before these problems arose. I tried this a few times, but each time a dialogue box appeared to tell me that the process was unsuccessful and nothing had been changed... However, on closer inspection, changes had been made and the computer had stepped back.

On starting Firefox normally this morning, all seems OK and it has now been running (with multiple tabs open) for a few hours without any apparent problems. I presume my old copy of Adobe CS3 was corrupted in some way - can't afford a new one, so looking at ACDSee Ultimate 8 instead.

Ok - so it looks like I was overly optimistic...

After running without issues for 7 or so hours today, Firefox is now back to its old tricks and is crashing (usually twice in succession) every few minutes... I'm going to try Cor-el tips now, but in the meantime here are today's crash reports in case anyone has a few moments to take a look...

bp-c0c1b94f-6af4-4a6b-9d53-9d2892150123 23/01/2015 16:07 bp-205b6d62-a0f0-40a5-800f-bf3b82150123 23/01/2015 16:01 bp-f84d232b-ddfb-42e8-99bd-489882150123 23/01/2015 16:01 bp-0084aa7a-199b-4e73-ae67-1eb2d2150123 23/01/2015 15:51 bp-b44cbd29-576d-4cd1-bc8a-dec372150123 23/01/2015 15:50 bp-13982a05-10f9-42f9-93ff-a71c42150123 23/01/2015 15:30 bp-ccfaf0da-bfd8-4d35-a964-5d7a32150123 23/01/2015 15:30 bp-186bdf40-cfb3-47f0-af72-77cad2150123 23/01/2015 15:14

Have you tried running the Computer in Safe Mode ?

FredMcD said

Have you tried running the Computer in Safe Mode ?

I did - apologies for not reporting back on it:

The first time I did it, the computer ran in Safe Mode but wasn't online and so I couldn't access any websites. I've tried to run the computer in Safe Mode about 10 times since then, but it seems to ignore the fact that I'm holding down F8 every time and goes ahead with a normal start up - I've no idea why it does this!

I'm beginning to think this isn't really a Firefox problem, but is actually an underlying firmware or OS problem, but perhaps I'm wrong on that. I bought this computer from Dell less than 2 months ago, so I'm going to contact them on Monday to seek support. That said, any further ideas are welcome - I tried disabling hardware acceleration as cor-el suggested, but that didn't help - Firefox still crashed. I'll now try cor-el's other suggestion...

Thanks, Rory1

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 Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller
• AdwCleaner (for more info, see this alternate AdwCleaner download page)
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner

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

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

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thanks FredMcD

I had MalwareBytes AntiMalware and ran it a few times but found nothing.

I uninstalled free Avast and installed Microsoft Security Essentials instead, but it found nothing.

I ran Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool and Dell's 'My Dell' Checkup but they found nothing. I used Dell's Command Update to update the BIOS at the start of this whole thing too, but that didn't help either. I tried to use WinDbg but found it difficult for someone without many IT skills.

I bought Uniblue's Powersuite and ran it numerous times to clean up junk files, update drivers, defragment, compress old files etc etc but nothing changed.

I uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox a few times but that didn't help.

I reset Winsock and the TCP/IP protocols for IPv4 and IPv6 (not even sure what these things mean) but it made no difference.

I tried switching to Internet Explorer, but that kept crashing too.

Then I downloaded Opera and it has now been my default browser for 24 hours with any problems... I still have no idea what the underlying issue is here, but the symptoms seem to affect FF and IE only, so it looks like I'm an (unenthusiastic) Opera user now - I think Opera runs on the same engine as Google Chrome, so that might work too, but personal preference keeps me away from Chrome.

I'll report back if I get to the bottom of this, but for the moment I'm on Opera and getting some work done after 4 or 5 days of frustration and delay on FF - many thanks to FredMcD and cor-el for their efforts.