Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings and disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).

(If you're using an added theme, switch to the Default theme.)

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu by clicking on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item:


If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

• On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
• On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
• On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
  (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode"

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.

I tried Firefox in Safe Mode and still had the same problem. Please note that it is doing it in Internet Explorer, too.

Here are couple of examples of when it happened.

1) Reading a webpage I was unable to scroll down the page because it froze up. 2) Typing an e-mail it froze up. (That was in Internet Explorer)

Uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled again. Did not help.

Works fine and for some unknown reason it stops responding.

Please note that I upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 8 and Microsoft downgraded me to Windows 7. Computer had numerous issues. Microsoft has worked hard to correct all issues, but have not been able to find a fix for the browser issue.

In order to be able to find the correct solution to your problem, we require some more non-personal information from you. Please do the following:

• Click the Firefox button at the top left, then click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information from the submenu. If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Help menu at the top and select Troubleshooting Information from the menu.

Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.

• At the top of the page, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
• Now, go back to your forum post and click inside the reply box. Press Ctrl+V to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.

If you need further information about the Troubleshooting information page, please read the article Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 28.0 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:28.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/28.0

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days

All Crash Reports

Extensions

Important Modified Preferences

browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 6 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20140314220517 browser.startup.homepage: http://aol.com/ browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20140314220517 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 28.0 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 28.0 gfx.direct2d.disabled: true javascript.enabled: false layers.acceleration.disabled: true network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1398620614 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 93905 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 0 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1398620614

Graphics

Adapter Drivers: vga framebuf vga256 vga64k Adapter RAM: Unknown ClearType Parameters: Gamma: 2200 Pixel Structure: R ClearType Level: 100 Enhanced Contrast: 50 Device ID: 0x0000 Direct2D Enabled: Blocked for your graphics card because of unresolved driver issues. DirectWrite Enabled: false (6.2.9200.16571) GPU #2 Active: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 0/1 Basic Blocked for your graphics card because of unresolved driver issues. Vendor ID: 0x0000 WebGL Renderer: Blocked for your graphics card because of unresolved driver issues. windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureContentBackend: cairo AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.3 Version in use: 4.10.3

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.15.5 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.5 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.15.5 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.5 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.15.5 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.5 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.15.5 Version in use: 3.15.5

I found two files containing javascript.enabled and did not know if I needed to Toggle to turn off both of them or just the one. File names are:

javascript.enabled servicessync.prefs.sync.javascript.enabled

I turn javascript back on because I need it to check it to sign in to my e-mail account. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

yojit:

Disabling Javascript is a big no-no. That is the reason Mozilla removed it from the Options menu and put it into about:config because users were disabling it and having trouble accessing websites

A thing that might help:
Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration. Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.

You might need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).

Then perform these steps:

• Click the orange Firefox button at the top left, then select the "Options" button, or, if there is no Firefox button at the top, go to Tools > Options.
• In the Firefox options window click the Advanced tab, then select "General".
• In the settings list, you should find the Use hardware acceleration when available checkbox. Uncheck this checkbox.
• Now, restart Firefox and see if the problems persist.

Additionally, please check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in the following Knowledge base articles:

• Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

• Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL