You are able to access the web, but Firefox seems to lockup or freeze?

1) Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All of them.

2) Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;

Type about:preferences#advanced<Enter> in the address bar.

Under Advanced, Select General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.

Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?

Then restart.

Did you post from the Firefox that has the problem, or from a different system? If it's a different system, is it also Windows 7 with Avira?

Another thought in addition to FredMcD's suggestions: Sometimes after an update Firefox is blocked by your firewall. This article has the steps to track that down: Fix problems connecting to websites after updating Firefox.

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file in the Firefox profile folder.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file

• Places Maintenance: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/

Please update to the current Firefox 34 release that has been released on Monday.

• Help > About Firefox

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/update-firefox-latest-version.
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Updating+Firefox

The Firefox version that you currently run is no longer supported with security updates.

• It is important to update Firefox and add-ons to the latest version to get all security fixes.

Thanks, all of you. It is odd how some links (very few) actually work and some just sit there. When I have time to breathe I will try all of your suggestions... I might even update FF for the 17th time this month. :-/ Again, thanks.

Jscher, To answer your question, yes to all. Same Firefox, same computer, Win7 with Avira

Running checkdisc. So far the little black window just has the cursor blinking stupidly at me like it's trying to make up its mind. And as I tried typing this I was flung to the bottom of the page for no apparent reason. Weeeeird.

Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All of them.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift (Mac Options) > key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?

Fred, ironically, one of the links you guys provided asked me to install an add-on to make the bookmarks library remains safe.

You said you were Running checkdisc Did you get a report?

Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test.

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/

Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
  http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
• AdwCleaner:
  http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
  http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml
• SuperAntispyware:
  http://www.superantispyware.com/
• Microsoft Safety Scanner:
  http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
• Windows Defender:
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-defender
• Spybot Search & Destroy:
  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
• Kasperky Free Security Scan:
  http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

• Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
  http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446

See also:

• "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware

No, Fred, cmd.exe hasn't started. For the last 24 hours this is all it has been doing: C:\Users|Tim> (and the cursor blinks at the end of this little string).

That's all it's been doing for 24 hours.

I wanted to do a control A, control C, control V cut-n-paste, to show you exactly, but it won't perform this simple task, so I hope my transcription helps.

Something is very wrong if multiple attempts to start this exe have failed. And there is no way to start it from My Computer, which pretends that the .exe never existed.

Did an all-night antivirus scan with Avira and it found nothing.

But it's clear something is reeeealy wrong.

...and now I'm seeing crap like this in my emails: style="color:inherit;">

TDSSKiller found nothing, either. But clearly something is effed up. Something that rebooting the PC does not fix.

Hi Tim, running cmd.exe simply opens a command prompt window. You would need to run chkdsk manually. Microsoft has an old article on it: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd637756.aspx

It's possible Windows 7 has a more integrated approach to checking disk integrity than chkdsk. Or maybe it's just a graphical interface over the same old code...

i finallt got chkdsk running (apparently cmd is nothing and chkdsk was the real deal (?) but after running a few seconds, the window disappeared. i guess if i want results i can't walk away from the computer for 20 seconds? ok, i'm gonna try it again.

OK, the stupid thing did it again. chkdsk didn't seem to find anything wrong, but it's hard to say because it generated a hellacious amount of text and then the window once again disappeared without showing me the results.

Is it just me, or is that really effed up?

That's a problem with running ancient DOS commands in Windows. If you want to be able to read the output at your leisure, you need to start chkdsk from the command line instead of the Run box.

Not sure what "command line" means. I was using the Start window, as the black window does not allow any typing and is strictly a readout.

BTW, in case I forgot THANKS SO MUCH to all of you for trying so hard to help me. I am sorry to be such a Luddite pain in the *ss and I appreciate your help.

On your desk top, right click an empty area and select New > Text Document. Name it SFC.bat. Note this is a BAT file/ Now right click the file and select Edit. Enter this in the file;

C:\Windows\System32\sfc.exe /scannow Pause

Now close the file. Then run it. A window will open and you will see what the program is doing. The Pause will stop the window from closing until you press any key. Tell us what it says.

If needed, take a screen shot.