Multiple instances of firefox in task manager but FF doesn't open

- Windows XP SP3 (up to date with all critical updates)
- FireFox 25.0.1 (Note: Originally I had version 31 but a few days ago that stopped working)
- Norton Security Suite (the comcast version) up to date
- I have IE6 and Chrome 37 as backup browsers (Note: when FF stopped working, IE8 had also stopped working - page would open, only one system process, but page would never load)
Ran the following scans:
- SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
- Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
- Ad-Aware Antivirus
- Spybot-S&D Start Center
Found a few non-critical yet potential infections (nothing too crazy)
Symptom persists as follows:
- fresh boot of computer
- open task manager (no instances of FF)
- open firefox - process appears in task manager and immediately goes to 50%
(nothing opens and nothing listed in Applications)
- open a second instance of firefox - 2nd process appears in task manager
(still nothing opens and neither instance appears in Applications
(the two instances continue to run at a cumulative 50% CPU usage - one might be 15% and the other running at 35% - or both running at 25% each)
- open a third instance of firefox
(still nothing opens, and all three instances show in task manager processes and cumulatively run at 50% - example:15 +15 + 20 or 10 + 15 + 25)
Troubleshooting:
restored a drive image from May 2014
- Note: Dec 2013 I had done a complete FRESH new install of Windows XP in prep for EOL and installed all updates, including SP3, so the image I chose from May was only 5 months old, but I chose that one because of some of the other programs I had installed that month and didn't want to go through that again
- Note #2: I have drive image run a monthly PQI backup of my C: drive and my R: drive) I have two hard drives 300G each whereas C: drive is OS only and R: drive is all my downloads, my documents, my photos, etc)
- after the image restored, I tried to open FF and IE8, neither app was problematic. FF auto updated from what version, I don't know, but it was on 31 when I realized the problem was BACK. Also ran some WIN critical updates, and IE8 stopped working too!
uninstalled IE8 (rolled back to IE6 and now IE works - but obviously I can not live with IE6 - I need to update that!) uninstalled FF31 (and deleted all temp and profile account folders) and installed a brand new copy of FF25 - whereas I immediately force stopped autoupdater and deleted the update files so I could remain on FF25.
Now FF25 will open only on the second instance of the process (the first will always go to 50% CPU, the second will open and run between 0 and 10 CPU, and only one application in Applications)
- I have learned that I can kill the 50% process using task manager or process explorer and total CPU usage will drop down to 0% - 10%
I can open many many tabs without any problems, and I can right click a link to open a new window and all is good, BUT if I use the desktop ICON, the quick launch ICON or the START > Programs > Icon, then the NEXT process will go to 50% and no second window will open
I have seen dozens of forums that have reported similar memory issues, but none have been resolved.
Can you help me? I don't want to upgrade IE6 to IE8 just yet, but I will not use it for anything but testing until I can upgrade. Note: besides being painfully slow, I have been switching to Chrome, but I have never enjoyed Chrome.... I am using FF right now to ask for help.
Any suggestions?

I have the "techie" answer for all of you. According to the tier 2 support at Norton Help Desk, the latest live update from Norton "utilizes Visual Studio 2012 which enables SSE2 instructions" and my processor can not handle that.
He said they are "working on a solution" and offered to reply back on Wednesday / Thursday this week if a solution could be found...

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Something is preventing Firefox from loading your profile correctly. You may want to try loading Firefox in Safe Mode with add-ons disabled.
[https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Safe%20Mode How To Start Firefox in Safe Mode]
Once you're in Safe Mode you can view a list of your plugins in '''Tools > Add-Ons > Plugins''' and disable each plug-in one by one until Firefox can open normally outside of safe-mode. If disabling one particular plugin fixes the problem you will need to uninstall that plugin. You are not able to uninstall plug-ins from within Firefox itself but sometimes they are related to other programs installed on Windows.
[http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/faqs/uninstall.html Uninstalling Plugins FAQ]
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[http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/ Mozilla Firefox Homepage]
Visit this link to determine if your Firefox plugins are truly up-to-date.
[http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/ Mozilla Firefox Plugin Check]
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Thanks!
handsomeorlandoman

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I don't know what to d to open it i've tried all i could think of!!!

