topic Re: Firefox - At my wit's end! in Electronics

Firefox - At my wit's end!

SaRina — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 14:01:29 GMT

FF has been my "go to" browser for several years. It seems to be the only browser in which I can copy images from my Photobucket, which is important to me. Chrome and IE don't seem to do that.

In the past 2-3 weeks, FF has become "Unresponsive" on too many occasions and the screen freezes. Then I get a dialogue box that says "A Script may be busy", "Shockwave Flash is unresponsive", etc. and I give up. I've written to FF about this issue. BTW, my Adobe Flash is up-to-date and I just installed Shockwave Flash.

A FF update a month or so ago was critically important because of some sort of lapse in security so I have the most recent version of FF. It seems when I install updates, I always have problems after that. In the past, I have reverted to a previous point in history in those situations and the problem has resolved, but since this last FF update was critically important, I don't know if I should try that.

Any thoughts or suggestions? TIA.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Havarti — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 16:03:23 GMT

I have experienced the same thing.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Nuttmeg — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 16:04:43 GMT

I have had some of the same problems with FF.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Toppers — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 16:34:24 GMT

@SaRina wrote:
FF has been my "go to" browser for several years. It seems to be the only browser in which I can copy images from my Photobucket, which is important to me. Chrome and IE don't seem to do that.

In the past 2-3 weeks, FF has become "Unresponsive" on too many occasions and the screen freezes. Then I get a dialogue box that says "A Script may be busy", "Shockwave Flash is unresponsive", etc. and I give up. I've written to FF about this issue. BTW, my Adobe Flash is up-to-date and I just installed Shockwave Flash.

A FF update a month or so ago was critically important because of some sort of lapse in security so I have the most recent version of FF. It seems when I install updates, I always have problems after that. In the past, I have reverted to a previous point in history in those situations and the problem has resolved, but since this last FF update was critically important, I don't know if I should try that.

Any thoughts or suggestions? TIA.

Hi Sarina,

I would have some of the same issues with it as you did.

What I ended up doing was resetting it back to default settings. That should remove anything that may be causing any possible compatibility issues. It will save your bookmarks and some other features for you, but you may have to reset others again, since you will be back at the default settings again, if you have customized anything for your use.

If you want to give resetting it a try, the instructions are below:

Click the menu button and then click help .
From the Help menu choose Troubleshooting Information. ...
Click the Reset Firefox… button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Mz iMac — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 18:32:04 GMT

Troubleshooting would depend on your system info.

Are you using a Mac or PC?

Which OS are you using?

FF update nearly every week. So which version are you currently running?

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

SaRina — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 19:44:39 GMT

Thanks everyone.

Toppers - If I reset FF to its default setting, doesn't that revert back to a previous version of FF? I heard that this last update was very important because of some security breach so I don't know if it's a problem or not to revert back to a previous version of FF. Thanks for the instructions!

Mz iMac - (*embarrassed*) I should have provided that info. It's a PC and I have Windows 7. I currently have FF version 41.0.1 ("Firefox is up to date).

Does anyone else use Photobucket and if so, in what browser are you able to copy/paste your pics?

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

hckynutjohn — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 20:46:52 GMT

@SaRina wrote:
FF has been my "go to" browser for several years. It seems to be the only browser in which I can copy images from my Photobucket, which is important to me. Chrome and IE don't seem to do that.

In the past 2-3 weeks, FF has become "Unresponsive" on too many occasions and the screen freezes. Then I get a dialogue box that says "A Script may be busy", "Shockwave Flash is unresponsive", etc. and I give up. I've written to FF about this issue. BTW, my Adobe Flash is up-to-date and I just installed Shockwave Flash.

A FF update a month or so ago was critically important because of some sort of lapse in security so I have the most recent version of FF. It seems when I install updates, I always have problems after that. In the past, I have reverted to a previous point in history in those situations and the problem has resolved, but since this last FF update was critically important, I don't know if I should try that.

Any thoughts or suggestions? TIA.

If you think the updates are the problem, do a System Restore back to before you installed the updates.

hckynut(john)

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

SaRina — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 20:50:07 GMT

Hckynutjohn - Again, I read somewhere that this last update was critical because of a security breach/loophole in the previous version (?) I don't understand much about these things but again, if I do a System Restore to a previous version, doesn't that leave me vulnerable where this "security breach" is concerned?

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

stevieb — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 20:54:23 GMT

I used it for a while, found it required too many updates and there were periodic glitches (in fairness, as there all with all of them) and ultimately decided not to install it when I was setting up a new computer last year.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

chickenbutt — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 22:09:09 GMT

I hope you were able to fix the problem.

