Solved Firefox.exe still running !

[mblack]

FF updated the other day to 3.5.7 and now the .exe process is still running after closing, this message
"Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system",
is continualy giving me grief when i close FF and then try to reopen it soon after, i have tried every trick in the book to sort it, all thats left is to uninstall and re-install and i don't really want ot do that, and i definitely don't want to start IEing again !

Having to stop the process all the time is really annoying !

If you have or had the same problem and have fixed it could you tell me how you done it please, Bearing in mind i have tried all the usual tricks like addons and so on if you know what i mean !

P.S it only seems to happen if i open other tabs, if i just do all my browsing and searching through one tab it dosen't seem to !

Thanks in advance !

Also have just done full uninstall and reinstall this morning and it hasn't solved it, even done a chkdsk yesterday ! No go !

Please Help This is really annoying !

 

[CrucialHoax]

FF updated the other day to 3.5.7 and now the .exe process is still running after closing, this message
"Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system",
is continualy giving me grief when i close FF and then try to reopen it soon after, i have tried every trick in the book to sort it, all thats left is to uninstall and re-install and i don't really want ot do that, and i definitely don't want to start IEing again !

Having to stop the process all the time is really annoying !

If you have or had the same problem and have fixed it could you tell me how you done it please, Bearing in mind i have tried all the usual tricks like addons and so on if you know what i mean !

P.S it only seems to happen if i open other tabs, if i just do all my browsing and searching through one tab it dosen't seem to !

Thanks in advance !

Also have just done full uninstall and reinstall this morning and it hasn't solved it, even done a chkdsk yesterday ! No go !

Please Help This is really annoying !

Hello,

What I would do is create a new 'profile' in firefox to see if that solves the problem.

What I would do very first is backup all of your bookmarks:
- Click on the bookmarks button at the top
> choose organize bookmarks
> at the top of the window that popped up, choose Import and Backup
> save the file to the desktop or any place easy to access that you wont forget
> If you have any saved passwords please backup these two files:
> they will be in this folder: %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

• key3.db - This file stores your key database for your passwords. To transfer saved passwords, you must copy this file along with the following file.

3.5/3.6:

• signons.sqlite - Saved passwords.

Now follow this page to create a new profile once everything is backed up:

Managing profiles

Hope this helps

 

[richc46]

I would uninstall ff and install again, sounds like corruption

 

[mblack]

Thanks everyone for your help but got sorted, went onto Wilders Security Forums, and found out that its FF addon "ghostery" dumped it and eveything's fine now, but one thing i'd like to ask, is there another addon that does the same sort of job as ghostery, because i liked the idea of kicking all the cookie search party people into touch all the time !

Thanks mblack !

 

[CrucialHoax]

I use Adblock Plus, I'm not familiar with ghostery, but Adblock is nice. Try it out and see if you like it

 

[Airbot]

Yes, it is the add on Ghostery that causes it, thread has been posted on it's forum, suggest you add to the list.

Recently active topics in Ghostery about Firefox Add-on

 

[emarell]

Sorry to report, Ghostery cannot be the only cause.

I had never heard of Ghostery until now - and don't have it installed - but have been experiencing this problem lately anyway. I have tried several versions (fresh installs) of Firefox such as 3.5.7, 3.5.8, 3.6.

The browser hangs up after some time of surfing - it won't load any new page (though my alternate browser will). Nor will Firefox do anything on a currently loaded page.

Upon Firefox closure and attempt to reopen it, not only do I get that 'firefox.exe still running' message, but the Task Manager utterly fails to stop that particular .exe manually. Uh-NOY-ying; my only success is a reboot.

So I have been looking. Apparently the firewall ZoneAlarm and/or other security software can also be causes. See Firefox hangs - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Quoted from that page:

Using certain Internet security software is reported to cause Firefox processes to remain at exit, on some systems. Updating your security software may resolve the issue. If it doesn't, and you use one of the following applications, try these suggestions:

• If you use ZoneAlarm Firewall on Windows Vista, Firefox may stop loading pages or hang at exit. You may be unable to end the firefox.exe process and will need to restart the computer before you can reopen Firefox. Try updating ZoneAlarm; if the problem persists, uninstall ZoneAlarm and use another firewall (or use Windows Firewall). [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
• If you use Avast! Antivirus, switch to another antivirus product if you also have ZoneAlarm installed. [25] [26]
• If you use Norton 360 2.0, Firefox 3 may not close properly, resulting in multiple firefox.exe processes and symptoms of a locked places.sqlite file (blank homepage, missing bookmarks and history, inactive back/forward toolbar buttons) when you next reopen Firefox. [27] Update Norton 360 to the latest version. As a workaround, disable "Phishing Protection" in Norton's settings [28] or follow these instructions to manually remove the Norton anti-phishing toolbar from Firefox. [29]
• If you use Norton Internet Security 2008.5, update to NIS 2009 or apply the workarounds described above for Norton 360.
• If you have upgraded Comodo Internet Security from a version prior to 3.10, the Comodo Safe Surf component from the previous version can cause Firefox to hang at exit. To resolve the issue, you can uninstall Comodo Safe Surf via Windows Control Panel, as its function is now integrated into the current Comodo application. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]

I have seen some other discussions as well. At this writing I'm trying out this idea I read about: the version number on the firefox.exe entry of web-access-enabled programs found in ZoneAlarm's UI mismatched the version of firefox.exe I actually now have.

To correct it, I had to open the UI for ZoneAlarm, find the remove firefox.exe from that list, then reboot the computer. Then ZoneAlarm auto-detects the correct one upon system reboot.

Note - the version number in question is not the same as the overall version number of Firefox. The firefox.exe file has its own version number, viewable by right-clicking that file and poking around in Properties.

 

[jtorson]

You just press CTRL+ALT+DELETE go to task manager, kill the previous Firefox process and you are ready to go.

 

[emarell]

You just press CTRL+ALT+DELETE go to task manager, kill the previous Firefox process and you are ready to go.

No, sorry. As I posted above, that fails. The Task Manager opens and I see firefox.exe listed as running, but it will not be killed.

 

[BJJsupaStar]

I'm using XP Pro SP3. I disabled RelevantKnowledge.exe and all is good. After you close FF, just wait 15 seconds or so and reopen and wallah! No nasty messages from FF.

 

[niemiro]

Firefox quite regularly gives me this error message when I am too quick on the re-opening. I don't have any of the addons mentioned, just a few odd Malware Researching ones, and Click CEOP. There is acually no need to go into Task Manager. Just OK and try to re-open it. By now Firefox has finished executing its closing code.