If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
System freezing when launching Firefox
Not entirely sure where to post this one so please excuse the cross-post...
I built a new PC a few months ago, and have WinXP SP2 installed on it and fully patched. I'm using Firefox as my web browser (currently v1.0.7). Fairly soon after building the PC, I started to get intermittent freezes. The PC completely locks up, the mouse pointer stops moving, the keyboard doesn't respond at all (even to commands such as Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Delete). The only way out is to hit the reset button, which as you can imagine I don't much like to do. I've spent some time trying to figure out what's causing this. There are no obvious hardware problems, no heat issues, no power supply problems. Nothing is written to the Windows event log when this occurs either. Over time however I have noticed a common pattern: when the system freezes up, it always does it shortly after I launch (or try to launch) Firefox. I can usually tell when it's about to happen as my apps stop responding a few seconds before the mouse pointer freezes up. And every single time it does it either after I've pressed the "Web/Home" button on my keyboard and am waiting for Firefox to start, or just shortly after the browser has opened. It does this far from every time -- crashing perhaps once or twice a week (and I launch Firefox a LOT). It also does it more frequently when I have Outlook Express already open. Once I've launched Firefox for the first time, it doesn't seem to crash after that until I reboot. Can anyone think of any possible explanation for why this may be happening? I'm completely at a loss as to what could be causing it. I can't quite believe that it could be a bug in Firefox, but don't know where else to look. Could it be a problem with my (Microsoft Internet) keyboard..? [shrug] My thanks in advance for any help, -- (O)enone |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
System freezing when launching Firefox
In article , "Oenone"
wrote: Not entirely sure where to post this one so please excuse the cross-post... I built a new PC a few months ago, and have WinXP SP2 installed on it and fully patched. I'm using Firefox as my web browser (currently v1.0.7). Fairly soon after building the PC, I started to get intermittent freezes. The PC completely locks up, the mouse pointer stops moving, the keyboard doesn't respond at all (even to commands such as Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Delete). The only way out is to hit the reset button, which as you can imagine I don't much like to do. I've spent some time trying to figure out what's causing this. There are no obvious hardware problems, no heat issues, no power supply problems. Nothing is written to the Windows event log when this occurs either. Over time however I have noticed a common pattern: when the system freezes up, it always does it shortly after I launch (or try to launch) Firefox. I can usually tell when it's about to happen as my apps stop responding a few seconds before the mouse pointer freezes up. And every single time it does it either after I've pressed the "Web/Home" button on my keyboard and am waiting for Firefox to start, or just shortly after the browser has opened. It does this far from every time -- crashing perhaps once or twice a week (and I launch Firefox a LOT). It also does it more frequently when I have Outlook Express already open. Once I've launched Firefox for the first time, it doesn't seem to crash after that until I reboot. Can anyone think of any possible explanation for why this may be happening? I'm completely at a loss as to what could be causing it. I can't quite believe that it could be a bug in Firefox, but don't know where else to look. Could it be a problem with my (Microsoft Internet) keyboard..? [shrug] My thanks in advance for any help, 1) Get a copy of memtest86+ from http://www.memtest.org/ Test your memory. Run the test for at least a couple of passes. No errors are acceptable. If there are errors, find out why. 2) Get a copy of Prime95 from mersenne.org . Prime95 has a "torture test" menu option, and that test does a calculation with a known answer. The program can detect whether the CPU, Northbridge, and memory are working properly. No errors are acceptable here. If you see errors while running this program, the same errors will crop up when using other applications. If you do get errors in either test, post back a detailed hardware configuration in a separate posting, and then someone can advise as to the best way to adjust or work around the problem. Also post which test failed, and whether the results of the test are random, or the error happens in the same place each time. HTH, Paul |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
System freezing when launching Firefox
Oenone wrote:
Snipped Over time however I have noticed a common pattern: when the system freezes up, it always does it shortly after I launch (or try to launch) Firefox. I can usually tell when it's about to happen as my apps stop responding a few seconds before the mouse pointer freezes up. And every single time it does it either after I've pressed the "Web/Home" button on my keyboard and am waiting for Firefox to start, or just shortly after the browser has opened. I take it you like to keep your system up to date? It could be an incompatible plugin that hasnt been disabled trying to launch with firefox (and failing). Try starting Firefox in safe mode (firefox not windows). It does this far from every time -- crashing perhaps once or twice a week (and I launch Firefox a LOT). It also does it more frequently when I have Outlook Express already open. Once I've launched Firefox for the first time, it doesn't seem to crash after that until I reboot. Open system process viewer and then open firefox and see if something else (virus scanner for example) is stealing cpu cycles during the startup process. Can anyone think of any possible explanation for why this may be happening? I'm completely at a loss as to what could be causing it. I can't quite believe that it could be a bug in Firefox, but don't know where else to look. Could it be a problem with my (Microsoft Internet) keyboard..? [shrug] My thanks in advance for any help, -- MCR MAME(tm) - History In The Making www.pleasure-dome.org.uk |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
What do you use for backup today? | Mxsmanic | Homebuilt PC's | 46 | July 18th 05 09:19 PM |
PC works in labs, dies at users home | B. Walker | General | 75 | June 7th 05 07:16 AM |
PC works in labs, dies at users home | B. Walker | Homebuilt PC's | 59 | June 7th 05 07:16 AM |
Floppy freezing system? | BobK | General | 12 | May 19th 04 02:49 PM |
Cooling Questions | Peter Cavan | General | 35 | September 2nd 03 06:42 AM |