Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Firefox can occasionally complain that it's already running when you might not see it anywhere on your desktop. It's not lying, it's just hiding.
I installed Firefox because IE7 just freezes up and runs really slow. So far I like it. It runs really fast, but every now and then I try to start it and get a message saying Firefox is already running and that I need to stop the program or restart my computer. I was wondering what you think I should or could do, plus I was just wondering what you think of Firefox.
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I'm a big fan of Firefox, and I use it every day. I still occasionally run into websites that don't work properly in Firefox, but for the most part I rarely have to open Internet Explorer for my normal surfing.
But yes, I have run into the scenario that you've described. I'm always not sure what causes it, but I can show you what I do.
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What I've seen when Firefox complains that it's already running is simply that it is already running, but it doesn't actually have any windows open. (One way to force this on purpose is to set a scheduled task that runs Firefox, and then log out of your computer and stay logged out while that task runs. At least that's how it happens to me.)
If you run task manager, or my favorite: process explorer, after getting this message you'll probably find that firefox.exe is indeed running:
(In Task Manager you may need to make sure that "Show process from all users" is selected.)
If you find a Firefox.exe in the process list but don't see one running on your desktop, then you can right click on it and click on "End Process" (task manager) or "Kill Process" (process explorer). That should halt the unexpected Firefox and allow you to start a new copy that's visible.
An alternative for the command-line fans out there is the SysInternals utility called "pskill" which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft.
One you have the tool, then in a command shell you can enter the following command:
pskill firefox
That should result in something like this:
PsKill v1.10 - Terminates processes on local or remote systems
Copyright (C) 1999-2004 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
Process firefox killed.
If more than one copy of firefox was running, that would be terminated as well. In fact, any program with "firefox" in it's name would be killed. And of course if no such process exists it does nothing.
So rather than looking for and terminating firefox.exe in the task list, you can just use the command line tool to "kill 'em if you got 'em".
Article C3240 - December 17, 2007
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
It's unfortunate that you don't answer the question you posed. I presume you don't know the answer?
I get this issue constatntly, running 3.0.8 and, since FireFox is such poor software, I'll always have to rely on proper browsers.
It's a shame... :(
Posted by: Derek at April 10, 2009 3:24 AMYou, sir, are a genius and scholar. This article provided invaluable help to restoring my Firefox browser. I am indebted to you forever. Thank you!!!
Posted by: Jill at August 16, 2009 5:25 PMThanks, this pskill really helps
Posted by: tim at August 30, 2009 12:30 PMHello,
Posted by: George at March 25, 2010 8:12 PMLike so many of you, I also have the same problem with Firefox running on Windows XP (and ZoneAlarm is not installed). When I close Firefox, I cannot use my computer because Firefox continues to run in the background; and when I open Task Manager it shows that Firefox is using 99% of CPU resources. Sometimes, it shuts itself off after 5-10mins and other times it just runs forever. Each time is different. Regardless, I can always kill it in Task Manager. [It’s interesting though, because on my laptop, this has never happened, even though ZoneAlarm is installed.] I’m getting extremely frustrated by having to go through these steps each time to be able to use the computer. I’m not an expert, but I find it hard to believe that someone out there hasn’t been able to find the real problem; and a proper solution. If anyone can help out, I know many of us would be very appreciative.
Thanks very much, George.
I use Vista; everytime I click on Firefox to start, it will tell me Firefox is running but not responding. It tells me to close the existing firefox process or restart the system. I checked in Task Manager but I can not see the process, I used pskill to stop it but it says firefox does not exist and do nothing. Yet I still can not start up firefox!
Posted by: henry at October 23, 2010 5:46 PM