locked Firefox 3 process is "already running but not responding". Can't close process, or open new firefox window

Firefox version: Firefox 3 Operating system: Windows Vista Home
Author
Message
Xty~
Firefox user

While using Firefox 3, sometimes if i close a window, and then try to open one a while later, it say's firefox is already running but not responding. I've tried ending the process. Taskmanager and process explorer both cannot end it. It requires a reboot of my computer before i can use Firefox again. I've heard its a problem with the parent.lock file that firefox creates for profiles, but I have found no solution to this. I REALLY don't want to have to reboot my computer every time i need to access the internet.

Extensions installed:

Adblock Plus



Mon 23 of Jun, 2008 21:34 PST  
Pierreseb
Firefox user

If you have the SP1 for Vista installed on your machine, try this: use Internet explorer 7 for a while, and if you get the same problem as for Firefox (message with IE7 still running, impossible to kill with the task manager and need to reboot) than your problem is the SP1 for Vista, not Firefox, there is a bug in the SP1 causing that on some machines.
Unfortunately people have not find any other solutions than removing the SP1 (not something I like either)...



Mon 23 of Jun, 2008 23:53 PST  
David
Firefox user

I have this problem in XP



Tue 24 of Jun, 2008 07:04 PST  
nick
Firefox user

Same problem as above in XP. But, when i have 4 tabs or more open and try to exit out of one or open another it takes over 5min to respond and exit. By that time no more processes on my computer will run, and i'm stuck with firefox lingering there. I think the Beta 5 was much better in terms of stability for me. HELP HELP please.



Tue 24 of Jun, 2008 17:04 PST  
Oskar
Firefox user

I have the same problem under Windows XP Home SP3 with Firefox 3. Process can't be kill (only manual killing works). I think this is some sort of bug. With Firefox 2.x I didn't have this problem. Please give us the solution.



Thu 26 of Jun, 2008 10:41 PST  
Oskar
Firefox user

I have the same problem under Windows XP Home SP3 with Firefox 3. Process can't be kill (only manual killing works). I think this is some sort of bug. With Firefox 2.x I didn't have this problem. Please give us the solution.



Thu 26 of Jun, 2008 10:42 PST  
Aaron
240 posts

I actually experience this same problem too. When this occurs, I usually wait a few seconds before trying to open Firefox again, but it usually loads slowly when I re-open it, forcing me to close it and recieve the same message again.



Thu 26 of Jun, 2008 10:48 PST  
cor-el
67385 posts

It can take a few seconds after you close Firefox to write all the data to disk and cleanup everything.
Only after that has been done then you can restart Firefox. Otherwise you get a message that Firefox is already (still) running.
You can check that in the Task Manager. If no Firefox processes show up then you can restart Firefox. If after a few minutes there is still a Firefox process hanging then you can kill that firefox.exe process in the Task Manager.



Thu 26 of Jun, 2008 11:25 PST  
Uncle Giavelli
Firefox user

Same issue here. Extensions - DownloadHelper 3.0.4, Html Validator 0.8.5.2, Web Developer 1.1.6. OS - XP Pro SP2. The trouble is not consistent. It didn't happen yesterday but has happened twice so far today. The second time Firefox 3 was closed for sometime. I had left for a bite to eat. Task manager/processes shows it still running and sucking up CPU and RAM. Sounds like a bigger issue than just the annoyance of having to check for a lock file.



Thu 26 of Jun, 2008 13:22 PST  
MarkP
Firefox user

I had luck by running the profile manager from the command prompt, deleting the profile and creating a new one.
To do this, open a command window Start - Run - cmd
You will then need to navigate to the installation directory (mine is C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox)
From there type in firefox.exe -profilemanager
It will allow you to delete and recreate a new profile.



