This may sound a little weird but sometime Mozilla Firefox will not start. You click on Firefox icon and nothing happens. So how do you fix the Mozilla web browser if it will not start?
This may happen due to two following reasons:
a) Mozilla Firefox may be running and it is not responding at all
b) ~/.mozilla directory is corrupted while updating or installing an extension
Mozilla Firefox may be running and it is not responding at all
First see if Firefox is running or not by typing following command:
$ ps aux | grep firefox
Ouput:
vivek 3174 19.5 13.9 209040 107008 ? S 20:17 7:30 /opt/firefox/firefox-bin
If a process is running, kill it by typing:
$ kill 3174
OR
$ killall firefox-bin
Now try to start Firefox
~/.mozilla/firefox directory is corrupted while updating or installing an extension
Just rename a ~/.mozilla/firefox directory
$ mv ~/.mozilla/firefox ~/.mozilla/firefox.old
Now try to start Firefox.
Please note that you can apply above procedure to other Mozilla products such as Mozilla Browser and email client.
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- Last Updated: Feb/7/2007
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Good tip on Firefox, and the other Mozilla family products. I have found this to be true in Netscape prior the arrival of Firefox or even Mozilla’s browser.
I wish there was a way to permanently fix this problem, either in their code, or in a start up script that kills it and starts a new one.
absolutely useless. Where does one type $ ps aux | grep firefox ? I have uninstalled and installed Mozilla Firefox several times. It did work sometime ago but no longer works. Have given up. Thankful there are browsers that work – fire fox doesn’t.
I’m with Geri! I have windows xp and firefox wont start. I double click and get an hour glass and then nothing. I’m sure it is starting because I see it in windows task manager. The scary thing is that it is constantly starting and stoping and re-opening but ultimatly I never get the browser open. I have run anti-virus software and removed things but nothing has fixed this. Firefox is a valuable program to me because I run dreamweaver and always have lots of browser tabs open.
Hello,
Really your site is very interesting,it gives my knowledge about many things.
I am a beginner with Linux and i knew a bit of Unix.
Can you guide me to get good information about linux kernel and filesystem.
In my machine i have one problem also. I have fedora 7 in my machine,now a days it is becoming very slow.
When i am checking top then it is displaying nautilus using 102% of cpu,how come it is possible?
Please solve my problem, i will be highly great full to you people.
Thanks and regards,
Shaili Vaish
Shaili,
Please use our forum to get help about Linux related problems.
HTH
Thank you so much for this tip. After searching for about a week I found this and it worked.
Thanks for the tip.
I found a problem after installing Omnipage SE4 that came with a Canon printer. It tried to hook into Firefox. So I uninstalled it, then Firefox would not start.
I’m using Windows XP so looked in Task Manager – sure enough firefox.exe was running. After killing the process all is well.
HALOOOOOOOO!!!!
I’ve added some add-ons which were flash pad or something and mozilla skins, then i got my mozill freezed and it didnt respond! I’ve uninstalled and installed several times but it couldn’t help me out of this trouble. I’ve also deleted what in the plugins folder were(in mozilla folder, program file).
But once more time, it didnt give me any diffrences!
I think this tutorial would work, but i dont know exactly where i should put those codes on.
Can anyone tell me how?
Thank u so much,
Gretta
Open terminal and type the commands.
terminal? can you tell me where can i find terminal? sorry for my stupidness… ^^
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Vivek’s instructions in this post are for Linux machines only. They will definitely not apply to Windows users, and I’m doubtful if the second one even applies to Mac users.
For Linux and Mac, the command “ps aux | grep firefox” must be typed in the Terminal.
I have a Mac and I don’t see the ~/.mozilla/firefox directory at all.
The affected directory for Mac is ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox.
same things to say as Geri and Andy.
can someone help with windows XP.
FF3 starts(AS i can see it in task manager) and then nothing happens.
ive got windows xp and recently my firefox just wont start ive looked and followed alot of advise but nothing seems to be working.when i bring up task manager it says its running but cant get a browser open.I havnt recieved any message at all about there being an error like alot of the problems on this page. i am completely baffled can any one help me im lost without it
Try killing running process. Select process > Right click > Select kill. Make sure your system is free of virus and other nasty stuff. Also, use latest version of Firefox i.e. FF3.1
Ive just installed ff3 and wow its working again thanks loads couldnt have done it without you vivek
Hi!! guys!!! we have a very same prob!!!my firefox is not starting….i think its a virus infection…
But i have the solution…if u have the same prob as mine….
It works for me but i can’t guarantee if it will work for u. but at least, i just want to help….
I try to uninstall firefox but it simply can’t. it is because of malware or spy ware. so clean up your pc first. I like avg but their 8.0 make my comp slow so I try AVIRA.try to kill the process of firefox if it is still running…check ur task manager…..
After Cleaning your pc…
If you cant uninstall firefox. Just delete its directoties in the Program files folder.
Also delete the shortcuts in your desktop or quick launch.
Then download the latest version of Firefox….
Install it……And used again!!!! Gud luck!!!!
Tell me if it works!!!! lekymred.zeus@yahoo.com
My firefox dosent work also , infact this the third time its stopped working after formatting the hardrive, ive tried everything, nothing works…shame really i really loved firefox & dont trust IE.
For windows guys, the users firefox home directory is in “C:\Documents and Settings\your_log_in_name\Application Data\Mozilla\”. So either rename this folder or remove it. This issue is due to your some corruption is the firefox settings.
Note that removing or renaming will remove all the saved data in your browser on both Linux or Windows.
All platforms browse to the firefox install directory
type firefox.exe –profilemanager (for windows) or firefox –profilemanager (for linux)
delete default profile
create new profile and start firefox
My firefox (3.05) did not start either and had tried everything. What worked for me was to copy the mozilla folder from application data from another computer that mozilla worked fine, and paste them to my computer.
thanks for the tips. My problems is that firefox is continually not resonding. I have to reload firefox every 10 minutes or so. Is there a solution for that.
i have done every thing it wont start i have uninstall the program and re dowmloaded it it wont start
Can’t open firefox, click on the icon and nothing happens. I have scanned for viruses, reboot, restored to different dates, uninstalled, but wouldn’t at first, stating close firefox, still no luck. If I log into quest on win xp it works fine, but will not open for me. Worked on this most of the day…any suggestions. Thanks.
I am running 2000 at the moment, about to switch to xp. I started using Opera when I lost Firefox and I like it a lot. I loved my firefox though, I have recently installed Ubuntu and have the same prob with firefox there too. I am very new to the Linux experience but I can see that when I finally learn it it will be a great thing.
RMYKELS you are the best THANK YOU SO MUCH!! IT WORKED
I’m having the same trouble as a lot of you do. When I try to open my firefox, the result is that it won’t open. I’m thinking that it was when I tried updating it, it got corrupted by something. Does anyone know how to fix this? If you do, please post it up here. Thanks!
By the way, I’ve also tried reinstalling it and updating it. But it still doesn’t work.
u should type these codes in terminal, u can find it in start/all programs/accesories/communications/hyper terminal
moxilla firefox wont open,,why what is the problem?
just installed win7. after a few days of honeymoon, i now have a process that constantly starts and stops. the process shows as whatever is my default browser (i uninstalled FF and the same issue occurred, now with IE as the process.) Process cannot be ended by right-click “end process.”
Ideas?