Laptop keeps freezing up when using Firefox..?

Hey, I have a Dell Inspiron E1505, running XP sp3. I'm using Firefox version 3.6.3, and i've been noticing lately that my laptop will randomly freeze when I'm browsing the internet. No specific site or anything, could be Facebook, a car site, etc. Anti-virus scans by AVG report no threats. Ran CCleaner, cleaned out some crap, but still freezing. I think the problem started when I installed Firefox 3.0, but nobody else I know has problems with it. When it freezes, I have to shut off the power by holding the power button, then start it back up. No error message or anything when restarting, but Firefox just says something like "Encountered an error, would you like to restore previous session?" etc, when I open the program again. I dont use IE cause it runs slow as hell on my laptop (stopped using it over a year ago).

Any ideas?

 

Running Firefox in safe mode, made sure Adobe and Java were updated (adobe was, Java wasnt), and nothing has happened so far, no reports of bad/incompatible add-ons or anything.

 

Just froze again. :\

 

Yes it froze in safe mode.

I use AVG Internet Security as my antivirus/firewall.

No Spybot.

IE is ridiculously slow, and every so often it "stops responding" and I have to wait a minute before it starts responding. Happens every 10 min or so.

Still freezing, no fix as of yet.

 

I have got a few steps for you.

1. Try uninstalling firefox removing any personal data aswell and then redownload to see if that solves the problem.

2. if it still happens download revo uninstaller from majorgeeks and that will uninstall the program and clean the registry for that program and then run ccleaner just to give a extra clean and then redownload again.

3. finally if it still happens after that then only thing I can think of is download another browser (ie. Opera, chrome, comodo etc.) and see if it freezes on them.

Good Luck!

 

Also, if it froze, I'd check the task manager, to see if anything else froze with it. Check processes.

 

Well, I just tried using revo uninstaller to get rid of firefox and all traces of it. When using internet explorer to re-download firefox, the laptop froze... Seems that it just freezes when using an internet browser, for no reason. ideas?

 

like theefool said in his post check to see if any other processes are making IE freeze and cancel that process that should solve it.

Another tip for you:-

1. go to start on your desktop and type in msconfig if windows vista/7 or go to run and type msconfig if windows xp

2. go to the startup tab and untick any programs there but leave ticked anything to do with windows or anti virus or firewall programs.

then reboot the computer to see if that solves it.

 

Well when the laptop freezes up while browsing, the entire thing freezes. I cant minimize or close out of the internet browser, none of the buttons work, etc. I have to hold the power button to shut off the laptop, and then restart it. So when it freezes, I'm unable to check any of the processes.

 

Any ideas? :/

 

I have an update:

The laptop froze up just a few minutes ago, but I wasn't browsing the internet. First time its done this since the freezing issue began. This kinda explains why both IE and Firefox were freezing/not responding.

I already cleaned up the laptop by following the steps in the readme thread about removing malware, but the freezing problem still was there after the weird malware-related messages disappeared.

Does this open up any new possibilities on whats causing this random freezing?

 

Yes I did what Tim said.

No, I do not know how to test the RAM, what do i need to do?

 

Ok, I downloaded the RAM testing program.
Unzipped it.
Took the extracted ISO file and burned it to a cd
Put cd in cdrom drive
When my laptop booted I went into BIOS and made the computer boot from the cd rom drive before the hard drive.
Saved and exited
Restarted the computer
Computer seemed to take a few seconds longer to boot, but nothing happened. No test, no nothing.

What did I do wrong?

 

Ah crap. Lookin up how to burn it as an ISO now. Ill run the test tonight and post up what happened. Thank you for the help so far.

 

Well, I used InfraRecorder to make the CD and the ISO file you posted. Still nothing. :\ Google has failed me lol

I'm searchin this site for a better ISO burner.

 

Well, I downloaded and used IMGBurn, it said it successfully created the ISO image on the CD. I popped the disc back in, made sure the CDROM drive was listed before the hard drive in the boot order menu, and restarted the computer.

Took a little longer than usual to boot up, had a little white cursor blinking in the top left corner of the screen (which was all black) for about 15-20 seconds or so, but other than that, nothing else happened.

I know I burned the ISO correctly, so I'm confused as to why its not working. :\ I know the CDROM is working properly and everything. Any ideas?

 

I didn't have to press F10 to save the changes. Once I moved the cdrom drive above the hard drive, I pressed enter to save the changes, then escape to exit the bios screen, and then I had 3 options: cancel/exit, save/exit, and something else I don't remember, and I chose "save/exit". Then rebooted the computer.

 

Hm, was there anything I had to do with the memtest program? I just extracted the ISO file and burned the image to the cd.

 

Well, I got a different memory testing program from a family member, Windows Memory Diagnostic. It worked perfectly. Tested 6 different sections, and everything checked out fine, with no errors at all.

If its not the memory causing this freezing, whats next on the checklist?

 

it happens in IE too. Even happens when the browser is minimized.

 

Well, I just came upon a discovery when my laptop froze yet again. The only button that works is the one that adjusts the screen brightness (Fn + Up/Down Arrow).... Weird...

Any new ideas as to how to fix this?