Fri 27 of Jun, 2008 15:20 PST  
Jas Verstoppen
Firefox user

Having the exact same problem with FF2/FF3 and Vista SP1. This is so annoying everytime it's not responding and I can't kill the firefox.exe process and need to reboot my PC. I already uninstalled all my plugins/addons but it doesn't seem related.

Created a new profile, that worked for like 5 minutes. Now it's not responding again.

I really need this solved! Help is much appreciated.



Sat 28 of Jun, 2008 01:28 PST  
Toby
Firefox user

Had the same problem with Firefox 3, I'm using Windows XP SP3

I close firefox, do something else for half and hour/hour then try to open Firefox again when I get the message it's already running but not responding. I can close it in task manager and then it works.

I never had this problem with Firefox 2, it must be some sort of bug.



Sat 28 of Jun, 2008 06:40 PST  
EdwardATeller
Firefox user

I have the same problem. If this is normal, then normal sucks.



Sat 28 of Jun, 2008 06:46 PST  
Anonymous

I have the same problem; I’m using ff3 with adblock plus as the only extension, running vista 64bit no sp1.

I tried all the fixes, such as checking for a virus and creating a new profile, changing the permissions for the profile folder, but nothing works

I don’t get this problem with ie7, and was not getting the problem with the betas, but did have the problem with rc2 and 3



Sat 28 of Jun, 2008 07:52 PST  
Jas Verstoppen
Firefox user

Searching for a solution I have found quite a lot of people having the same problem, no working solution though. What ever the cause might be, this is a Firefox problem. Are there any guys from Support or Development reading this? I love FireFox but this problem is forcing me to use IE7 :(



Sun 29 of Jun, 2008 13:59 PST  
Mark Sowash
Firefox user

Same problem - Firefox 3, XP SP3. Also noticed that when opening links from external program (such as Steam), firefox.exe will start as a non-responsive process with no UI. If Firefox is already open, link opens normally. Firefox will not respond or show a UI while the orphan process is running. Killing the process allows Firefox to open normally. Even after killing the process, external links do not show a UI, but rather create another non-responsive process.



Tue 01 of Jul, 2008 06:02 PST  
Yuki
Firefox user

Same kind of problem. FF3, no extensions running on Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP1. After a certain amount of time firefox.exe stalls, then when i close it closes but in the Task Manager firefox.exe is still there and i CANNOT kill the process despite waiting for a few minutes and doing it multiple times.

Have to wait for a shutdown / reboot (~5min sometimes) in order to be able to kill the process... this has to get fixed.... i'm seriously considering my alternatives if it doesn't......



Tue 01 of Jul, 2008 07:15 PST  
Jas Verstoppen
Firefox user

I can't even reboot my PC (Vista Ultimate SP1) because of the non responsive Firefox processes, need to hard reset it if I want to reboot/use Firefox again. Well I'm back to Internet Explorer, we had some good browsing times while it lasted.



Tue 01 of Jul, 2008 11:13 PST  
Poil
Firefox user

Same problem here ...
When closing Firefox, sometimes, firefox stay in memory and use 100% of CPU (one core)
I must kill the process manually in Task Manager.

This bug seem to be here when browsing flash website in many tab and/or when closing download page after the main window.



Tue 01 of Jul, 2008 11:43 PST  
Poil
Firefox user

Same problem here ...
When closing Firefox, sometimes, firefox stay in memory and use 100% of CPU (one core)
I must kill the process manually in Task Manager.

This bug seem to be here when browsing flash website in many tab and/or when closing download page after the main window.



Tue 01 of Jul, 2008 11:44 PST  
Brad Waite
Firefox user

Interesting...

With a FF 2 window open I was having trouble opening links from TBird. I'd get the same error. Usually the links will just open in a new window.

I closed TBird and restarted, while leaving the FF windows open, and now links open like normal.

Before this started happening, I had two profiles but deleted one of them. It might be a problem with profiles.ini.



Tue 01 of Jul, 2008 11:54 PST  
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next »
Show posts