Firefox Won't Open New Windows & Won't Re-Open After Closing

[HollowNobody]

I'm not sure If these two problems are related, but they both started occurring at the same time.

The first problem is that I cannot open any new windows in Firefox. It's extremely annoying and makes it almost impossible to use some sites. This occurs when I right click and select "open in new window" and/or when I simply click a link that should open in a new window.
I don't have any pop up blockers installed, and I have disabled the pop up blocker within Firefox.

The second problem is that when I close Firefox I am unable to open it afterward. When this happens in the task manager, under the processes tab, Firefox is still listed. If I hit "end process" while in the task manager and then try to open up Firefox it works (it also works if I restart the computer). This occurs every time that I shut the Firefox window.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the program several times using the instructions for a clean uninstall here:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
After each uninstall I have also used CCleaner to clean the registry.

I am running Firefox 3.5.5 on Windows XP Pro.
The only add-ons that I currently have installed are the default ones that are installed with Firefox.

[mroilfield]

Have you tried any virus and malware scans to see if maybe you have an infection?

[HollowNobody]

I have scanned the computer using AVG 9.0 Free and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. Malwarebytes found nothing and AVG only picked up a few tracking cookies (which it removed).

[JLW1239]

I have the same exact problem you are having. let me know if you find a solution

[HollowNobody]

I did in fact find a solution to the pop ups.
I use AVG as an Anti-virus program and it automatically adds it's own add-on, called AVG Safe Search, to any new browsers installed. Disabling it has stopped the pop-up issue.

As far as the Firefox not wanting to re-open goes, I haven't the slightest idea how to fix that. My hard drive was going bad and I had to have it replaced, so my system was wiped clean. My guess is that not all of the Firefox files were getting uninstalled or maybe my bad hard drive was part of the problem.

[quaxo]

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox?

[bethel95]

Since this keeps coming up (I've seen the same problem in the MozillaZine forum going back to 2005; I suspect that it's a problem that just crops up for no rhyme or reason), here's what fixed it for me:

It turns out to have been due to one of two things (and maybe a combination of both):

• The "extensions.*" files (.cache, .ini, and .rdf) in my FF profile were corrupted. To fix this, quit FF, navigate to the profile folder (see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox to find out where this is in your operating system), and delete those three files (they will automatically regenerate when you restart FF; don't worry, this won't cause you to lose your extensions).

• One or more new extensions were causing conflicts. I disabled (uninstall not necessary) a few new extensions that I'd installed over the past week.

FYI, not only did this fix the "no new windows" problem and the problem with FF's core process not quitting after exiting (that's why FF won't restart), it also got some extensions working again that had been reporting as "incompatible with FF 3.5.6" despite being listed on the FF Add-ons site as being compatible with this version. Joy all around!

[guitarmike240554]

Same problem happen to me ; only solution I could find was to go back to an older version 3.5.1 of Firefox now everything is fine.

Check out:   http://www.oldversion.com/