My browsers are giving me a lot of trouble!

[inf1nity]

I'm having issues with my browsers. I'm on Windows 8.1. My PC is what you could probably call underpowered, especially when you consider how demanding modern day software has become. However, I do my best to keep it clean of bloat. I regularly run CCleaner and remove programs i dont use.

I have Palemoon, Cyberfox and Chromium installed. Both Palemoon and Cyberfox have the identical issue, they keep crashing without any explanations. Once they crash, in 90% of the cases they wont start again unless i reboot the entire PC. Sometimes they do, but only to crash again.

PM is my main browser, i like the interface and the availability of addons. I wanna keep using it, but this issue is driving me nuts.

As for Chromium, it works but is too resource heavy. And it has this weird behaviour of reloading tabs that have been inactive for some time. This is why I can't open multiple tabs in it, unlike PM, in which I open upto 20 tabs at a time.

Any suggestions.

 

[mikeymikec]

Which addons and plugins are listed as installed in PM?

 

[inf1nity]

Download Youtube videos as MP4
EncryptedWeb(PM's version of HTTPS-everywhere)
NoScript
ublock Origin

The funny thing is that I use Cyberfox extensively on my laptop with the (same addons) and it runs smoothly without any issues

 

[Spacehead]

Did the problems just start all of a sudden? Or more of a gradual thing?
Does it happen with different/older versions of you browsers?
Got Flash installed?

 

[Puffnstuff]

I would check for malware and also see if any system files have become corrupted.

 

[inf1nity]

I would check for malware and also see if any system files have become corrupted.

I have Avira free, and i'm really careful with my browsing and downloads.

I ran sfc /scanow command a last month, it said everything was okay.

 

[John Connor]

Test your memory?

 

[mikeymikec]

If you run Seamonkey in safe mode (seamonkey.exe -safe-mode), do you experience the same problem?

 

[inf1nity]

It doesn't startup after its crashed, not even in the safe mode.

I havent tried running in safe mode normally though.

 

[inf1nity]

So I just ran SFC again, it says:

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some
of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For
example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not
supported in offline servicing scenarios.

What now?

 

[Puffnstuff]

Repair install your os.

 

[John Connor]

https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-8-and-8-1.html

 

[mikeymikec]

If you're running =>Windows 8, I'd run:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Before even vaguely considering something as drastic as a repair OS install or reinstall, I'd run a full disk check, and before that I would back up my data.

Disk check - chkdsk driveletter: /f /v /r

 

[inf1nity]

Should I run chkdsk on the entire drive or only C:?

Do i need to back up all my data or only whats on the partition i wanna run a chkdsk on?

Another thing is that i remember this issue started to happen soon after a fresh installation. So could it be that something else is the cause?

 

[mikeymikec]

When you say "the entire drive" I assume you mean that you have a SSD/HDD that is partitioned into several drives/volumes. If so, it's not particularly necessary to check them all, as long as you're targeting the volume that has the Windows folder as well as the Program Files folder and your user profile, that should do the trick.

Any other symptoms apart from Firefox-type browsers crashing?

 

[inf1nity]

Yes you're right about the drive layout.

As for other symptoms, since yesterday(after i ran sfc), svchost.exe is causing 100% disk usage, so much so that the system gets rendered unusable. This was after an extraordinarily long bootup, during which it took upwards of a minute just for the revolving dots under the Windows 8 logo to appear.

After not being able to use it(due to 100% disk usage), i decided to let it sit and finish doing whatever it needed to do, but then suddenly I got a blue screen and even before I could read what the error code was and it could collect info for memory dump, the computer restarted.

After restart, for some weird reason, it couldnt finish POST, and it was stuck at "Detecting IDE drives...."

I cut the power and started it up again, and the whole thing was repeated. It started up with the same slow bootup, and high disk usage due to svchost. I let it it sit, and again, BSOD and it restarts before I can even read what the error code. Again the POST hung at "Detecting IDE drives...."

