Clearing recent history causes very long delay with message "a script has stopped responding"

When I take option to "Clear Recent History" from tools dropdown, there is a very long delay EVERY TIME, followed by this message:
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.
Script: chrome://browser/content/sanitize.js:136
This happens even when Javascript has been disabled. This problem first appeared just after installing Firefox version 4.0
I can proceed to "Clear Recent History" only by again clicking that option after taking option to stop non responding script.

I have resolved the problem (for now) by uninstalling Firefox 4.0 and reinstalling Firefox 3.6. When 4.1 becomes available I will try 4 again.

Similar Messages

Since I upgarded to Firefox 4 Clearing recent history takes much longer than ever. Does anyone know why?

running Windows XP

The browser cache is a bit more complicated in 4.0 than it was in previous versions, so it may take a bit longer to clear.

Clear recent history not responding

When I try to use the the Clear recent History. It locks up and I get a program Not responding. Then fire fox shuts down.

Try to exclude the cookies to see if that helps.
Let all cookies expire when you close Firefox.
*Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: Keep until: I close Firefox
Create an Allow exception for cookies that you want to keep.
*Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: Exceptions
Note that clearing "Site Preferences" clears all exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, software installation, and passwords.
Clearing cookies will remove all specified (selected) cookies including cookies that have an allow exception and cookies from plugins.

Upgraded to FF4 on my work computer, "Clearing Recent History" seems to start up the Hummingbird "exceed.exe" programme on my computer most times (strange). Also clearing is very slow.

Seems to happen most times when clearing recent history. (The exceed.exe programme is part of the Hummingbird suite of programmes for host emulation/connection to VMS machines.) Since I upgraded to FF4 a few days ago, nearly every time I clear recent history the exceed.exe fires up. I usually clear history after each browsing session.
Kind Regards.

Bootcamp is installed by default but if you have not touched bootcamp to install your Windows partition, you shouldn't encounter the problem I was describing.
As for Parallels - just thinking out loud. When you talk about "Running chrome", are you actually running chrome on Mac or are you running chrome in Windows (Parallels).
Also, do you keep your Parallels running all the time when you're not actually using it?

Why does Clear All History take so long?

I like to clear my browse history frequently (daily). With recent releases, this takes a very long time. I frequently get an "Unresponsive script" warning. The message is:
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responnding. You can stop the script
now. or you can continue to see if the script will complete.
Script: chrome://browser/content/sanitize.js:133
Why is this taking so long?

Are you doing that via History > Clear Recent History ?
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Clear+Recent+History
Are you only clearing the history or are you clearing more items (cookies, cache)? 
If you clear more items then try to select only one of them to see if you can isolate the cause.
You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file in the Firefox Profile Folder.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file

Clearing recent history on Firefox freezes browser.

This is actually a problem and what I did to fix it....
Firefox 25 and Mac OS 10.7 (Lion)
Went to "Clear Recent History" and Firefox stopped responding.
• I had to use COMMAND-OPTION-ESC to quit Firefox
I then went to Firefox preferences-->Privacy-->History
• I changed "Remember History" to "Use custom setting for history"
• I checked the box that said, "Clear history when Firefox closes"
THIS IS WHEN THE PROBLEM HAPPENED
• Clicking Firefox from my Startup Menu would cause the pointer to spin endlessly
• Again, I had to use COMMAND-OPTION-ESC to quit Firefox
At this point I was worried that I could lose all of my Bookmarks with a clean install,
so I went to the internet and found out I could start Firefox in a "Safe Mode"
Here is what I did to correct the problem....
1) Hold down option and click Firefox from the Startup Menu (Firefox starts in Safe Mode)
2) I then went to Firefox preferences-->Privacy-->History
3) I unchecked the box that said, "Clear history when Firefox closes"
4) I changed "Use custom setting for history" to "Remember History"
5) I closed the Firefox preferences and Quit Firefox
When I restarted the computer all of my Bookmarks had returned :-)

That was very good work. Well Done.
These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.
These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox
'''[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/febe/ FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension)]''' {web link}
FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your
Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more.
In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild
your saved files individually into installable .xpi files.
It will also make backup of files that you choose.
'''[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/opie/ OPIE]''' {web link}
Import/Export extension preferences

Am I the only one who has firefox crashing when trying to use "Clear Recent History"?

