Firefox not working at all after 43.0.2 update [SOLVED]

Was running 43.0.1 and just now updated to .2
No problems to report.
You were having some other problems with your system. Did you ever get those resolved?

Tried refresh and safe mode without luck, so now I'll try the re-install and see if that works.

EDIT: It didn't... Now creating a backup of all my bookmarks and wiping any and all Mozilla products from my PC to start fresh and hope that does something...

SECOND EDIT: Okay, so I got it fixed. Well, kind of...

As stated in the last edit, I wiped my system clean of everything Mozilla related. Then I ran CCleaner, Malwarebytes and a deep scan from Panda Free Antivirus. Nothing found. I then instructed Panda to run a rootkit scan on startup and rebooted. Still nothing, so if anything is hiding in my system that broke Firefox, it's pretty damn good at hiding.

Downloaded Firefox again and installed a completely clean copy. Still didn't work. The browser itself as a standalone program still worked like normal. I could open it and get into options and extensions and all the other stuff. It just wouldn't connect to any sites at all. Every time I tried, the little loading icon on the tab would rotate very briefly (blink and you'd miss it), but nothing at all would happen beyond that. Not even a notification that the browser couldn't connect to the web. Just nothing.

Took to Google (in IE) and found a Mozilla help site that suggested I temporarily turn off my AV program and open Firefox again to see if the new version had been blocked. Didn't work, so I decided as a second to last resort to uninstall my AV software, just in case it was still running something in the background that blocked Firefox. Rebooted again, ran the system without AV, but Firefox still didn't do anything, so I decided to switch back from Panda to Avast and run another scan to see if it would pick up something that Panda and Malwarebytes missed. It didn't.

While Avast was installing, the installer recommended Chrome, so I thought I'd just try installing that and see if it had the same problem as FF. It didn't. Worked just fine. Well, as fine as Chrome can, but still... Quickly uninstalled that mess again and rebooted for the umpteenth time, doing another rootkit scan with Avast, which also came back with a clean bill of health for my PC.

Last last resort: Find an older version of Firefox.

Went to FileHippo and found the 43.0.1 installation file, installed it, ran it and am now using it to write this update on the whole weird mess. Seems that for some reason, my PC and FF 43.0.2 just don't play well together...

Of course, as soon as I ran 43.0.1, it promptly badgered me to upgrade again, which I kindly declined.

THIRD EDIT: Aaaand we're right back where we started... Posting this from IE, because after posting the last edit and closing down Firefox, it's now crapping out again. Same thing as before. Program itself works, but can't connect to any sites...

I'm not sure you understood my last edit. 43.0.1 is now doing the same thing.

And you're right about my system being newer than yours, though only slightly and I'm running a 64 bit Win7 Home Premium, not that Vista mess.

When scanning everything for viruses and malware, I first made sure Panda was up to date, then removed Panda and did a fresh download and install of Avast. None of them found anything.

Tried connecting to the router, as you suggested. Nothing. I type in the IP and hit enter and then the text just disappears from the adress bar. Also tried all the other things you suggested. Still nothing.

I'm beginning to think I might have some sort of malware that's targeting Firefox, but Task Manager isn't showing me anything that shouldn't be there. There were only really 3 candidates, because they didn't have a description under processes and that's atieclxx.exe, which is a process run by my graphics card, csrss.exe, which has something to do with Windows runtime and winlogon.exe.

I've read several pages of stuff on the web about these files. Some report them as being typical targets for malware masquerading as Windows files and others say they're perfectly fine and not a problem. As far as I've been able to figure out myself, all of them are running from the locations they're supposed to be running from, so I don't think that's the problem, but something is definitely weird somewhere.

I had that with my phone not downloading CAD dispatch data off the cell network - found out the "connect for data" option was toggled off.

Try removing FF from "trusted sites" in your firewall and AV programs and then adding them back.

support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-problems-connecting-websites-after-updating

UPDATE

Found the problem!

After rummaging around Mozilla Help, I found this article: support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/connectivity-crashing-firefox-43-update

Turns out I had some sort of firewall installed without even realizing it. NVIDIA Forceware Network Access Manager. It's apparently installed along with some other NVIDIA drivers and running in the background without the user ever being told it's installed at all. This firewall is known to cause problems with FF 43, so I uninstalled it, rebooted and now everything is back to normal.

I guess you were somewhat right after all, ponytail. It was a firewall causing the problem. I just wasn't aware I even had a firewall installed and as far as I've been able to figure out, there's no UI for this thing that allows the user to set exceptions. You either have it and accept whatever it does, or you don't have it at all.

Thanks for all your help guys. You may not have identified the problem for me, but you helped me sift through all the possibilities. Finding out what wasn't causing the problem eventually helped me find out what was.

