Firefox... I Used to Love You.

15:24 / 19.01.05

I have been using Firefox for the past few months, and at first was delighted with the absence of pop-ups and the nice little extra features. However, in the last few weeks I've started getting a ton of pop-ups again, even from sites as innocuous as CNN.com, and just now for the first time Firefox had an error that forced it to close in the middle of a lengthy and Very Important LJ entry I was writing and I AM VERY UPSET.

Why would Firefox begin to deteriorate in this way? And what can I do to remedy the situation?

15:36 / 19.01.05

If you've got Firefox's anti-pop enabled then I doubt it's the browser and more to do with spyware infesting your machines more private crannies.

Have you checked for spyware? First thing I'd do.

1. If your anti-virus is decent run a full system scan
2. Go to [and I'm just assuming you're using Windows here] your Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs. Do you have any dodgy shit in there that shouldn't be there, to the best of your knowledge? If so, delete it.
3. Make sure it's nothing stupid like the pop-up stopper being disabled.
3. Get yourself a spyware remover from here

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

15:39 / 19.01.05

3. If all else fails: take a sabbatical from the internet and complete Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

w1rebaby

16:08 / 19.01.05

AdAware and Spybot S&D are the best anti-malware programs out there IME. Never pay for any. You could try the new Microsoft one too, I've heard a few good things about it, surprisingly.

Done a virus check recently?

16:42 / 19.01.05

Spybot's good, Spysweeper also.

16:44 / 19.01.05

Spybot is indeed the shit, but I believe in a woman's freedom to choose

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:53 / 19.01.05

AdAware and Spybot S&D are the best anti-malware programs out there IME.

Waaaaah.

I have those, I suppose I was assuming that after I cleaned out my system and deleted IE I wasn't going to get anymore Spyware. I thought Firefox was some kind of miracle worker. Where the hell is this evil shit coming from? I blame my boyfriend's porn expeditions. I have to blame someone. Anyhoo, to answer the previous question, yes I do have shady programs in my add/remove programs menu, but there are some that I've just never been able to get rid of entirely, try as I might.

More importantly than all that, what evil compels people to create spyware in the first place? It's the fucking worst human impulse, just run wild.

17:30 / 19.01.05

Console yourself with the fact that this'd be so much worse if you were packing IE instead.

17:30 / 19.01.05

More importantly than all that, what evil compels people to create spyware in the first place?

weyyy heeyyyyyy!

If none of the above sort your PC, you may have to take steps.

Drastic steps. Like FedExing trained killer astro-apes with revolvers to certain internet advertising companies.

w1rebaby

19:21 / 19.01.05

If your boyfriend's been on internet exploration sessions he may well have reinfected you.

21:37 / 19.01.05

1. Like FedExing trained killer astro-apes with revolvers to certain internet advertising companies. Wait, they have that? Why am I wasting my time deleting Spyware?

2. If your boyfriend's been on internet exploration sessions he may well have reinfected you. Bastard. He's got to hang around with the skanky ones, doesn't he. And my porn-surfing is squeaky-clean, all for nought.

07:36 / 20.01.05

I will not have FF impugned in this way. I intend to find out why this is happening. Take NO drastic steps, I'm sure a solution is just a tweak or two away. I will let you know if I find anything tonight.
You have gone to Tools>Options>Web Features> and deleted ALL the "allowed sites" under block popups and checked the box, yes?

Squirmelia

09:48 / 20.01.05

I tried purchasing something. Firefox crashed on the point of purchase confirmation and therefore I thought the order had not gone through and went through the process again. I ended up with two items instead of one and was not happy at all. Bad Firefox. (I suspect there was probably some kind of update I should have got to prevent this from happening, so it was probably not the fault of Firefox really.)

12:05 / 20.01.05

No, it's the fault of poor web designers who think everyone uses Internet Explorer. Any page worth its salt should not give two hoots about which browser you're using and certainly should never crash. There are still some people out there using text-only browsers like Lynx, fer heck's sake (although I've never met one). Have a go at the people who made you purchase twice as it was certainly their system which caused the crash - PM me the site, and I might have a nag at them, too.

12:47 / 20.01.05

Biased? Cube? NEGATIVE.

