When I open mozilla Firefox the computer screen freezes. This is not happening all the time but very frequently to my annoyance. When it happens, the bar at the bottom of the screen which carries, inter alia, the word START does not show up as the screen shows only a huge white blank page that occupies the whole width of the screen.

My only option left is to click on Ctrl and Alt and Delete on keyboard to switch off the computer completely.

Can anyone help plse?

I use Windows XP.

My usual thanks from a retired civil servant pensioner.

Joe

I think it was earlier in the year I looked through the FireFox site's release pages and bug reports. I believe there are still bugs with both of the most recent release versions of FireFox, especially the most recent. I do not have the most recent version and decided not to after reading their reports but that was a while ago now. I did not like everything about the version I have now as it were (I have v.5.) Updating is not always for the better it seems.

It is my guess you have come across a bug with the most recent FireFox version, perhaps related to earlier Windows operating systems or perhaps even due to the version of Java you have combined with the mix. No idea.

The symptoms you give are definitely an incompatibility of some kind. Video card or Java combined with FireFox. One suggestion might be to try to downgrade to the next down Firefox version. But that in itself may cause some headaches with support files.

Hi Joe

Before I offer a possible solution to your problem I think you may have missed that you have posted your problem in the "Phex" part of the forum. This may not go down too well with the moderators, perhaps our postings will be moved to a more appropriate area.

OK, I presume you have the latest version of Firefox which, I believe, is currently version 16.0.1. While I have stopped upgrading my Firefox at version 14.0.1, this is because I learned some time ago that not all upgrades are beneficial.

You see, the thing to bear in mind is that as Microsoft is encouraging users to move from XP to windows 7 and start to roll out windows 8, likewise other application producers will start to move/position their software to take advantage of windows 8 and move away from XP.

Therefore, unless a more technically minded forum member says otherwise, I believe that as more and more application producers start to upgrade their products XP users like you and I will find that those apps will bit by bit stop working with our O/S of choice.

However, if you downgrade your Firefox from 16 back to 14 then your problem will/should vanish.

This is the position I have taken with all my applications, with the exception of my anti-virus and firewall, because I want my applications to work for me and not surreptitiously force me to upgrade my hardware and O/S in order to keep churning my equipment and put money in the pockets of the big boys.

Finally, I must also mention that upgrades also introduce new bugs, recently I had to downgrade my Opera browser from 12.xx back down to 11.64, which I now continually use.

I try to stick to a version of software that hits, what I believe to be, that "sweet spot", i.e. between good functionality and operability.


UK Bob

This is to thank you both for promptly trying to solve my Firefox problem.

I note that Firefox updates can contain bugs, as you so well explain in detail.

My current Firefox version is 16.0.1 and I am told (I quote) "Firefox is up to date" (Unquote).

So, apparently all I can do is refuse any further updates from Firefox?

Regards from the Middle Sea.

Joe

Hi again Joe

Here is the link to version 14.0.1 of Firefox:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla....1/win32/en-GB/

Hope this helps


UK Bob

Many thks for your kindness and help.

Joe