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Firefox won't start, help!
Yesterday my Firefox browser wouldn't start, it keeps giving me an error message saying that a previous instance of Firefox needs to be stopped before Firefox can start. I don't have a previous instance running.
I thought if I restarted the computer it would help, but this morning I get the same error message. Help! I need it to work, I have all my favorites and websites in there. I don't know if it matters, but I'm using Windows 2000. It's a recent Firefox, but I'm not sure which it is. Back to top |
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Hi Georgia, that happens once in a while, not very often.
Try these tips for now. :: Quote :: If you receive the message default profile is in use error, you must delete the parent.lock file (also known as lock or .parentlock) in your profile folder. If your OS complains about a program currently using the file, close all instances of "firefox.exe" through your process list application. ("Ctrl-Alt-Delete -> Processes" on Windows [ from mozillazine, firefox won't start ]Sometimes starting up in what's known as 'safe mode' will help, that means the browser starts without any of the extensions or themes running, which can sometimes cause conflicts: :: Quote :: This is useful for debugging and seeing which extension might be causing a problem, especially since extensions are known to act up. To launch Firefox in Safe Mode on Windows, you can use the shortcut in the Mozilla Firefox folder on the Start Menu.
If you have accidentally deleted this shortcut, you can re-access it by going to "Start -> Run" (on Windows) and running: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode On Linux, you can go to your Terminal and run: /path/to/firefox/firefox -safe-mode On Mac OS X, it will look like: /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -safe-mode [ Safe Mode ] Hopefully this will let you figure out the problem better, but if not feel free to ask for more assistance, Erik Back to top |
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Thanks for the help, I tried what you said, and it didn't make any difference, Firefox still give me an error message saying it can't start until a previous installation quits. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.
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Ok, it sounds like something may have gone wrong, my guess is that something broke Firefox, maybe it was trying to do an update of itself right when you turned off your computer, it's hard to say.
Anyway, just go to mozilla.org, right there on the front page there's a link to download Firefox, you can download the latest version there, which you should have anyway since those fix the latest Firefox security problems. Click that link, then chose 'open' from the popup box, that will download Firefox, and start the installer. Don't worry about losing anything, it will just replace the Firefox you have now with a new version, and your favorites and cookies won't be affected. Let the installation run, follow the directions it gives you, then when you're done my guess is Firefox will open without any problems. Let me know if that does it for you, Erik Back to top |
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That worked, my Firefox now starts fine, all my favorites and everything are back, thank you so much for your help!!
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