Even before I opened Firefox, I got a message saying that Firefox was open and it had to be closed or I had to restart my computer; what can be done to resolve this problem?

Question

This is a continual problem. Even when I close Firefox and try to access it again, it takes minutes before I can access it again. Today was the first time that I received the window saying that another window of Firefox had to be closed before I could access Firefox when I hadn't even tried to access it to begin with. I don't want to have to restart my computer every time I try to access Firefox each day. Please help!

Answer 1

[http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#close_firefox Item #38]: (#close_firefox)
:<b>Closing Firefox</b>, avoid getting <b>Firefox already running</b> messages:&nbsp; To properly shutdown Firefox when multiple windows or closing the last window use File → Exit/Quit (or Firefox button → Exit).&nbsp; Closing Firefox with the [X] in the upper right corner closes the window ("Ctrl+W") but that does not necessarily close Firefox if it has subtasks running.&nbsp; If you want to close and reopen Firefox use the "Restart" within Add-ons if you made a change requiring a restart, or install "[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/restartless-restart/ Restartless Restart]" ("Ctrl+Alt+R") which will allow you to take Firefox down and restart without having to check the Windows Task Manager to see if Firefox first actually ended. (See [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_hangs Firefox hangs])
Closing Firefox properly will not completely eliminate having to use the Windows Task Manager to close Firefox on Windows but it will certainly reduce the need to use it often.
Also See [http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#tabslost item #31] '''Restoring tabs from a lost session''' (#tabslost)
<br><small>Please mark "Solved" one answer that will best help others with a similar problem -- hope this was it.</small>
You can make '''Firefox 6.0.2''' look like Firefox 3.6.*, see numbered '''items 1-10''' in the following topic [http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx4interface Fix Firefox 4.0 toolbar user interface, problems (Make Firefox 4.0 thru 8.0, look like 3.6)]. ''Whether or not you make changes, you should be aware of what has changed and what you have to do to use changed or missing features.''
* http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx4interface
There is a lot more beyond those first 10 steps listed, if you want to make Firefox more functional.