Now I cut the power and am now working from my laptop.

Could this be a hardware issue? I've had these symptoms in the past, is this an indication that my hardwares failing?

 

[daveybrat]

Yes you're right about the drive layout.

As for other symptoms, since yesterday(after i ran sfc), svchost.exe is causing 100% disk usage, so much so that the system gets rendered unusable. This was after an extraordinarily long bootup, during which it took upwards of a minute just for the revolving dots under the Windows 8 logo to appear.

After not being able to use it(due to 100% disk usage), i decided to let it sit and finish doing whatever it needed to do, but then suddenly I got a blue screen and even before I could read what the error code was and it could collect info for memory dump, the computer restarted.

After restart, for some weird reason, it couldnt finish POST, and it was stuck at "Detecting IDE drives...."

I cut the power and started it up again, and the whole thing was repeated. It started up with the same slow bootup, and high disk usage due to svchost. I let it it sit, and again, BSOD and it restarts before I can even read what the error code. Again the POST hung at "Detecting IDE drives...."

Now I cut the power and am now working from my laptop.

Could this be a hardware issue? I've had these symptoms in the past, is this an indication that my hardwares failing?

Yes, it sounds like an imminent hard drive failure.

 

[xgsound]

Just in case, try a bootable memory+ test. This doesn't use the SSD or HDD at all other than post (deselect if necessary) so you can see if the other systems are working.
If you're lucky it's a memory stick and a chkdsk will save much of the offending drive data.
I use Puppy Linux on CD or USB to double check Drive health.

Jim

 

[tynopik]

It doesn't startup after its crashed, not even in the safe mode.

I havent tried running in safe mode normally though.

have you checked task manager and killed any zombie processes?

that's what usually keeps a browser from starting. it sees that it's already running so it doesn't create a new instance

 

[inf1nity]

Just in case, try a bootable memory+ test. This doesn't use the SSD or HDD at all other than post (deselect if necessary) so you can see if the other systems are working.
If you're lucky it's a memory stick and a chkdsk will save much of the offending drive data.
I use Puppy Linux on CD or USB to double check Drive health.

Jim

Okay will do this and report back.

 

[inf1nity]

So i just started up my PC, and it booted up normally, and is responding okay. Hard drive usage looks okay, at 1-2% at idle. Can repeated power cuts cause these kinds of issues, i have often had to turn off my PC by cutting power after it hangs due to an issue with my network card.

have you checked task manager and killed any zombie processes?

that's what usually keeps a browser from starting. it sees that it's already running so it doesn't create a new instance

Yeah this occurred to me too. I kept an eye on the process list and I see that when i start up PM, the process palemoon.exe appears in the list and then disappears after sometime.

The PM icon in the taskbar gets highlighted(the square bubble-like thing), I can hear the hard drive running, and then it disappears.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Cutting power before a drive can write its cashe can cause corrupted files.

 

[mikeymikec]

Yes, it sounds like an imminent hard drive failure.

This.

I'd also check the event log (Start > Run > eventvwr)'s system log for disk/ntfs errors/warnings.

 

[inf1nity]

So guys, here a screenshot of my disk stats. Please take a look at them and tell me if I should be worried.

This.

I'd also check the event log (Start > Run > eventvwr)'s system log for disk/ntfs errors/warnings.

I looked through Event Viewer system logs and there's no warnings related to disks. There are a few "Information" events from Ntfs that say that a particular partition is healthy, no action needed.

 

[Ketchup]

"Maybe." If the file system runs into a read/write area, it with re-allocate the data that is in that sector. IMO, it doesn't necessarily mean that there are bad spots on the drive. But you would want to run a full chkdsk to be sure. It will tell you for sure if there are bad areas on the physical drive.

Another way to signify a drive going bad is, when running regular S.M.A.R.T. scans, you notice the reallocated sector count continuing to grow.