OK - undo the changes you made to DEP.
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I have the "techie" answer for all of you. According to the tier 2 support at Norton Help Desk, the latest live update from Norton "utilizes Visual Studio 2012 which enables SSE2 instructions" and my processor can not handle that.
He said they are "working on a solution" and offered to reply back on Wednesday / Thursday this week if a solution could be found...

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''(If you're not using it, switch to the Default theme.)''
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''To exit the Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.''
I hope that one of my solutions helps to fix your problem. Please report back with updates soon.
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There may be a corrupted file on Firefox. 
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If a clean reinstall does not fix the issue, please try starting your operating system in safe mode. 
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Firefox opens in task manager but does not display.

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I also did a short search of the forum for any soloutions but so far haven't found anything. If anyone could suggest some more things to try before I do a complete wipe of Firefox using CCleaner.
Also in the event I use CCleaner I'd like to back up my bookmarks first so if anyone knows a start parameter to back up bookmarks or even what file the bookmarks are stored (already found a forum topic on the saved passwords file) in and if copying that file into a new installation will work please let me know.
Regards to any one who can assist.

I had this problem for a couple weeks as well and it was extremely frustrating considering we use firefox for all our company tasks. Here is the solution:
First of all if you have no bookmarks you want to save, then go directly to step 7. If you want to save your bookmarks first, then follow these steps.
1. Shut down the computer
2. Reboot and open firefox
3. Go to Task Manager, right click firefox.exe, and click END PROCESS TREE
4. WAIT 30 SECONDS! Then Double-click the shortcut to try and open firefox again
5.Repeat steps 3 and 4 until firefox finally opens (trust me, eventually it will)
6. Once it finally opens, backup your bookmarks,
7. Download a copy of firefox from there website
8. Uninstall from programs menu and make sure to check the box REMOVE ALL COMPONENTS
9. install the new copy and BOOM! it works
If it doesn't work, you're an idiot. If you don't want to reinstall firefox, then you're out of luck. Good Luck!

Installed Adobe dlm add-on and now Firfox will not open. I see the process starting in Task Manager but no window opens. Unistalled Firefox then re-installed but still no luck. HELP ME!

''Duplicate post, continue here - [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/793259]''
I installed Adobe dlm add-on and now Firefox will not open. I see the process starting in Task Manager but no window opens. Unistalled Firefox then re-installed but still no luck. HELP ME! I do not want to use IE! I presume it has something to do with Adobe DLM as ever since then it is not working.

I had this problem for a couple weeks as well and it was extremely frustrating considering we use firefox for all our company tasks. Here is the solution:
First of all if you have no bookmarks you want to save, then go directly to step 7. If you want to save your bookmarks first, then follow these steps.
1. Shut down the computer
2. Reboot and open firefox
3. Go to Task Manager, right click firefox.exe, and click END PROCESS TREE
4. WAIT 30 SECONDS! Then Double-click the shortcut to try and open firefox again
5.Repeat steps 3 and 4 until firefox finally opens (trust me, eventually it will)
6. Once it finally opens, backup your bookmarks,
7. Download a copy of firefox from there website
8. Uninstall from programs menu and make sure to check the box REMOVE ALL COMPONENTS
9. install the new copy and BOOM! it works
If it doesn't work, you're an idiot. If you don't want to reinstall firefox, then you're out of luck. Good Luck!

FireFox starts in the task manager, but there is no desktop FireFox window. This occurs in safe mode also. Re-installing does not fix. Using FF 3.6.6 on win7/64bit

FireFox starts in the task manager, but there is no dektop FireFox window. This occurs in safe mode also. Re-installing does not fix. Using FF 3.6.6 on win7/64bit
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== When 3.6.4 auto upgraded to 3.6.6 . ==
== User Agent ==
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.375.86 Safari/533.4

A possible cause is security software (firewall) that blocks or restricts Firefox without informing you about that, maybe after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.
Remove all rules for Firefox from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox.
See [[Server not found]] and [[Firewalls]] and http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firewalls

Firefox won't open. I followed instructions in help. I closed Firefox via Task Manager, processeRestarted my comp. It still won't work. (as a test I ran Explorer to see if that would work. It does.) What can I do to get Firefox working properly?

