Opening a Link in Email Crashes Computer

Long-time subscriber David wrote from the U.K. to ask about an unusual problem he was having. I responded with some ideas, but no definitive solution. If you have a suggestion, please post it as a comment on my blog:

Hi Terry,

I have a long-time intermittent problem which I have posted on the Mozilla forum and not had any response. Every now and again, computer totally crashes. Screens (I have two) go completely blank without any warning and that's it! Power supply is still running but I have to hit the power button for the requisite three seconds to get the beast up and running again, which is obviously not good for it.

The crash seems to happen when clicking a link in Thunderbird (obviously to view something in Firefox). I don't think Firefox is already running when it does it, but it's difficult to narrow down the exact circumstances, as it's always a surprise!

When I bring Firefox back up again after re-booting, it usually acts as if I've just installed every add-on from scratch, presenting me with umpteen add-on home-page tabs, thanking me for installing them, plus numerous EULA pop-ups and options that have to sorted and dismissed. The add-ons that have user options (like smooth scrolling, tab-mix plus, etc.), have usually reverted to default settings and I have to re-do them all.

I'm somewhat at a loss how to fault-find this intermittent problem. Any thoughts?

I wonder if it only happens when Firefox updates to the a new version?

That still doesn't explain the resetting of options to the defaults, though. Something is wrong. The easiest way to see if it is Firefox-related (as opposed to Thunderbird, Windows corruption problems, or hardware/cooling related) would be to do a clean install of Firefox.

The first thing to do is to back up your Firefox bookmarks. I would not back up any other aspect of Firefox, such as history, passwords, add-on's, and modifications to Firefox's options. The idea is to start from the beginning, other than your bookmarks.

I suggest:

1. back up your firefox bookmarks
   • Backing Up Firefox Bookmarks
   • Also, the next link "Clean Reinstall of Firefox 3" has specific tips on backing up Firefox 3 bookmarks.
2. do a clean reinstall of Firefox
   • it's not just uninstall, reboot, and install again. You also need to delete some Firefox files from Program Files and from within hidden parts of Documents & Settings, too.
   • Clean Reinstall of Firefox 3

You might also want to go through a similar procedure with Thunderbird, since that is the other program implicated in the problem.

Copyright © 2010 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.