I tried this browser twice and quit it twice. Too slow, too many patches (that didn't work anyway) that were supposed to make it work with all the programs with which it didn't work, right out of the box. It just wasn't worth all the hassles for me.

Between IE and Chrome I can accomplish anything I need to, using a browser. However, IE is starting to get kind of weird since MS rolled out their new browser so I wonder if they are over IE and have moved on.

As to Photobucket, the problems are probably with THAT website, not the browsers. I haev been able to copy pics from my account there using IE or Chrome but it's just finding the right place on Photobucket for that option. I use it so infrequently that I always forget where to go and have to figure it all out again each time. That's on me, though.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

dooBdoo — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 06:16:24 GMT

Hi, @SaRina! I'm sorry about these problems. I use Firefox (41.0.1) on my Mac (OS X 10.11) as my primary browser and don't have these problems (not saying they don't happen to others, by the way). I really do prefer it to Chrome or Safari, but I keep those active for troubleshooting. It's important to keep up with the new updates, particularly as you mentioned for security issues.

Do you clear cookies/cache/data frequently? Are you using any addons/extensions and are they up-to-date? Even though you recently installed it, is the Shockwave Flash plugin up-to-date (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/?utm_source=firefox-browser&utm_medium=firefox-browser&utm_campaign=plugincheck-update)?

(eta: Also see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keep-flash-up-to-date-and-troubleshoot-problems)

Sometimes it's useful to remove a browser and reinstall it from the developer website (eta: you'll lose passwords saved to that browser, and you'll want to save your bookmarks first unless you've already imported them to another browser and can import them back) -- that can clear up weird glitches and get things rolling along normally.

I hope the problem's cleared up now, but if not let us know. We'll all put our heads together and see if we can figure out what's wrong.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Toppers — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 05:03:42 GMT

@SaRina wrote:
Thanks everyone.

Toppers - If I reset FF to its default setting, doesn't that revert back to a previous version of FF? I heard that this last update was very important because of some security breach so I don't know if it's a problem or not to revert back to a previous version of FF. Thanks for the instructions!

Mz iMac - (*embarrassed*) I should have provided that info. It's a PC and I have Windows 7. I currently have FF version 41.0.1 ("Firefox is up to date).

Does anyone else use Photobucket and if so, in what browser are you able to copy/paste your pics?

Setting it back to its default settings can do that. Firefox provides that option as a means of trying to trouble-shoot issues that users may be having, without having to go to the trouble of removing the software, and then installing it again.

There is also the option of trying to operate it in SAfe Mode, again for trouble-shooting purposes.

I will give you the support info. so that you can look at it if you are interested:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

The last option that you could try would be to uninstall it and then reinstall it. If you did that, you would have the latest version of it then, with all of the security in it.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

dooBdoo — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 06:21:22 GMT

Good points and great information, @Toppers! I've never really had problems with Firefox, but I've gotten annoyed with Chrome several times and just removed and reinstalled it -- but I don't rely on saved info in the browser (like bookmarks, passwords, list of addons/extensions, etc.) so it's a quick way to reset everything and start fresh.

Hope @SaRina has found good results by now.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Toppers — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 10:04:08 GMT

@dooBdoo wrote:

Good points and great information, @Toppers! I've never really had problems with Firefox, but I've gotten annoyed with Chrome several times and just removed and reinstalled it -- but I don't rely on saved info in the browser (like bookmarks, passwords, list of addons/extensions, etc.) so it's a quick way to reset everything and start fresh.

Hope @SaRina has found good results by now.

Hi dooBdoo,

I've personally found that it works well to reset it, and with the way that Firefox updates itself so regularly anyway, you're updated with it again in no time, so that doing a reset has never been a problem for me.

However, I do understand if someone would prefer to start over by uninstalling it, and then reinstalling it instead. I'm just letting others know that there are other options available to doing that, if they want to try those options.

You have the same option with Chrome too, the next time it acts up. Each browser has a reset option. You can reset it, as opposed to uninstalling it, if you would prefer to try doing that. You have to usually go into the advanced settings in the browser, in order to find that option.

As I mentioned before, you will lose some of your customized settings for it after you reset it, like if you put a colorful background theme on your home page for example, and installed some other features in your browser, but you can always go back in and enable them again.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

SaRina — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 17:30:00 GMT

Toppers - Thanks for the link about Safe Mode. Maybe I'll take another look at it later. It's a bit too lengthy of a process for an uninclined tech person such as myself, but I did decide to go ahead and uninstall FF, then reinstall it. I then shut down and restarted my computer. (I also did a manual malware scan just in case, but that's ok.)

After the restart, I went to Photobucket in FF. While the home page was loading, I got the dialogue box "Warning, Unresponsive Plugin". Under that dialogue box was another box that said "Script may be busy".

