Firefox Problems

[davecabezo]

Hi,
I've somehow cocked up Firefox. I downloaded a file from the Tor site to try the proxy IP program and installed it. I couldn't get it to work so I unistalled it but Firefox refused to start. I clicked the shortcut but the hour glass appeared for about a second then nothing. I have since uninstalled Firefox 3.0.9 together with all folders etc. and reinstalled it but just the same. A message appeared on 1 unistall saying that I had to close Firefox to uninstall it so even though nothing appears on the desktop it must be running somewhere! I even tried going to a restore point before the download from the Tor site but no difference.
I then tried your advice on uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling on a new drive, Firefox then started but when it did it had mutiple taps open but I could open other explorer windows but as soon as I closed Firefox it would not restart and I got the message "Firefox is already running, but not responding. Toopen a new window you must first close the existing Firefox process or restart windows"
After restarting windows I get the same problem as soon as I close Firefox.
I searched for any programs with either Tor or Vidalia as these are the programs that the Tor site installs but couldn't find any in "program files" or "install/Delete programs" on my computer, I did a search and have found Vidalia-Bundle & Vidalia.exe-33111111.pf both in the C:Windows\Prefetch folder & Vidalia.pid and a folder labelled Vidalia which also contained the Vidalia.pid file in C:\Documents and settings\Anyone\Application Data
Can I just delete these or do you think that they have ties with the registry?

Any ideas & help please.

Dave

[Broni]

Those should be safe to delete.

[davecabezo]

Many Thanks Broni

[davecabezo]

Still having the same problems. I even used an external HDD and installed Firefox on that but no difference, therefore it looks as if the file from the Tor site has installed something in the registry perhaps??
Just to recap, I've searched and removed everything I can find which refers to either Tor or Vidalia and uninstalled Firefox and all my associated Firefox data files. I then rebooted XP and reinstalled Firefox on a different drive but as soon as I close Firefox and try to open it again I get the 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". I opened windows Task Manager but there was no reference to Firefox running.
I'm now completely stumped, Help required

Dave

[Broni]

as soon as I close Firefox and try to open it again

If this is your only problem, it's not a problem at all.
Firefox is know for taking quiet few seconds to end its process after closing FF itself.
If after closing FF, you open Task Manager, and you see firefox.exe process still running, you can't start Firefox again, until the process ends, or you kill it yourself.
The more add-ons you have, the longer will take to close FF process.

[Geek-9pm]

Here is another suggestion, Remove Fire Fox all the way.
The visit this site with another browser:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
This gives you a Windows Fie Fox that has minimal install requirements. It can run off a flash USB and be took to another PC. Works good.

[davecabezo]

Many thanks for your replies,
However I can't believe that this problem continues.
I remouved Firefox completely, did a search for any files with Mozilla or Firefox and remouved every file/folder, even shortcuts to internet etc. so nowhere on my computer is there any mention of Firefox or Mozilla. I then downloaded the Firefox Portable and put it on an 8gb flash drive, loaded it in and all OK, I then closed the program and tried to open it and I got the same message, ie "Firefox is already running  " etc.etc.

Very Close to giving up on my main browser and reverting to IE

More help required,

Dave

[Broni]

If after closing FF, you open Task Manager, and you see firefox.exe process still running, you can't start Firefox again, until the process ends, or you kill it yourself.
The more add-ons you have, the longer will take to close FF process.

[davecabezo]

Hi Broni,
Firefox is not running but the program thinks it is as when it starts it places a file in the profile folder locking it to stop another Firefox start then when you close the program Firefox is supposed to remove the lock but it isn't and I'm trying to find out why but up to now I'm no furthr forward.

Dave

[Broni]

It's still unclear.
First of all, what the reason for closing, and opening FF?
Secondly, again, when your physically close FF window, do you check Task Manager, if firefox.exe process is still running, before attempting to open FF again. If the process is still running, you'll be getting the above error message.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I have the exact same problem described by Davecabezo, but only when I have firefox running for several hours at a time.
For example, when I close FF at the end of the day, the process Firefox.exe starts consuming 100% of my processing power and increasing its memory usage from `90,000k to ~200,000k.
This happens for 10-40 seconds.

I've not some research as to why this happens, but I haven't gotten anywhere.

What I have now, in case this happens, is as batch file with the following command:
taskkill /f /im firefox.exe
Simple, but effective, and is associated with a keyboard shortcut.

Note: When this process is terminated, FF doesn't ask if you want to restore the previous session. It goes about as if nothing has happened.

[Broni]

Carbon
You know well how much time I spent investigating RAM usage by FF, and...
I disabled GreaseMonkey altogether, and the problem seems to be gone.
I don't have to restart FF anymore, even after long use.
I suppose those scripts are simply not fully developed, and they're causing serious memory leaks.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Memory usage is not the key here, but the fact that the process remains.

My FF uses about 80,000K. It can go up to about 120 when Youtubing, but a simple edit to About:Config and a quick minimize, and it goes down to 16K.
This sudden increase and processor and memory usage starts after Firefox is closed.

However, I'll disable Greasemonkey and see if there are any differences.

[Broni]

When I was using GreaseMonkey ( and I had a lot of scripts running), RAM usage was reaching 400,000K, and FF was becoming not usable.
When I disabled GM, RAM usage barely exceeds 200,000K after longer usage.
BTW, minimizing never worked for me.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Tried a few tests. Disabling Greasemonkey did not affect the problem, though memory usage did average out at 70,000k instead of 80.

I suspect this non-terminating firefox process is the result of an add-on. Not sure which one, perhaps Session Manager.
Hmmmm....