Hi,

Try looking in your Firefox profile folder. Is there any .lock files in there? If so, delete them.

Hope this helps!

Curtis

Where would I find the profile folder? I'm using Windows 7.

Never mind. I found it, but Firefox still won't open and the parent.lock file just comes back every time I delete it and try to start Firefox.

Hello,

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
   • Windows:
     • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
     • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
   • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
   • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
   1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
   2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

Please report back soon!

Hope this helps!

Curtis

I said that I tried re installing and it didn't help.

Yes, but a clean reinstall is a completely different operation from a standard reinstall.

Sorry, I meant that I did the clean reinstall.

Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems. See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues

Profile Backup and Restore

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

• Microsoft Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

The profile was the problem! All I needed to do was create a new one. Thank you so much for both of your help!

that doesn't work, i've tried it; Firefox just doesn't ever show in task manager processes even if i hit F(windows 7 , i mean

Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

Use "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit) to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox title bar.

it would be helpful if you could write down something I could copy and paste into whatever I should copy and paste it to do Firebox exit.

Normally I would go to task manager – processes and then push F it would show Firefox and then I could end the process but since Firefox doesn't ever ever show up in task manager processes I can't shut it down when it needs to be shut down so that I can start it.

I don't know if that is because Windows is like Firefox, or what the cause is