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Why does Firefox start multiple instances of itself every time I start it?

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  • 3 have this problem
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  • Last reply by John99

Jmpoer91306
Jmpoer91306
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When I first start Firefox, and open the Windows Task Manager, I usually find THREE instances of it running. If I try to shut down all but one of them, they will either restart themselves, OR they will all close. Resatarting Firefox does NOT restart three again. Just the first time. Also, I get messages from the system that Firefox is using a LOT of cpu time and resources when I get the multiple instances. (This is how I discovered it was happening.)

This does not happen on my other machine, and both are running Win7 64bit and identical ( I thought) setups of Firefox.

When I first start Firefox, and open the Windows Task Manager, I usually find THREE instances of it running. If I try to shut down all but one of them, they will either restart themselves, OR they will all close. Resatarting Firefox does NOT restart three again. Just the first time. Also, I get messages from the system that Firefox is using a LOT of cpu time and resources when I get the multiple instances. (This is how I discovered it was happening.) This does not happen on my other machine, and both are running Win7 64bit and identical ( I thought) setups of Firefox.

All Replies (1)

John99
John99
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One possibility is Malware.

Firefox will open plug containers, but normally will not run multiple instances of Firefox. Running multiple instances is normally expected if an advanced user is using the -no-remote option

Can you actually see these three instances and look at them from the taskbar ?