Why does Firefox sometimes say it's already running when it's not?

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All you have to do is hit''control-alt-delete', when box comes up ,you'll see firefox in the box, just highlight and hit end process, the firefox browser will be shut down, now click on icon for firefox and it will load.....

I use FF all the time, and only run into this when I try to install a back-up copy of a profile into the "Profiles" folder. You cannot copy the entire folder - only the contents inside it (by pasting it). :)

My problem is that after I've put my computer into Stand By mode (where it actually shuts off and comes back to the same spot once you restart your computer), my firefox won't restart properly no matter how many times I follow this procedure. I need to ensure that I don't close my firefox when I put the computer into Stand By mode.

I've had this problem on and off,where programs would not open up, yet in the task manager, it indicated they where open in the background.

Not just with Firefox. I do have it on my system but my browser choice is Opera, and I've had it happen with it. There was no error message, it just wouldn't open, except in the background, according to task manager.

My sister called recently and had a similar problem with Windows Live Messenger. And then another guy called me with the same problem. I first opened task manager by right clicking on the task bar and chosing it from the menue. Closed all instances of Messenger (there would be about a half a dozen or so where they tried to get it to run). Then to the 'control panel', double-clicked on 'Add/Remove programs', clicked on the list item for 'Windows Live Messenger', there where two options, 'change or uninstall', clicking on the change button will give you two options, to 'repair' or 'uninstall', I choose 'repair'. It seemed to work temperarily. I eventually uninstalled and reinstalled. So far so good.

And to top it all off, I still cannot run the newest versions of Adaware 2007 or Spybot 1.5, I still have to use the old versions. I just keep checking and downloading the newest version occassionally, maybe one of them will work one day.

Terry Hollett
www.geocities.com/terryhollett2003/

i use a school mac and i always get "firefox is already running" error im new to macs and the school admins are baffled any ideas on how to view processes on a mac running osx

There's no reason to use IE even on sites that arent supported by Firefox. Just download IE tab extension. It emulates IE in Firefox. You can download it from here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

I use FF all the time, and only run into this when I try to install a back-up copy of a profile into the "Profiles" folder. You cannot copy the entire folder - only the contents inside it (by pasting it). :)

Posted by: Carl R. Goodwin at December 21, 2007 06:27 PM

You sir, saved me about 30 minutes of headache. Old post, new info. Thanks.

I am having the same problem, only firefox.exe is NOT in my task manager...what do I do ??

I get this error all the time when im in uni. It says it cant open cause its already open, BUT its not listed in the processes. We have to use firefox for all our projects. It never works until you restart (it sometimes takes 2 or 3 restarts)..so almost everytime I log on in uni i restart (and the systems in my uni take at least 30 mins to restart!!!) the computer and log in again. I have reported many times this and they keep saying they've fixed it but it still keeps happening..my friend gets it about once or twice a week and i get it almost evey time i log in. Rahhhhh!!! Its extreamly fustrating. I never get this error a home!

the following happens when I use the pskill command in order to delete the blocking firefox.exe (Windows Vista business, running with administration rights):
C:\Users\Rolf>pskill -t firefox

PsKill v1.12 - Terminates processes on local or remote systems
Copyright (C) 1999-2005 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

2 processes named firefox killed.

Ok, 2 processes? There is only 1 in the task manager list!
And this process remains in the list, it is not killed.
Also using pskill with the PID of this process has no success:

C:\Users\Rolf>pskill -t 5560

PsKill v1.12 - Terminates processes on local or remote systems
Copyright (C) 1999-2005 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

Process 5560 killed.

But the process 5560 firefox.exe is still there! I have to restart to get rid of it.

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