Firefox crashes after a download.
Firefox locks up completely when I download a file. I was downloading files from a website and then having Firefox open them in the appropriate program for me. After every download, Firefox froze. I told Windows to close it and I'd reopen it again. This has been happening for weeks. A similar problem occurs on a different machine. Both have the latest version of Firefox.
I tried disabling all the plugins and extensions. Nothing changed. I disabled virus scanning after downloads. Nothing changed. I have no idea what else it could be.
I don't have a crash report as it freezes before any of that can take place.
Any help would be fabulous. :-)
Chosen solution
Which security software (firewall, anti-virus) do you have?
Is that the same on both computers?
Did you try to disable the real-time (live) scanning of files in your anti-virus software temporarily to see if that makes downloading work?
Try to boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that works.
Read this answer in context 👍 4All Replies (8)
Chosen Solution
Which security software (firewall, anti-virus) do you have?
Is that the same on both computers?
Did you try to disable the real-time (live) scanning of files in your anti-virus software temporarily to see if that makes downloading work?
Try to boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that works.
I've got MS Security Essentials on both PCs. No, I haven't tried that yet. I'll try that.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I did turn off MS Security Essential's "Real-time Protection" feature, and it seemed to solve the problem!
It concerns me a little, because "Real-time Protection" has helped find viruses on my computer before. I'll chat with the Windows guys and see what they can do about it.
Thanks again for your suggestion!
Can you exclude specific directories like the %temp% directory from the real-time scan?
Such issues usually happen if the AV program starts scanning before Firefox has finished the download because Firefox closes the file after saving a chunk to prevent dataloss and that may confuse AV programs into thinking that the download has finished.
Firefox will automatically invoke the AV software to scan once the download has finished.
Alrighty, I'm gonna see what the Microsoft fellas have to say. I have tried including "%temp%" and "AppData/Local/Temp" in the excluded locations, but there is still a problem as long as real-time protection is on. For now, I've got it disabled.
Here's my question for the MS gents if you want to follow it:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/pr.../193b9bd9%2D05c8-4de8-8649-32641949e15a
Modified by cor-el
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/pr.../193b9bd9%2D05c8-4de8-8649-32641949e15a
At present that will not work as a link. (Due to the current feature for linkifyng crash reports) http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/mse-protect_scanning/firefox-crash-after-a-download/193b9bd9%2D05c8-4de8-8649-32641949e15a so at least that will display & cut and paste if edited
Modified by cor-el
Great, thanks! Yeah, I noticed the link was messesed up, but I figured that people who were reading this would probably know how to copy and paste anyway.
Thanks for updating that!
FYI, I'm still chatting with various people to figure out a better solution. I will post it here once I get one. So far, the best fix has been to disable "real-time protection" altogether.
Ok. I found a more permanent solution. The MS guys weren't all that helpful to say the least.
However, I recently installed the MS Essentials Client Update Package (KB2754296) and it seemed to have fixed my problem. Real-time protection is on and running and Firefox doesn't crash after downloading files anymore.
Thanks for all the suggestions!