Loomis

12:48 / 20.01.05

I promised him I wouldn't tell but I feel it is my duty to point out that cube's real name is Mr Firefox.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:50 / 20.01.05

Cube is being lowered into your house via chopper this instant, his mouth jammed with Firefox cds.

Squirmelia

13:21 / 20.01.05

I have used Lynx a bit, but not on a regular basis.

It was the website of Dabs that caused Firefox to crash at that vital purchasing moment. Poor little fox of fire.

13:25 / 20.01.05

I've been using Firefox for ages and I've only just discovered the joy that is tabbed browsing. It's like a whole new world.

15:37 / 20.01.05

Urgh. When a site is not only that ugly but has this much bad coding they don't deserve your money.

lekvar

17:57 / 20.01.05

It looks like half of the errors are "just" missing alt attributes, which doesn't crash browsers, but is stupid, lazy and inconsiderate.

But yes, by all means, boycott badly coded sites.

Hypo, you'd probably know if anyone would, is there a central list of Explorer-centric sites? You know, for ridicule purposes?

18:26 / 20.01.05

Yeah, I know the problems were largely cosmetic, but if they have left something that easy to fix on their front page, what on earth will the complex stuff look like? [Shudder]

Anyway, I can't think of any sites dedicated to badly optimised/inaccessible pages, but the classic cock-up which was broken about four years ago and still isn't fixed despite someone showing them exactly how to do it (they threatened to sue him) is the utterly useless Odeon Cinemas page. (NB: If you do use IE, you may not be able to see just how awful it is.) To give them a tiny bit of credit, they have put a very ugly text-based listing up, but you still can't book tickets.

21:44 / 20.01.05

You have gone to Tools>Options>Web Features> and deleted ALL the "allowed sites" under block popups and checked the box, yes?

Well, holy crap! I just went into Web Features to double check this and saw that "Block Popup Windows" was UNchecked, and "Allow websites to install software" was checked. I have no idea how that came about. But since I've remedied that situation and ran AdAware and Spybot, I expect few if any problems from now on... I'm sorry I doubted you Firefox....

w1rebaby

23:49 / 20.01.05

The "accessible" text-based version of the Odeon site is still borked, with some hideous table-based errors. Who the fuck do they have designing this stuff?

lekvar

23:52 / 20.01.05

Publisher? Word? FrontPage, maybe?

00:11 / 21.01.05

Ahhh.. the sweet smell of vindication before bed. Or is that the rat I poisoned last week under the floorboards?

18:20 / 21.11.05

I'm back.

My computer is fucked. Freezing up on me, power button doesn't even work when it freezes (have to unplug). Browser keeps crashing. Periodically all my bookmarks and other personal settings just disappear. It's getting to the point where I can barely use my computer. I'm only using Firefox for the Internet, and I've run Spybot and AdAware numerous times, rebooted, stood on my head, tapdanced while juggling fire... I need HELP. I'm even prepared to spend disgusting amounts of money on antivirus software if need be.

Char Aina

18:28 / 21.11.05

there is a site(i have lost the link. it was on a PC that got virus-fucked. how alanis-ironic) that can help you.
they have a forum populated by tech heads and geeks of skill who can tell you what should and should notbe in your PC.
i'm fairly sure i got the link from here, so i'm sure someone will know it.

try 'site:www.barbelith.com virus spyware' or similar in google to see if you can find it here.

18:35 / 21.11.05

Yeah, I remember that, it's Hijack This from another one of my threads about my computer being fucked up. Unfortunately, I don't think this is a spyware/adware problem (although admittedly I'm a little dense about such things)... it seems more like a full-fledged virus or corrupted files or something.

invisible_al

19:40 / 21.11.05

Try grabbing a Linux live CD like Unbuntu and try see if things are working ok booting off that. Should be able to tell you if you have a hardware problem or not.

dubmick

20:27 / 21.11.05

have you tried Adblock?

A lot of the new pop ups seem to be java based. This extension will block these.

The Return Of Rothkoid

11:31 / 22.11.05

I've come across the same problem with FF, though I'm not on the latest build. I think it's to do with how the browser handles java, as it's only when I'm on a java-heavy site (posting stuff, natch) that it craps out on me. I know it's java, as you can see the engine start up and minimise down as I load into the page - but yeah, it's annoying as all fuck. SOmetimes happens when I'm closing tabs, too - the whole browser will crap out.

Bastardages.

Still, it's less buggy than IE.