301785 - when I load the mentioned link AND click anywhere on the screen I firefox crashes and I get error message (see details)

Status: VERIFIED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[babakrowshan]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 5.0; MSOCD)
Build Identifier: 

I'm running Windows 2000 Pro SP4
Mozilla 1.0.6
Extensions: SwitchProxy and Whois
Theme: Brushed 0.9.9.5

I go to website www.marketwatch.com and from there click on article which takes 
me to:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B1CD58FD1%2D9FE3%2D4ED5%2DA7D4%
2DC969446913AB%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=

When I click anywhere on the screen, firefox crashes (stops working)and I get 
this small screen which comes up as an explanation:

"Program Error:firefox.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. 
You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created. [OK]"

If I DONT click on the page, everything is fine. But immediately when I click, 
it happens. I've tested it 5 times and it is the same everytime. Even if I try 
to scroll (click on the scroll bar) it crashes and I get the error. Also if I 
click on the border of the window. Anyway, you get the idea.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Go to: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B1CD58FD1%2D9FE3%
2D4ED5%2DA7D4%2DC969446913AB%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=
2. Click anywhere on the page (inside of firefox's window)
3. Voila!

Actual Results:  
Firefox crashes and I get an error message from windows saying it "generated 
errors"

Expected Results:  
Firefox should have let me click anywhere on the page without shutting down.

Comment 1

[Adam Guthrie]

Does this happen when you run Firefox in safe mode?
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

Comment 2

[babakrowshan]

Based on feedback I ran mozilla in safe mode and ran through the process
(visiting link) and didn't have a problem. Mozilla did NOT crash or cause any
other problems.

Should I tell the creators of the theme/extensions which I was using about this?

Since I was not using any of the extensions actively, that leaves only the theme
really:

Brushed 0.9.9.5


could it have been causing the error?

Hard to believe (I'm not a programmer).

Comment 3

[Adam Guthrie]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Should I tell the creators of the theme/extensions which I was using about this?

Yep. Problems with themes and extensions are usually taken up with the extension
or theme developer, and not on Bugzilla.

Comment 4

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

Crashes caused by an extension are never invalid. The cause of the crash needs
to be identified and a good place to start is by submitting a talkback report
for the crash. It is still a good thing to report this to the author.

After a better component is identified (e.g. I highly doubt the crash is in the
EM) this bug's component, etc. should be changed appropriately so the cause can
be investigated.

Comment 5

[babakrowshan]

Today I visited the same site again on safe mode:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsletters/default.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=LAtab

and what I notice is that there is a great deal of 'flickering' as the ad on the
top right hand side (flash? macromedia? java?) is being loaded. The flickering
is taking place simultaneously at the upper right corner and upper left corner
(the ad is only on the right hand corner).

The flickering then subsides and the page and the ad are shown as they should be
and things are ok.

I also had it crash on me again but not as consistently as before (read initial
bug report - above). I tried but was not able to reproduce the cause. The error
message was the same (again see above).

Comment 6

[Adam Guthrie]

See if you can get a Talkback ID next time it crashes. You might have to install
talkback first: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Talkback

Comment 7

[babakrowshan]

Visit to:

http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3games.html?limit=100&page=1&sort=bydate&platform=pc

Will cause 'flickering' of flash (top banner) until page loads completely. When
page is finished flickering stops and page looks normal. Also, until page loads
you can not scroll down.

Comment 8

[babakrowshan]

I updated java runtime to current version and I also uploaded the 'brushed'
theme again to test whether this is still a problem.

The good news is that mozilla didn't crash but the bad news is that the
flickering on the webpage already mentioned (the flash/java/whatever ad on the
right hand side 'mirroring' to the left) is still happening. Albeit for less
time (about half the time as last). I'm not sure whether this is due to the
updated java platform or not.

I don't think the problems are due to the theme brushed because with safe mode
it still happened (flickering) and also when uninstalled it happened
(flickering) and after installing brushed theme again, it still occurred
(flickering). So I think its safe to say that it had nothing to do with that.

I did not install the extensions which were originally running adblock and proxy
extension. Perhaps it was one of those or a conflict they generated among each
other.

Comment 9

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

still see this problem?
if not please close this bug accordingly (probably worksforme)

Comment 10

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

@Reporter, we have not heard back from you in a while, so I am closing this bug as INCOMPLETE. You can reopen this bug if more information becomes available. Some helpful information you can provide us is found at http://quality.mozilla.org/bug-writing-guidelines. You should also use a recent version of Firefox, from http://www.getfirefox.com.