I was browsing in Firefox and while a page was loading, I switched to another tab. At this point the program hung and I eventually got the Windows error message "Firefox has encountered a problem and needs to close" with the MS option to report. I closed the program and went to reload but continually got the same message. I then tried IE6 and found this also wouldn't run giving the "encountered a problem" window. I then tried Opera and Safari (Windows) and found that they both worked. I tested most of the other software on the machine without any problems.

In trying to solve the problem, I have done the following :

- Uninstalled FF and then reinstalled (no effect);

- Did a System Restore (IE still crashing with error window while FF wouldn't even run;);

- Reversed System Restore (Both IE and FF giving the error message);

- By Googling I learned about FF Profiles and thus changed the Profile on FF (No effect. Both IE and FF giving the error message);

- Turned off Comodo Firewall (No effect. Both IE and FF giving the error message);

- Turned Firewall back on (No effect. Both IE and FF giving the error message);

- Ran the following programs looking for problems : Trend Micro's Housecall, Windows Defender, SuperAntiSpyware, AVG 7.5 AntiSpyware, CCCleaner, RegVac (Nothing signific found; 2 Adwares and several cookies, now all removed);

- Googling the problem had indicated that an old version of Java could give a problem like this, so I updated Java to the latest version (No effect. Both IE and FF giving the error message);

- Decide to do a System Restore at a date further back than previously tried. Found that all SR points were gone (Is this significant?); (Both IE and FF giving the error message);

- Did XP repair from the XP disc (No effect. Both IE and FF giving the error message)

I don't know whether this is signifcant but about two weeks ago I had three Windows V3.1 programs completely disappear, ie. the executable plus all the data files which in each case were in their same folder. They were not the only items in the folder but only they were lost.

At this point I've reached the end of my knowledge of what to try short of doing a full system installation which I would like to avoid if possible.

Can anybody offer any suggestions?

Hello John16 and welcome to geeks to go!

Have you tried operating either in their respective safe modes to eliminate the possibility that it is an add-in causing the problem?

For Firefox:
Go to Start | All Programs | Mozilla Firefox and choose Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode)

For IE:
Go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools and choose Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)

Also it might help if you look at the Event Viewer for any IE/Firefox warnings/errors:
To discover the type of Errors the machine has encountered recently, use Event Viewer.

1. Go to Start | Run, type eventvwr.msc, and press Enter.
2. When the Event Viewer opens, there will be two panes.
   The left pane is for event categories (Application, Security, and System).
   The right pane is for event messages (Information, Warning, and Error). (We want to find errors.)
3. Left-click the Application category in the left pane and check for any error messages in the right pane.
   You want to find the one(s) that occurred at the same time your system encountered the problem you have posted about.
4. Repeat the previous step for each category, or until you find an appropriate error to investigate.
5. Double-click the error message to bring up the information.
6. Click the third button on the right side of the information window (copies information)
7. Paste the information here

Please let me know how it goes,

Ax

Hello Ax

Thanks for replying. I'm sorry but in my original post I omitted to state that I had tried FF in safe mode and it runs OK. I didn't know about the same in IE. I tried following "Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools and choose Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)" but found I don't have the last option in my Accessories. I wonder why?

Here are three items from the Event Viewer :

1. Probably the original crash

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 24/11/2007
Time: 8:00:43 AM
User: N/A
Computer: 43907173OWEN
Description:
Faulting application firefox.exe, version 1.8.20071.2514, faulting module vengine.dll, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0000e7b5.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 66 69 72 ure fir
0018: 65 66 6f 78 2e 65 78 65 efox.exe
0020: 20 31 2e 38 2e 32 30 30 1.8.200
0028: 37 31 2e 32 35 31 34 20 71.2514
0030: 69 6e 20 76 65 6e 67 69 in vengi
0038: 6e 65 2e 64 6c 6c 20 30 ne.dll 0
0040: 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 61 .0.0.0 a
0048: 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 t offset
0050: 20 30 30 30 30 65 37 62 0000e7b
0058: 35 0d 0a 5..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Firefox - Attempt to run

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 25/11/2007
Time: 6:27:55 AM
User: N/A
Computer: 43907173OWEN
Description:
Faulting application firefox.exe, version 1.8.20070.30919, faulting module searchshield.dll, version 2.6.6.90, fault address 0x0001e389.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 66 69 72 ure fir
0018: 65 66 6f 78 2e 65 78 65 efox.exe
0020: 20 31 2e 38 2e 32 30 30 1.8.200
0028: 37 30 2e 33 30 39 31 39 70.30919
0030: 20 69 6e 20 73 65 61 72 in sear
0038: 63 68 73 68 69 65 6c 64 chshield
0040: 2e 64 6c 6c 20 32 2e 36 .dll 2.6
0048: 2e 36 2e 39 30 20 61 74 .6.90 at
0050: 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 20 offset
0058: 30 30 30 31 65 33 38 39 0001e389
0060: 0d 0a ..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Internet Explorer - Attempt to run