Well I installed Firefox 4 on both my laptop and my desktop and it does the same problem to both of them, which annoys me greatly.
Such a simple feature should have no problems working right? Well not for me apparently.
When I try to use Clear Recent History (ctrl + shift + del) from the firefox menu, it asks me what I want to clear, then I press clear and nothing happens. It freezes and crashes. If I would have this problem for only 1 computer I wouldn't have minded much but the fact that this feature is having so much troubles running is getting a bit annoying for me. I just want to quickly clear my cache of everything. Shouldn't be hard!
What annoys me the most is that by browsing trough the web, I didn't find anybody else with this problem!
I don't mind much because after retrying it eventually works... but an awesome browser such as firefox should work from the start, not after many tries.

You can try to select only one setting at the time in [[Clear Recent History]] to see which one is causing the crash.

I can't clear recent history. It worked on 6.0 but on 6.0.2 I can't do this. Also my bookmarks are lost. How can I fix it? Old bookmark archives don't work. Error: Can't read data.

The day I updated my Firefox to version 6.0.2, I had some problems. The first time I want to clear recent history as "everything" Firefox cleared my all bookmarks and history page (Ctrl + H or Ctrl + Shift + H) but visited websites are still on address bar. They are on Firefox Menu > History section. Bookmarks are not important, how can we fix Clear Recent History function?
Troubleshooting Information is in Turkish, if it is not useful I can send that text in English. Please send an e-mail for this.

A possible cause is a problem with the file places.sqlite that stores the bookmarks and the history.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Clearing+Location+bar+history
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Cannot+clear+Location+bar+history

"clear recent history" is not lit up, can't activate; I have an extra blank line under all these editing icons which I do not want?????Yahoo says it is your issue; also when I copy for instance a screenshot (see below)

1)trying to clear cache: when I click tools,options, "clear recent history" is not lit, I do not know what else to say. I tried to copy the screenshot sample, but it wouldn't let me. 
2) On a page: the items appear in this order - 
a)Header line:Firefox symbol Ask question or whatever I am seeking 
b)2nd line: the words: File, Edit, View, etc. 
c) 3rd line:arrows then 7 icons for editing which appeared one day, a small window that tells where I am with a star and then a window with
google's symbol and a small window with a magnifying glass. 
d)4th line: a wide empty line 
e)5th line: a small window telling what I am doing ie Ask a Question etc. then a plus sign in a gray box and then nothing follows. 
Yahoo says that the blank line and the icons are Firefox's issue. 
I never chose to have icons for editing instead of the words. I do not know how they got there. I had some problems for a number of weeks (1/4/11 to 2/5/11 because all of the 2nd line had disappeared and I had no bookmarks. Yahoo was completely ineffective and I got disparate yesterday and started click all over the screen and suddenly the words of that line appeared again as well as all my bookmarks were back.?????odd. So all this maybe related. I just would rather not have that blank line as it lowers my screen.
3) cont'd: to my desktop I cannot retrieve from my desktop. I click to open it and the page opens, but it keeps opening and opening and on and on and won't stop, so I have to close the tab and sign in again. This has happened about ten times recently. I guess that is it.

* Make sure that you not run Firefox in (permanent) [[Private Browsing]] mode
* You enter Private Browsing mode if you select: Tools > Options > Privacy > History: Firefox will: "Never Remember History"
* To see all History and Cookie settings, choose: Tools > Options > Privacy, choose the setting Firefox will: Use custom settings for history
* Uncheck: [ ] "Automatically start Firefox in a private browsing session"
* "Clear the Cache": Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Offline Storage (Cache): "Clear Now"
* "Remove the Cookies" from sites that cause problems: Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: "Show Cookies"
Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode]] to check if one of the add-ons is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).
* Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
See:
* [[Troubleshooting extensions and themes]]

Why is the "Clear Recent History" under my "History" menu inactive (grayed out, not black)?

When I click on the "History" icon, I get a new window with "History" at the top. Under it are three sub-options: "view History Sidebar", "Clear Recent History" (which is the one that I want to access), and "Restore Previous Session". Only the first one is black/active/"hot"; the other two are gray and do nothing when either clicked or the designated keyboard alternative is used. what must I do to be able to clear my history.