I then googled an images page of cats. The same thing happened when I clicked on the site and while it was trying to load, so it's not just Photobucket. It's FF. I think I'm done fighting with FF and I'll have to find another photo editing site. :-(

DooBdoo - Thanks for your input as well. Lol'ing because I don't have any customized settings, bookmarks, nor do I have extensions or add-ons. My computer usage is very basic and simple.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Toppers — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 21:00:41 GMT

@SaRina wrote:
Toppers - Thanks for the link about Safe Mode. Maybe I'll take another look at it later. It's a bit too lengthy of a process for an uninclined tech person such as myself, but I did decide to go ahead and uninstall FF, then reinstall it. I then shut down and restarted my computer. (I also did a manual malware scan just in case, but that's ok.)

After the restart, I went to Photobucket in FF. While the home page was loading, I got the dialogue box "Warning, Unresponsive Plugin". Under that dialogue box was another box that said "Script may be busy".

I then googled an images page of cats. The same thing happened when I clicked on the site and while it was trying to load, so it's not just Photobucket. It's FF. I think I'm done fighting with FF and I'll have to find another photo editing site. :-(

DooBdoo - Thanks for your input as well. Lol'ing because I don't have any customized settings, bookmarks, nor do I have extensions or add-ons. My computer usage is very basic and simple.

Sarina,

I was looking at some older posts on Mozilla's\Firefox's support forum, and it appears that it is unable to open certain Photobucket links, for some reason.

I don't know if you have any other browsers installed on your computer, but many of us have used more than one, and have switched off between them. I have often done that, and if something didn't work in one, I would just switch to another.

It's also a way of seeing if you're having a problem with a certain browser.

Anyway, I don't know if you have tried using Chrome as a browser or not, but if you haven't, it may be worth a try to see if you can get your Photobucket images to work that way.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

SaRina — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 22:54:35 GMT

Hi Toppers - As I wrote in my OP, "FF has been my "go to" browser for several years. It seems to be the only browser in which I can copy images from my Photobucket, which is important to me. Chrome and IE don't seem to do that." The difference between Chrome and IE's "Copy" function is that their option says "Copy Image" rather than just plain "Copy" like it says in FF. Why that difference in verbiage doesn't allow the "Paste" to work in Chrome or IE, I do not know. That's why I asked the question about if anyone uses Photobucket successfully in FF, as I have been able to do that for quite a few years until now.

Now I can't maneuver at all in FF because of the "Unresponsive Plugin" and "Busy Script" I have been encountering in the past couple of weeks, so that leaves me with no browser that is capable of copying my photos. I have e-mailed Photobucket about this, but do not expect an answer this year. *eyeroll*

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Toppers — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 10:34:28 GMT

@SaRina wrote:
Hi Toppers - As I wrote in my OP, "FF has been my "go to" browser for several years. It seems to be the only browser in which I can copy images from my Photobucket, which is important to me. Chrome and IE don't seem to do that." The difference between Chrome and IE's "Copy" function is that their option says "Copy Image" rather than just plain "Copy" like it says in FF. Why that difference in verbiage doesn't allow the "Paste" to work in Chrome or IE, I do not know. That's why I asked the question about if anyone uses Photobucket successfully in FF, as I have been able to do that for quite a few years until now.

Now I can't maneuver at all in FF because of the "Unresponsive Plugin" and "Busy Script" I have been encountering in the past couple of weeks, so that leaves me with no browser that is capable of copying my photos. I have e-mailed Photobucket about this, but do not expect an answer this year. *eyeroll*

I am sorry, Sarina. I was typing a fast answer when I last responded, and didn't go back and read your first post to see what was happening. I apologize for duplicating what you have already tried.

Sometimes when we're trying to trouble-shoot a computer problem, we end up trying to do several different things, and one of the things that is suggested is to try starting Firefox in Safe Mode. It will disable any Add-ons that might be causing problems, while still keeping other features.

It's a trouble-shooting feature that Firefox recommends when you are having problems.

I have used these support features myself and they do work. You just follow the links on the support screen.

I posted the support link for this in one of my earlier posts, if you are still willing to give it a try.

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

pack leader — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 01:15:10 GMT

Iwas using Fire Fox but when I upgreaded to windows 10 I love their new browser Edge and it is the only one I use now

Re: Firefox - At my wit's end!

Toppers — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 02:18:19 GMT

@pack leader wrote:
Iwas using Fire Fox but when I upgreaded to windows 10 I love their new browser Edge and it is the only one I use now

Welcome to the Q forum, pack leader!

I am glad that the Edge and Windows 10 are working well for you.