These are the help suggestions from Firefox Help that I followed:
Firefox will not start and no error message is shown
Another program may be preventing Firefox from starting. Restart your computer to end all running programs then try starting Firefox again. If Firefox still does not start or if the problem returns, the other suggestions listed below can help you fix the problem.
An extension prevented Firefox from closing properly
Sometimes your previous Firefox session did not close properly and this prevents you from restarting Firefox. Norton IPS, Norton Toolbar, and Skype 4.0 are all known to prevent Firefox from closing properly. Firefox is still running, but no windows are open.
note: TO MY KNOWLEDGE I DON'T HAVE NORTON
1. Right-click on an empty spot in the Windows task bar and select Task Manager (or press Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
Note: On newer versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7) the combination Ctrl+Alt+Del opens Task Manager as well.
notron360sucks-taksmanager.png
2. When the Windows Task Manager opens, select the Processes tab.
TaskManagerProcesses.png
3. Select the entry for firefox.exe (press F on the keyboard to find it) and click End Process.
4. Click Yes in the "Task Manager Warning" dialog that appears.
TaskMgrWarning.PNG
5. Repeat the above steps to end any additional firefox.exe processes, if more than one entry is found, then exit the Windows Task Manager.
6. Start Firefox normally. NOTE: THIS IS WHAT DOESN'T WORK AFTER CLOSING THE PROCESS IN TASK MANAGER AND RESTARTING THE COMPUTER...THEREFORE I COULDN'T DO THE REST OF THE INSTRUCTIONS
7. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Tools menu, and select Add-ons.
8. Select the Extensions panel.
9. (If it is listed) Select Norton IPS and click Disable.
10. (If it is listed) Select Norton Toolbar and click Disable.
11. (If it is listed) Select Skype 4.0 and click Disable.
12. Click on Restart Firefox.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: BEFORE THIS PROBLEM STARTED TODAY I WAS ON THE WEB LOOKING UP A PHONE NUMBER = THERE WAS SOME WEIRD JAVA ERROR MESSAGE SO i DIDN'T DOWNLOAD THE PAGE AND EXITED. SOMETIME LATER IS WHEN FIREFOX NO LONGER WORKED.

Hi mcclausky, you may need to manually remove a policy setting from the registry. You also should scan for malware that might have created this problem.
This article lists scanning and cleaning tools other Firefox users have found helpful: [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware]].
To check your Windows registry for policy settings that might affect Firefox or other programs, I suggest consulting a Windows forum or Microsoft's forums. For example:
* http://windowssecrets.com/forums/
* [http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-system/this-operation-has-been-cancelled-due-to/9677848e-072d-4206-87f4-9da9284d6151 This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator. - Microsoft Community]
* [http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-security/restrictions-this-operation-has-been-cancelled-due/8af1d0cd-8fbd-4223-9396-86d7497bb275 Restrictions. This operation has been cancelled due to to restrictions in effect on this computer.Please contact your system administrator. - Microsoft Community]

Firefox is freezing. When I close Firefox, and try to re-start it, it will not open. I need to access Task Manager, where I find Firefox still running. I close Firefox in Task Manager & can re-start Firefox.

Firefox is freezing in the middle of a browsing session. When I close Firefox, and try to re-start it, it will not open. I need to access Task Manager, where I find Firefox to still be running. Once I close Firefox in Task Manager, I can re-start Firefox. This can happen several times in the space of a few hours? I'm running Vista Home premium with Firefox 3.6.16, and this problem has only started in the last 4 weeks. Can Anyone Help? Core 2 Duo E7300 with 4GB RAM.