Did you make sure that Firefox isn't already running in private browsing mode?
Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode|Safe Mode]] to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
*Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
*Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
You can also check the target line in the Firefox desktop shortcut.
You can use an extension to get Private Browsing mode support per tab to see if that shows that you are in a Private Browsing mode tab.
*Private Tab: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/private-tab/
*Private Browsing mode tabs get a dashed underline
*You can toggle Private Browsing mode on/off on each tab via the right-click context menu of the tab
Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.
*Download the full Firefox installer and save the file to the desktop https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/
If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
*Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
*(32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
*(64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"
*It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure NOT to remove personal data when you uninstall Firefox as that will remove all Firefox profile folders and you lose your personal data.
If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Clean_reinstall

How to clear recent history

clear recent history is not working

What happens if you try to clear the recent history and which items have a check-mark and what is the range?
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Clear+Recent+History
Note that clearing "Site Preferences" clears all exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, software installation, and passwords.
Clearing cookies will remove all specified (selected) cookies including cookies with an allow exception that you would like to keep.
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Creating a profile":
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

Whenever I try to "clear recent history" in Firefox 6.0, I get a messages saying a script ("chrome://browser/content/sanitize.js:133") is busy or has stopped responding. How can I remedy this?

Whenever I try to "clear recent history," which I try to do after every browsing session, I get a message saying "A script on this page may be busy or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete. Script: chrome://browser/content/sanitize.js:133" I used to get this periodically before I upgraded to Firefox 6.0 but now I get it every time I try to clear my recent history. This happens on both my home and work computers and I'm using Firefox 6.0 and a Windows XP Professional SP2 operating system on each computer. How can I remedy this?

That can be caused by clearing the cookies via [[Clear Recent History]].
* Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history" > [X] Clear history when Firefox closes > Settings
* Firefox > History > Clear Recent History or Tools > Clear Recent History
Try to exclude the cookies to see if that helps. 
Let all cookies expire when you close Firefox to remove unwanted cookies and keep the ones with an allow exception. 
Make sure that you do not clear the "Site Preferences" as that will remove all exceptions.
* Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: "Keep until": "I close Firefox"
If you use [[Clear Recent History]] to clear the cookies then Firefox also tries to clear the cookies from plugins like Flash and starts a plugin-container process for each plugin and that can add extra time and can cause an unresponsive script error to appear.

I cannot completely Clear Recent History; one url keeps showing up even after clearing. Why?

When I click on the Clear Recent History button, it appears that all categories are cleared. However, when I log back on, the drop-down menu of the URL bar shows that one previous URL from October 3, 2011, has not been cleared--has never been cleared, in fact. It is always the same address, which is: us.mc393.mail.yahoo.com/mc/welcome?gx=/&.tm=1317702807&.rand=42rlbj6nchdgv#_pg=showMessage&sMid=3&&filterBy=&.rand=248392308&midIndex=38...
It is the only item to appear in the drop-down menu.
Why is this happening, and how do I clear the history completely?
Thank you.
[email protected]

A possible cause is a problem with the file places.sqlite that stores the bookmarks and the history.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
*https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_places-database-file

Clear Recent History Slow

What's happened to the speed of the "Clear recent history" feature? It's slow as molasses on FF4. A couple of times I thought it had locked up my computer because it took well over 30 seconds to gain control of my computer back. This was never an issue in past versions of FF.
This release seems a little buggy IMHO. I've had some rendering issues with websites and various other details that never happened in 3.xx

Unfortunately it can not be recommended that you go back to firefox 6, some of the fixes were security fixes, and firefox 6 is no longer considered secure or supported. ( Firefox 3.6.23 was updated and is still temporarily supported, but I doubt many would consider downgrading that far)
* see [[installing a previous version of firefox]]
Check that all your extensions are up to date. Possibly it is due to a change in the version or combinations of themes plugins and add-ons that you use. You clearly have out of date plugins showing.
*try http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/ & See also
**[[troubleshooting extensions and themes ]]
** [[basic troubleshooting]]

The 'Clear search history' button in mygoogle search box is not working; it doesn't clear the searches. I can clear them by going to the firefox tools 'Clear recent history' button. Why is this? How to fix it please.

The 'Clear History' button in my 'Google' search box has stopped working. it does not clear the searches. I have to go to Tools - 'Clear recent history' in the toolbar to clear the 'Google' searches. Why is this?How to fix it please. James McGunn

Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode]] to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).
* Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.
* Use "Disable all add-ons" on the [[Safe mode]] start window to disable all extensions.
* Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")
* [[Troubleshooting extensions and themes]]

Clearing recent history causes very long delay with message "a script has stopped responding"

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