"Crash" Course

I am a die-hard supporter of Firefox, Worlds best internet browser. Few months back I downloaded the latest version from the Mozilla stable, Firefox 3. But from few week I have been experiencing browser crash. Firefox, per se, is a very strong & sturdy browser. So frequent crashes is simply not its nature! In case you are experiencing the same problems then do refer to the tips & tricks I have mentioned below. But please continue using Firefox 3. 1. That's the way the cookie crumbles: Cookies in the computing world are used for authenticating, session tracking (state maintenance), and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences or the contents of their electronic shopping carts. A cookie named aus2.mozilla.org is the culprit that causes frequent crashes in Firefox 3. Especially when the Firefox checks for the latest version the users get this message: "AUS: Update XML File Malformed (200)". To solve this problem just go to Tools (Obviously, in Firefox application ) >> Options. Click on the Privacy Tab. Click the button Show Cookies. Scroll down to the named(famed) cookie, aus2.mozilla.org and click once on it. Below there is a button named Remove cookie, Click it. Now close that dialog box, and in the same Privacy tab there is a button named, Exceptions. Here you can block the cookie. Just type, "aus2.mozilla.org" in the field and click Block. There you go, now your Firefox is safe from frequent crashes. The other reasons for the crash can be 2. Not using the latest version of the Firefox... That's Firefox 3.0.1, for newbies. You can also click on the Orange colored "Upgrade now" button, just next to this post, to get the latest Firefox. 3. Problematic or Outdated Extensions or Plugins: Some extensions have been reported as problem creators, like:

Firefox 3:

AVG SafeSearch, XPL LinkScanner, RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin (installed with RealPlayer), ThinkVantage Password Manager (see the Thinkpad forums), PicLens Free Download Manager. Personally, I use AVG Antivirus. AVG has this Link Scanner which scans the links generated from the search results on Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. This has caused Firefox 3 to crash many times. Just uninstall this extension! Note: Firefox does not provide ActiveX support and if you have an old ActiveX plugin installed, you may experience problems such as crashes. See ActiveX for more information. And for those using Windows platform, the VLC Media Player Plugin may conflict with the Windows Media Player plugin when playing WMP files. You will need to disable or remove the VLC Media Player Plugin to prevent this. 4. Malware: Virus & Spywares: A file named nsBrowserOpt.dll is notorious to cause enough trouble for Firefox 3 users. To eliminate this file, Exit Firefox. Then go to My Computer or Windows Explorer. Browse to the directory: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\components. Delete the file nsBrowserOpt.dll. 5. Conflicts with... Google Desktop: Uninstall older version of GD and install the latest version. Downloading: If you are experiencing problems while downloading then the download history is got corrupted. To fix it first close the all Firefox application. Open the Firefox profiles folder. This folder is available here; C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\ folder (for Windows Vista users) or the C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\ folder (Windows XP/2000), which depends on your Windows user account name. Note that the Application Data Folder is mostly hidden. Alternative way is to go to Start>Run... Type %APPDATA% ("%" sign is necessary!) If the Profiles folder contains multiple folders, open the folder for the active profile. In the profile folder, find the downloads.rdf file and delete it. That should take care of the most common problems. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, when Firefox crashes it generates a crash report and starts the Mozilla Crash Report. Most Firefox users cancel it!. Do NOT make that mistake. More the reports reach Mozilla, the better it is for us. As we can get a bug free update of the Firefox next time. Enjoy Firefox. Promote Firefox. -- O.A.K. Tree Source: Mozilla