Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

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DanRaisch
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by DanRaisch »

Guest, If you have extensions installed it could be an extension that is hanging Firefox, or the Flash plugin can do that. Have you tried a new profile with no extensions to see if Firefox hangs on closing with no add-ons to complicate the picture?
pete671
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by pete671 »

I agree absolutely with the originator of this topic. It is obvious to me (at least) that there is something very wrong with Firefox at the moment. A program which hangs (often when trying to send an email which is never then recoverable), a program which doesn't disappear from the task manager when it is killed off (originator of topic - you CAN kill off FF via Task Manager and then restart) - sorry but I am seriously considering abandonning Firefox (and yes I do believe it to be Firefox itself as these symptoms happen in Safe Mode with no Add Ons)

I'd really hate to say bye bye to FF as it is (or rather was) the best but who can afford to have their browser hang (when accessing web pages) every 20 minutes or so?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by DanRaisch »

pete671, what does sending emails have to do with Firefox? Are you using a webmail system? And have you tried a new profile?
If it was Firefox itself, don't you think that everyone would be seeing the problem and not the minority that are reporting it?
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lbdyck
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by lbdyck »

I have had this in both normal mode, new profile mode, and safe mode. It appears to be related to network activity but I have no way to confirm that. Lately I've taken to setting FF to Offline state, waiting a minute or so, and then closing it. So far that has been the only way to prevent it from happening (going on about 5 days so far).

When it has 'hung' after closing and can't be killed by task manager or pskill I find that I can launch Chrome and still browse the net without issue.

The reason I suspect a network issue is because last year on my XP Pro system at work I had a beta of a messaging software that would hang for extended periods and it was traced to a network issue in the application. I don't know the specifics but maybe that will help someone.
Lionel B. Dyck <><
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sse401
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by sse401 »

In a very long thread, most of the time when Firefox would not shut down after longer than 60 seconds it was an antivirus program interfering.
See here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=695335&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=225
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lbdyck
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by lbdyck »

i've tried completely shutting down my a/v and still had the problem so that isn't it.
Lionel B. Dyck <><
Home Page: http://www.lbdsoftware.com
Guest
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by Guest »

I have the same problem, and it is getting quite annoying.

DanRaisch suggested this:

Close all applications and reboot the computer.
Delete any downloaded or partially downloaded installer files.
Clear the browser cache (of whatever browser you are using to download FF) and the Windows Temp directory.
Delete the directory C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
Shutdown any anti-virus software you are running.
Download a new copy of the full installer from http://www.mozilla.com
Run the installer.
Restart the anti-virus program.

... but if I have to do all that, I might just as well switch to another browser that works properly. I was very happy with FF until the latest release, now I am beginning to lose confidence/satisfaction.
Guest
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by Guest »

Dan,

You're quite right - stictly speaking Firefox isn't a mail client. What I wrote should have referred to web based mail sites like googlemail, yahoomail, hotmail etc. Believe me it isn't uncommon to spend 15 minutes drafting an email for these sites and then when you press the send button Firefox just hangs (and no it isn't specific to these sites just the most frustrating example).

If this was just me or just the one O/S (vista) then I'd put it down to my installation or something but it seems to me that the forum is is awash with people commenting on the same kind of problem - basically Firefox hangs and is still in the task list after it is closed meaning you can't re-open it without a reboot or Task Manager intervention.

I've no doubt Firefox is a very intricate piece of software (yes I've seen the source code!) but this glitch is so prevalant it is impacting upon people's perceptions on what (until now) has been a fantastic user experience.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by DanRaisch »

And yet so many people are NOT reporting any such problems. What diagnostics have you done? I asked that above but you haven't answered that yet.
Don Quiyote
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by Don Quiyote »

Same problem: For 4-5 days now, Firefox hangs suddenly and I am unable to kill it from task manager or Process Explorer, requiring a reboot.
No pattern: browsing and idle, different pages. Unpredictable. I can be using the browser for an hour before this happens, but it does so several times a day.
I cant determine if something I installed recently, an update to extension, or a Firefox update triggered the issue. Or something at OS level?

The problem with diagnosing this is that 1) the error is not repeatable 2) eliminating conditions (internal addons, extensions, or external virus, firewall, ..) is unpractical if provoking the problem and a reboot is such a time consuming cycle. I've got better things to do.

Can anybody suggest a more efficient approach to isolate the problem? I'll start by disabling some possible suspect extensions.
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dickvl
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by dickvl »

Maybe use Process Explorer to check which thread is hanging?
Don Quiyote
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by Don Quiyote »

I used Process Explorer. It showed Firefox without any dependencies. Neither Kill Process nor Kill Thread showed any success.

In addition, shutdown proceeds without message 'These application are preventing shut down" but then hangs on 'Shutting Down' screen requiring a forced reset.

This occurs only with Firefox, not with any other internet app (eg Chrome, Skype).
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dickvl
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by dickvl »

Did you do a malware check?

viewtopic.php?p=4057885#p4057885
DonQuiyote
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by DonQuiyote »

dickvl wrote:Did you do a malware check?

<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=4057885#p4057885">viewtopic.php?p=4057885#p4057885</a><!-- l -->
I run Comodo Firewall which in combination with AVG has proven effective at screening out suspect-ware. Is there heavier artillery that I should employ? I'll download SpyBot for starters.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Can not kill Firefox process (windows vista) ?

Post by DanRaisch »

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