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 25/11/2007
Time: 6:41:09 AM
User: N/A
Computer: 43907173OWEN
Description:
Faulting application iexplore.exe, version 6.0.2900.2180, faulting module xplmwsdk.dll, version 2.6.6.90, fault address 0x000086d9.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 69 65 78 ure iex
0018: 70 6c 6f 72 65 2e 65 78 plore.ex
0020: 65 20 36 2e 30 2e 32 39 e 6.0.29
0028: 30 30 2e 32 31 38 30 20 00.2180
0030: 69 6e 20 78 70 6c 6d 77 in xplmw
0038: 73 64 6b 2e 64 6c 6c 20 sdk.dll
0040: 32 2e 36 2e 36 2e 39 30 2.6.6.90
0048: 20 61 74 20 6f 66 66 73 at offs
0050: 65 74 20 30 30 30 30 38 et 00008
0058: 36 64 39 0d 0a 6d9..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I note that each mentions a different .dll. I hope this is of use and helps to find a solution.

John

This post has been edited by John16: Nov 27 2007, 03:53 PM

Are you familiar with or have you ever installed XPL LinkScanner? One of the dll files referenced is a part of the software.

Yes, I have the Lite version of Linkscanner on my computer and have had it for about 18 months going back and forward between the trial Pro version and then the Lite. This switches back and forth because each time there is an update it gives you 15 days on the Pro before again reverting to the Lite. It's never caused a problem before.

What do you suggest?

I would suggest completely uninstalling it, restarting your computer, then try your browsers again. It seems there could be some sort of issue with the program, as some of the dll files causing IE to crash are from that software.

Let me know what happens.

Thankyou Ax. This has fixed the problem. LinkScanner is gone never to return.

John

Great to hear John! You're very welcome.

Ax

As mentioned earlier, I am missing "Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)" under the Accessories > System Tools Menu. Can you offer any suggestions as to why this might be or better still how I might get it back.

John

I doubt you had it to begin with. Based on the event errors you listed, you still have IE6 installed. If you upgrade to IE7 the shortcut will appear automatically upon installation. In my original post I operated under the impression that IE7 was already installed, my mistake.

Ax

Thanks Ax, I get it.

I've chosen not to go to IE7 because of the clash between it and HP All-in-One Printer/Scanners, of which I have one. While I know there are a couple of fixes, I only use IE for testing my web pages and on those occasions when Microsoft insist on it.

Once again, thankyou for your help. You and the other techies do a fantastic job on this site and I for one really appreciate it.

John

Alright that's fine with me, your browser is your preference! You're very welcome and thank you very much for the kind words!

I am so glad I found this forum. I just recently had this problem on two of our three computers; 1 is XP and 1 is VISTA. We use Firefox exclusively. I have been tearing my hair out and trying everything I could think of like the gentleman in another thread. Nothing worked and I was just about to wipe the hardrives and reinstall the OS.

Following your suggestion, I checked the add-ons and found the XPL Linkscanner add-ons on both of these computers. I disabled it on both machines and, voila, the problem was gone. However, I have two questions.

How do I uninstall them? That option is grayed out.

For that matter, where did they come from? I have never installed these add-ons or the XPL Linkscanner software. So how did they get there?

On a hunch, I checked our third computer and it is there also, although I did not put it there either. But on this one I noticed that the icon was the same as that for System Suite. We use, and have used SystemSuite (it is similar to Symantec or McAfee) and just upgraded to version 8. This was also about the time we started having problems.

Hmmm, they use Trend-Micro for their anti-virus, I wonder if they use XPL Linkscanner for part of their internet security? Does anyone know?

I will also check with them.

thanks for being here.

RudyTome

I just got a response back from V-Com, the makers of System Suite. They are responsible for the XPL Linkscanner add-on being installed for both Firefox and IE. It is a new feature in their latest version. They know about the problem with Firefox. They hope to have a fix out in a couple of weeks.

I just wish they had told me about the changes installing the new version would make. Better yet if they would have allowed me to opt-out after explaining why the changes were a good idea. It would have saved me a lot of time and frustration because I would have started looking there much earlier.

Have a great day.

RudyTome

Hey,
I don't know as much about computers as ax, but I can try some fixes if you have any. I looked for linkscanner on my computer, but don't see it. Any other suggestions for getting my firefox to quit crashing?
Thanks!