Hello all;
Two days ago I upgraded to Firefox 2.0.0.1 and from that moment, the only browser that works on my computer is IE (6.0, never updated and very rarely used since I got this computer).
I only had FF and IE to begin with and thought that there was just something wrong with FF when I downloaded the new version, but after two days of reading more forums and support pages than I can even remember anymore, following all of firefox support's suggestions (I did everything in their standard diagnostic, including a clean reinstall), in desperation I downloaded Netscape and then Opera, both of which immediately followed FF's lead.
What happens when I try to open any browser other than IE is this: It looks for a moment as if it's going to do something, complete with hourglass and computer-is-working noises. And then nothing happens. When I open task manager, the process for the browser (be it firefox.exe, etc.) is running and cannot be killed. Also, I cannot open any of them in their safe mode. If I open Windows in safe mode they'll work, but there's so much in the normal mode that could be the problem that I don't know where to start looking.
What I've tried: creating a new profile, removing the plugins, resetting the extensions to default, uninstalling and reinstalling firefox (1.5 and 2.0 versions; this involved the previously mentioned clean reinstall complete with removal of reg keys), resetting toolbars and controls, turning the firewall on and off. I've run checks for viruses, etc., (even followed FF support's suggestion of renaming firefox.exe to firefox1.exe in case something was specifically targeting the program) and found nothing; and run chkdsk to no avail. I have also tried system restore.
Since this happens with all the newly downloaded programs, I have to assume that the problem lies not with the individual browsers and I have absolutely no idea what it might be.
I don't know what computer information is relevant other than that I'm running Windows XP Home edition. (Sorry, I'm all exhausted from fighting with this since Monday night.)
Can anyone help me?
Two days ago I upgraded to Firefox 2.0.0.1 and from that moment, the only browser that works on my computer is IE (6.0, never updated and very rarely used since I got this computer).
I only had FF and IE to begin with and thought that there was just something wrong with FF when I downloaded the new version, but after two days of reading more forums and support pages than I can even remember anymore, following all of firefox support's suggestions (I did everything in their standard diagnostic, including a clean reinstall), in desperation I downloaded Netscape and then Opera, both of which immediately followed FF's lead.
What happens when I try to open any browser other than IE is this: It looks for a moment as if it's going to do something, complete with hourglass and computer-is-working noises. And then nothing happens. When I open task manager, the process for the browser (be it firefox.exe, etc.) is running and cannot be killed. Also, I cannot open any of them in their safe mode. If I open Windows in safe mode they'll work, but there's so much in the normal mode that could be the problem that I don't know where to start looking.
What I've tried: creating a new profile, removing the plugins, resetting the extensions to default, uninstalling and reinstalling firefox (1.5 and 2.0 versions; this involved the previously mentioned clean reinstall complete with removal of reg keys), resetting toolbars and controls, turning the firewall on and off. I've run checks for viruses, etc., (even followed FF support's suggestion of renaming firefox.exe to firefox1.exe in case something was specifically targeting the program) and found nothing; and run chkdsk to no avail. I have also tried system restore.
Since this happens with all the newly downloaded programs, I have to assume that the problem lies not with the individual browsers and I have absolutely no idea what it might be.
I don't know what computer information is relevant other than that I'm running Windows XP Home edition. (Sorry, I'm all exhausted from fighting with this since Monday night.)
Can anyone help me?