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Firefox causes computer to reboot

Discussion in 'Community Broadband & Computers' started by LKelly, Jul 10, 2008.

  1. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    So I installed Mozilla Firefox a few days ago to replace Netscape Navigator (running Windows XP Media Center Home). It was working great, and I was kicking myself for not having made the switch earlier, when all of a sudden, trying to open it causes the computer to immediately reboot. I.E. still works as usual, and other random applications perform normally. Any ideas, techies?
     
  2. msflynn

    msflynn New Member

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    Firefox just recently did an new update so it reboots to load the new version. Have you let the computer reboot? and did it happen again after that? I know there have been 2 updates recently.

    Staci
     
  3. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Uninstall, reboot and install again. What is occurring is not normal behavior and could be the result of an incomplete installation.

    Does the same thing occur if you start Firefox in 'safe mode'?

    Here's a short description as to how to how to run it in safe mode:

    http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

    The paths indicated on this page might be different, but the rest should still hold true. Let me know what happens.
     
  4. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    I forgot to add that the reboot didn't go through the normal "Restart" process -- the monitor suddenly went black, and then it started rebooting from the screen where you can enter BIOS, etc. I tried opening Firefox with the Desktop icon and BOTH options in the Programs menu, and even Safe Mode forced the reboot!

    Before I try uninstalling and reinstalling, one question: I did back up my Bookmarks using the browser's Backup option. Will that let me recover them even after uninstalling?
     
  5. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Yes, uninstalling usually leaves your 'data' in place, so when you reinstall, all those settings/bookmarks will magically reappear...
     
  6. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    Thanks, Mr. Linux -- I'll report back with the results...
     
  7. Baywatch68

    Baywatch68 New Member

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    Maybe it's because you have a PC. ;)
     
  8. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    Never could get into Macs, Baywatch. Maybe it's because I started out with a Commodore 64 and it corrupted my brain. :screwy:

    Here's the really interesting part of this dilemma: it won't uninstall, either. When I click on Remove, a black DOS-like window pops up for half a second, and then nothing happens. ????
     
  9. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Another thing, since the computer simply 'reboots', it's probably getting some sort of 'blue screen of death' that comes up and reboots right away. Sometimes, that blue screen holds one or more clues as to what might be causing the fault.

    You can change a windows setting in order to force windows to 'halt' on the blue screen, so that you can read what it contains, etc.

    Here are the instructions for Windows Vista. XP installs should be along the same lines:

    Disable Automatic Restart to Read Blue Screen Messages

    Sometimes an error occurs on your machine and you are immediately hit by a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death). The only problem is the screen flashes by so quickly you rarely get to see what may have caused the error in the first place. To the layman the information on the screen may as well be in a foreign language but, in a number of cases, to a technician the all important 'gobbledegook' can mean the difference between locating your problem or complete disaster. By disabling the automatically restart on system failure feature, you are able to read what messages appear on the blue screen and can, if necessary, pass the information on to your technical support person.

    1/ Click Start button
    2/ From Start menu Click Control panel
    3/ In Control Panel Click the System icon
    4/ In the System Window look on the Left hand side of the window and you will see a list of options. Click on the Advanced System Settings option
    5/ Because Computer management requires administrative privileges you may find the the User Account Control will pop up. If it does then enter the required information (if you are not the administrator) or, if you are the administrator, click the Continue button
    6/ In the Advanced Settings window look for the Startup and Recovery section and then Click the Settings button
    7/ In the Startup and recovery window look for the section marked System failure and remove the 'tick' mark from the 'Automatically Restart' option. Now press OK button
    8/ Finally click the OK button on the System properties Window and then close the system window.

    If this indeed shows a blue screen after you launch Firefox, let me know what you see at the top of the blue screen; that will give us a clue as to what might be affecting your system.

    Thanks!
     
  10. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Ok, there's definitely something screwed up if that happens. Firefox NEVER launches a DOS window... I'm beginning to wonder if something else made its way into your computer...

    Try installing over the current install, without uninstalling.
     
  11. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    "Automatically Restart" was NOT checked :(
     
  12. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    I did that before I started this thread, actually -- no change.
     
  13. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    I ran a Norton AV QuickScan, too, which was clean.
     
  14. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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  15. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    Well, THAT was no fun! I did the manual uninstall and decided to reboot before attempting the reinstall. My Dell welcome screen came up, but it never reached the "Windows loading" point -- just hung on a black screen. Took 2 tries just to get it to load in Safe Mode, and then I was able to reboot normally.

    I can tell you that I'm NOT eager to reinstall Firefox at this point! Suggestions?
     
  16. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Honestly, I think you have some other issue with your computer that is causing it to act the way it is. Could be a hardware problem (faulty power supply?), or something else that got installed on there that screwed up your registry...

    Millions of people have installed Firefox with no issues at all. There's something else going on here, unrelated to Firefox...
     
  17. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    What stumps me is that any other application I open works just fine; only Firefox caused the rebooting issue. And then the fact that it wouldn't uninstall...

    I'm going to run a full AV scan now, then start looking into purchasing a new sytem. This one's about 5 years old, but the only major problem I've had with it was having to replace the power supply last year.
     
  18. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Sorry I couldn't help you out today!

    If I think of anything else, or if I find any info on the net about someone having the same issues, I'll be sure to let you know.
     
  19. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    Thanks for your help (you were helpful, actually!) -- I'll update if I get Firefox going again!
     
  20. neilz

    neilz New Member

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    FWIW ... you may want to download version 2 instead of the currently offered version 3 and see if that works for you. Version 2 has a different rendering platform (Gecko 1.8 vs. 1.9 in version 3) .

    There's also this issue that seems to follow what you're seeing:

    Users who have older installations of Google Desktop Search may experience crashes on startup; reinstalling Google Desktop Search fixes the problem (bug 401513)
     

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