After exiting Firefox it remains in "process" list, preventing a relaunch

Running WIN 7 64 Bit Home
Firefox 3.6.8
After I exit Firefox, and go on to do other work, when I want to re-start Firefox, I get a message saying Firefox is running, but not responding, and I need to stop it first before restarting.
In Task Manager, Firefox does not appear in the Applications list. It does appear in the Processes list. Of course when I select it and click "end process" I get the usual warning of unexpected outcomes, but I do it anyway. This does not result in any problems. But I think this should not be happening.
Any advice or feedback appreciated.

Hi,
I hope [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox+exe+is+always+running this article] would solve this problem.
Kind regards,
Joren

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