EDIT: I added a [SOLVED] to the title of the thread, so if anyone else gets the same problem, they can easily find the solution here.

I agree that the Mozilla community did a good job of identifying the problem, but it seems it could have been avoided altogether if Mozilla had just made a pop-up warning about the NVIDIA Forceware thing when you update. Or, you know... Fixed the compatibility issues before releasing the update...

Here's an explanation I found by a user on the support forum: "the network access manager is not a driver but a firewall by nvidia. most windows operating systems already contain a built-in firewall that could protect you as well - so again: for a quick fix, i'd recommend uninstalling that piece of software. in addition, this was not how it was planned - a component of the network access manager was blocklisted in 43.0.2 because it was causing a widespread startup crash in firefox 43 builds. loss of connectivity for some users was an unforeseen by-effect & this change is going to be reverted again."

If it was "blocklisted" (I think he means blacklisted), then that means Mozilla knew about the problem and had every chance to warn users before the update. It also seems this person is more in the know than most users if he's indeed right that the change will be reverted in future updates. If that's the case, why release the update at all? Why not wait until you've found a workaround? Why force users to uninstall software from another vendor?

I've just uninstalled a firewall - a piece of software designed to protect my computer from attacks - to make my web browser work. What's the number one piece of software on a computer that hackers use to attack your PC? That would be the web browser!

Since I wasn't aware that this firewall was even installed to begin with, that might seem minor, but then again... Not having been aware that it was installed, I'm also not aware of how much good it potentially might have done without me knowing about it. I've been virus and malware free for a long time and I've attributed that to good AV software and sensible web behavior on my part, but what if this firewall has also been responsible for some of that? Am I now open to attacks that I previously wasn't?

Despite how much I love Firefox and the entire concept of it, this was a bad update. Even if the Forceware Network Access Manager isn't much more than bloatware from NVIDIA (and they're known for including stuff like that in their driver packs), just the fact that Mozilla decided to blacklist it without warning the millions of users with NVIDIA chipsets out there who might also unknowingly have this thing installed was a bad decision. Who knows how many Firefox users with NVIDIA chipsets haven't figured this fix out and are no longer Firefox users because of it?

"a component of the network access manager was blocklisted in 43.0.2 because it was causing a widespread startup crash in firefox 43 builds"

If this is true, Firefox blacklisted the NVIDIA software, not the other way around.

some questions and possible answers... and I agree in whole this is a problem that could have been handled differently.



I do not have anything like that apfel tunes on my system.
If I then code a simple update for firefox that completely disabled I-Fool or I-Tunes, how would I know, until someone who has got that tells me?...
This is the problem, until people working with Nvidia Forceware noticed the problem, they did not know the problem existed.
Nor were they aware of exactly how many people were affected.

And then when they did, how to get the users of firefox to take notice.
1) warn them in a popup that may be dismissed without reading and ignored and allow them to continue with a compromised system.
2) stop the compromise and tell their users what the problem is, efectively forcing them to remove the problem.

And in this, note, you were one of the first to be affected having been updated before they could release the fix advice.


No, Blocklisted is a term used to disable something that may be exploited.
wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox:1.5_Extension_and_Plugin_Blacklisting
If a user is using an extension that may create harm, future updates can be set to disable that extension on all machines, to prevent it doing harm.
In this case, it was noted that the forceware by NVidia could be exploited.
NVidea was supposed to warn its own users.....or update it....
They didnt.
Or...
They did and thousands of users ignored that advice.
Therefore, it was blacklisted as a block, the whole thing was prevented from running if it could cause harm.



Ahhh... now there is a problem... they cant do that.
"Bad-mouthing" the competition doesnt go down well, and can be illegal.
They notified (as far as I know) NVidea of the problem.... and warned them... thats all they are legally allowed to do.
This is from previous cases where other software has been found to compromise your computer, unless it can be found that it was designed to harm intentionally, the legal side of warning you against its use is hazardous to say the least.... due diligence, you must warn the suppliers first and let them investigate and update.

This is also why you may now and again see a warning in Firefox that they have disabled the flash player because they may have found a problem and would you like to update it....
Firefox may have found the problem, as one of the many forms out there who do this, but, they cannot "Force" you to uninstall by threats, you must be invited to uninstall, with good reason?..


By what you have said, you already have an anti-nasty suite of Firewall and Anti-virus.
Doing what you have done has just removed the arguments between your anti-virus firewall and nvidea firewall, that you didnt know you had, and may have caused you problems....



Was it?...
Now you know it was causing you problems, and yes, I get the "This had me scratching my head" upset it caused until they could release a workaround that told you.
But unless it had created the problem, would you have done anything?...