Sounds like it is hanging when you exit and later try to restart Firefox.
* How to stop the running Firefox process
** In Task Manager, does firefox.exe show in the '''Processes''' tab?
** See: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Kill_application
**Windows 7 users: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/reap-the-benefits-of-windows-7s-task-manager/2576
* What may cause Firefox to hang at exit
**Windows 7 Task Manager: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/reap-the-benefits-of-windows-7s-task-manager/2576
** http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox+hangs
** http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_hangs
** https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox+is+already+running+but+is+not+responding
* You may need to try Firefox Safe Mode
** You may need to use '''Safe Mode''' to locate the problem: ***See: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_Mode
***Firefox 4 users, hold the Shift key while clicking the Firefox 4 desktop icon to enter Safe Mode.
***Firefox Safe Mode is a diagnostic mode that disables Extensions and some other features of Firefox.
****In Firefox 4, Safe Mode also disables Plugins and Hardware Acceleration.
****If you are using a theme, switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes '''before''' starting Safe Mode (In Firefox 4, Tools > Add-ons > Appearance). See: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20themes%20with%20Firefox#w_managing-themes-and-personas
****When entering Safe Mode, do not check any items on the entry window, just click "Continue in Safe Mode".
****Test to see if the problem you are experiencing is corrected.
*** If the problem does not occur in Safe-mode then disable all of your Extensions and Plug-ins and then try to find which is causing it
***#by enabling '''one at a time''' until the problem reappears.
***#You can also enable a few at a time (3-5), keeping track of what you just re-enabled to see if the problem re-occurs; this will help narrow down the possibilities if you have a large number of add-ons.
***#'''You MUST close and restart Firefox after EACH change''' via File > Restart Firefox (on Mac: Firefox > Quit).
***#You can use "Disable all add-ons" on the Safe Mode start window.
**See the following for more information
*** http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
*** http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Troubleshooting+plugins
*** http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting
 
 
'''You need to update the following:'''
*Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 11.0
*Shockwave Flash 10.2 r152
#'''''Check your plugin versions''''' on either of the following links':
#*http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/
#*https://www-trunk.stage.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/
#*'''Note: plugin check page does not have information on all plugin versions'''
#*There are plugin specific testing links available from this page:
#**http://kb.mozillazine.org/Testing_plugins
#'''Update Shockwave for Director'''
#*NOTE: this is not the same as Shockwave Flash; this installs the Shockwave Player.
#*Use Firefox to download and SAVE the installer to your hard drive from the link in the article below (Desktop is a good place so you can find it).
#*When the download is complete, exit Firefox (File > Exit)
#*locate and double-click in the installer you just downloaded, let the install complete.
#*Restart Firefox and check your plugins again.
#*'''Download link and more information''': http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using+the+Shockwave+plugin+with+Firefox
#'''Update the [[Managing the Flash plugin|Flash]] plugin''' to the latest version.
#*Download and SAVE to your Desktop so you can find the installer later
#*If you do not have the current version, click on the "Player Download Center" link on the "'''Download and information'''" or "'''Download Manual installers'''" below
#*After download is complete, exit Firefox
#*Click on the installer you just downloaded and install
#**Windows 7 and Vista: may need to right-click the installer and choose "Run as Administrator"
#*Start Firefox and check your version again or test the installation by going back to the download link below
#*'''Download and information''': http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/
#**Use Firefox to go to the above site to update the Firefox plugin (will also install plugin for most other browsers; except IE)
#**Use IE to go to the above site to update the IE ActiveX
#*'''Download Manual installers'''.
#**http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/191/tn_19166.html#main_ManualInstaller
#**Note separate links for:
#***Plugin for Firefox and most other browsers
#***ActiveX for IE

I get a pop up window when leaving a site asking if I am sure I want to leave, the only way to get out is kill Firefox in task mgr but FF restarts the lockup

On some sites I get a pop up window asking if I am sure I want to leave the site. The only option is to click on the pop up, nothing else works you cannot use back or even shutdown FF. I have to shut down with task manager, but when I restart FF it goes back to the locked up page.

If you want to change how Firefox starts up after a crash, you have the option to have Firefox show a list of windows and tabs. Then you can deselect the tab you do not want opened again. Here's how to change the setting:
(A) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(B) In the search box above the list, type or paste '''sess''' and pause while the list is filtered
(C) Double-click the '''browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes''' preference and enter 0 (that's a zero) and click OK.
Note: Please don't customize any other sessionstore preferences to zero, or you might lose the ability to recover your closed windows and tabs.

Multiple instances of firefox in task manager but FF doesn't open

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