Windows Vista Browser stops working after a while

Not to be a master of the obvious, but it would make sense given the number of problems people are having with IE, to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox 3.0.8. There are quite too many variables to track down the reason for every occurrence. Since the web browser is going to be the most used application, it is hard to determine the cause. At least Firefox will crash less, and Internet Explorer 8 will relaunch any tabs that crash without the whole browser going down. :D
 
It has been common knowledge for some time that running Avast & Zone Alarm can cause conflicts.There is a warning about this if trying to install certain versions of Avast if Zone Alarm is already installed. I'm not sure if this is the case for both XP & Vista but its worth checking out.
I would try AVG with Zone Alarm but make sure you completely uninstall Zone Alarm and then re-install again after installing AVG. I also found that Zone Alarm worked better with XP than Vista and AVG worked fine with Comodo(free as well) in Vista.
 
At home I have 4 computers running; two have XP as operating system, two Vista. The "Browser stops problem" only occurs on the two Vista laptops, not on the XP laptop and XP desktop. Problems have started since an automatic Vista update about a week ago. What all four computers have in common is the network adapter, all run Avast AV and have Zone Alarm as Firewall. Problems occur with all browsers, Firefox, IE7 and Chrome.
On one of the VISTA laptops (an Asus F3S, CPU Duo T7500, 3GB memory, Vista Premium) I completely uninstalled ZA and reinstalled it, at first the problem seemed to have disappeared, but ... unfortunately, it hasn't. Firefox hanged again, and like one of the previous posts, I had three firefox processes running and could kill only two (and could not restart Firefox). FTP and other internet services remain available, occasionally I can still start and use Chrome, but most of the times I cannot.

Just thought I'd share this with you all, as there is quite some overlap in problems, and I really would like to have a normal internet connection again!

I removed Zone Alarm on the two Vista laptops, and installed the Comodo Firewall (I still use Avast AV), result: all browser problems are over (at least until now they are). Also, something I forgot to mention, shutting Vista down took a lot of time, more than 2 minutes. With the new firewall all is back to normal! On the XP computers I still have ZA and Avast without problems. My conclusion can only be that the problem occurs in the combination ZoneAlarm-Avast Antivirus-Vista.

Thanks Superbill!
 
dw127,
It also stops working even if you do not use, or have never used, Avast anti virus!
Ah, sure, I guess the problem was in the combination ZoneAlarm-Vista. I added Avast because Superbill mentioned that running Avast & Zone Alarm can cause conflicts, and I used both.
 
I have experience this same problem (Browsers stop working) with both Firefox 3.0.8 and IE 7 (am about to upgrade to IE 8).

I have a Toshiba Satellite A305D-S6848 with Vista Home Premium. I use Zone Alarm free edition firewall and AVG 8.5 free edition antivirus. Nothing seems to cure this problem except a reboot.

I will uninstall Zone Alarm and try another firewall and see if that helps. I had problems with Zone Alarm working properly with my desktop (HP Media Center with Vista Home Premium) and uninstalled the Zone Alarm. Zone Alarm worked fine with my laptop until the past three or four weeks.

FYI...never used AVAST. Always used AVG for antivirus on both laptop and desktop. Recently updated AVG from 8.0 to 8.5. Not sure if this started the problem or not.

Jim
 
I uninstalled Zone Alarm free edition and installed Comodo free firewall instead. The problem of Firefox and IE browsers ceasing to work has stopped!!!!! (at least for now).

I think Zone Alarm must have some conflicts with Vista OS since I had problems on both my desktop and now my laptop with Vista Home Premium. A shame, as I really like the user interface of Zone Alarm better than any other firewall I've used.

I will keep everyone posted as to whether this was a permanent fix or not.

Thanks,

Jim
 
jrichar9, for me exchanging ZoneAlarm Free for Comodo Free worked, no problem at all for > one week. I'm convinced it was a conflict between ZA and Vista (for us anyway).
 
