538656 - try to start moxilla firefox and get the error - Firefox is already running but is not responding.....

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[Karl]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: Moxilla Firefox 3.5

After I open firefox once and close it, I cannot open it again without rebooting the laptop.  The full message says "Firefox is already running, but it is not responding.  To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system." 

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Firefox
2. Close Firefox
3. Try to reopen Firefox and get error message.
Actual Results:  
1. Open Firefox
2. Close Firefox
3. Try to reopen Firefox and get error message.

Expected Results:  
1. Open Firefox
2. Close Firefox
3. Try to reopen Firefox and get error message.

It should start anytime I click the short cut.

Comment 1

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Do you have the ghostery addon installed by any chance?
Also, instead of reboting, if you open task manager do you see a firefox.exe process listed? if so, you can do some testing to try and narrow down what is causing the hang on shutdown, it is most likely an extension. Try safe mode or a new profile.
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing+profiles
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
Also, what version of firefox are you running (exact version info please).

Comment 2

[William Benzel]

Check to see if you have more than one version of Firefox installed. If so, then uninstall the old versions. If you want to retain the old version you will have to use Task Manager to end any "firefox.exe" Processes that remain running before you can reopen Firefox.

Comment 3

[George Derkacs]

I have the same problem.  I am using Firefox 3.6 and I close all occurrences of it.  I come back hours later and it says that Firefox can not run, because there is a version already running.  This happens numerous times in a day and every day. The only way to start Firefox is to open the task manager and look at processes and end Firefox. My wife will have this problem and she has to wait for me to come home for her to use Firefox again.  This did not happen with the older versions o Firefox.

Comment 4

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Reporter, are you still seeing this issue with Firefox 3.6.13 or later in safe mode? If not, please close. These links can help you in your testing.
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles

You can also try to reproduce in Firefox 4 Beta 8 or later, there are many improvements in the new version, http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Comment 5

[ed.beckstead]

I too have this problem. I am running 3.6.xx also, and can come back hours later to find this message when I try to access the internet.  I am just wondering if there are known software issues with other programs that can cause this.

O/S Windows XP (Home) Version 2003  Service Pack 3
Intel Pentium Dual CPU
E2200 @ 2.2GHz

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as this is becoming annoying.

Also note:
Usually before this happens, I have had to shut down Firefox due to a freeze when trying to load a web-page I have browsed for.

Comment 6

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.13 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). If you continue to see this issue with the newest firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.