To update everyone...I have not had any trouble at all with browsers (either Firefox or IE8) since uninstalling Zone Alarm free edition firewall and installing Comodo free firewall. I changed it yesterday and have used it quite a bit since with no problem.

I believe at least for my situation, Zone Alarm has a conflict with Vista operating system.
 
Thanks for your feedback jrichar9 . Glad to see you got it sorted.
As mentioned previously, sometimes certain mixes of anti-virus, firewalls etc. cause conflicts with each other or different OS's.
The benefit of your feedback will be to help others find a similar solution.
 
It still does not solve the problem which first surfaced after an automatic download of a MS security patch late last year. Other programs have also been implicated too!
 
I have experience this same problem (Browsers stop working) with both Firefox 3.0.8 and IE 7 (am about to upgrade to IE 8).

I have a Toshiba Satellite A305D-S6848 with Vista Home Premium. I use Zone Alarm free edition firewall and AVG 8.5 free edition antivirus. Nothing seems to cure this problem except a reboot.

I will uninstall Zone Alarm and try another firewall and see if that helps. I had problems with Zone Alarm working properly with my desktop (HP Media Center with Vista Home Premium) and uninstalled the Zone Alarm. Zone Alarm worked fine with my laptop until the past three or four weeks.

FYI...never used AVAST. Always used AVG for antivirus on both laptop and desktop. Recently updated AVG from 8.0 to 8.5. Not sure if this started the problem or not.

Jim

I have exactly the same configuration and same problem! :frown:
Toshiba A300 , free versions of AVG and ZoneAlarm.

After a time Google Chrome, Explorer, Firefox, Opera...etc stop working.
You can't end process. Only the solution is restarting your system. :mad:

BTW Azureus (vuze) problem is still continue! You can't close Vuze properyl, program hangs up in process lists!
It's a problem/bug that was knowing since a very long time ago!

All of these problems occur cause of ZoneAlarm!
Up to now they don't do anything about these problems!
I can't believe it but it's true.

I uninstalled Zonealarm twice and try another programs.

You can try AVG's complete solution but only free for one month. :(
It works great.
 
Tried it Superbill and another link [Vista] IE 7 freeze up - dslreports.com which suggested unchecking Enable Third-Party Browser Extensions , under Tools, Internet Options, Advanced Tab in Internet Explorer. Neither worked! I'm still convinced that the problem was introduced in a windows security patch and MS does not appear to have investigated it. Since the problem surfaced I have up-graded to IE 8 and this has not solved it either.
 
I have the same issue, except it generally takes 3-12hrs for windows to give up. Only solution is a hard reboot. To avoid rebooting while casual browsing I can start up a vmware machine (bridged to the same card that windows has decided it doesn't want to deal with anymore), run a proxy on Ubuntu and access everything fine through the proxy on native windows through any browser I care to choose.
 
Un-installing ZA also worked for me. However this does not solve the problem. ZA worked fine until an automatic windows update was downloaded and installed. It appears from the letters to this forum, and other forums, that the problem can be traced to a particular windows update. It is time that Microsoft tried to sort this problem out - it has caused a lot of frustration!!!

Why don't you take it to a security expert and let him sort it out for you. It may require specialized assessment.. Maybe a peculiar in machine arrangement perhaps.
 
Celestra, the problem is not only mine, but tens of thousands of others as well - probably a lot more than that!!! I'm fairly tech savvy. There are a number of forums currently discussing this issue, so it is widespread, and is affected by more than one program. In my case Zone Alarm.
 
Celestra, the problem is not only mine, but tens of thousands of others as well - probably a lot more than that!!! I'm fairly tech savvy. There are a number of forums currently discussing this issue, so it is widespread, and is affected by more than one program. In my case Zone Alarm.

If you feel the problem is related to a patch that Microsoft put in, why don't you complain to Microsoft. They have been very good about that..... They might be able to run a comprehensive systems test to root out the problem. Then you can find out what your options are. I don't believe it should cost any money......
 
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