Tag Archives: Windows

Software

Fix Firefox Crash: Part 2

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Previously in the post, Fix Firefox Crash with Yahoo Mail, I covered a very simple way to eliminate a very frequently occurring crash problem due to a conflict between ad blocking addons and a module installed by Yahoo! Instant Messenger.

That fix significantly reduced the crashes that I encountered. However, I was still getting occasional crashes under the same circumstances with Yahoo! Mail. But, I’ve tracked that down and, so far, seem to have alleviated all the crashes.

I’ve been using two different ad blocking addons for Firefox, AdBlock and AdBlock Plus, though not on the same operating system. On the computer that was still having a crashing problem, which was running Windows XP, I had AdBlock installed. Switching to AdBlock Plus made the difference.

So, should you just switch to AdBlock Plus and not use the previous fix? Not so fast. The previous fix works even if you don’t use any ad blocking add-on. So, start with it first.

Have other helpful fixes for Firefox or improvements to this fix? Post it in the comments.

Software

Firefox Can’t Download Anymore

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Yesterday, someone at work was having a problem where his Firefox would no longer download files. The Downloads dialog was empty but Firefox refused to downloading anything even when selecting to save manually.

This is usually caused by a corrupt completed-downloads file. Here’s how to fix this download problem:

  1. Close Firefox
  • Open your favorite file manager and go to your profile folder:Windows XP: C:Documents and Settingsyour_Windows_login_nameApplication DataMozillaFirefoxProfilesa_bunch_of_letters_and_numbers.profile_name

    Linux: ~/.mozilla/firefox/a_bunch_of_letters_and_numbers.profile_name

     

  • Delete the file named downloads.rdf
  • Start Firefox

That’s all, folks!

Software

Fix Firefox Crash With Yahoo Mail

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For a while, my Firefox 2 on Windows XP would crash almost every time I logged out of Yahoo! Mail. Sometimes it would even happen if I just switched from Yahoo! Mail to another tab or closed the tab. The problem appears to be caused by a plugin installed by Yahoo! Instant Messenger (YIM) conflicting with ad blocking, and possibly other, browser addons.

Here’s how to fix it:

  1. Go to C:Program FilesYahoo!Shared
  2. Rename the file npYState.dll to npYState.dll.disabled, or move it to another folder. I created a folder called Disabled and put it in there.
  3. Restart Firefox

All fixed!

See also: Fix Firefox Crash Part 2

Software

Flashback: Windows 386

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Previously, I had posted about good ole Windows 1.0. Oh the memories! Well, if that wasn’t enough retro for you, here’s some Windows/386 nostalgia.

In addition to running multiple Windows applications, Windows/386 was able to run multiple DOS programs simultaneously utilizing the 80386 CPU’s protected (a.k.a. virtual 8086) mode. Each program would get its own virtual address space as if it had all the RAM to itself (less a few kilobytes of overhead for the OS to manage everything). And it looked like…OS/2! Even the promo video lauded that fact.

And here it is, the Windows/386 promo video. Warning: Make sure you’re sitting down.

More Windows/386 goodies:

Software

Test Live CDs via Virtualization with VirtualBox

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Last month, I posted about the free VirtualBox virtualization software and how you can use it to run various operating systems on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X (Intel CPU version) computers. Virtualization is also handy for quick and painless operating system evaluation purposes.

There are many Live CDs available today spanning a plethora of distributions of Linux, some Unices and you can even create your own Windows live CD. However, using them usually requires burning the ISO to a CD or DVD. Although media is cheap these days, it’s still a waste to burn discs just to try out things you may never continue using.

With VirtualBox, you don’t have to burn any discs to try things out. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Download the ISO file for the operating system you want to run. Verify from the description/help files/documentation that it is a bootable image (i.e. doesn’t require a boot floppy).
  2. Start VirtualBox and create a new virtual machine with enough memory for the operating system you’re going to try out.
  3. There’s no need to create a virtual hard drive for this machine if you’re using a Live CD/DVD since everything will run in memory. However, if it is an installation disc, then you will need to create a virtual hard drive large enough to install the operating system.
  4. Assign the ISO file to the virtual CD-ROM drive of the virtual machine.
  5. Start the new virtual machine.

Not only does this method reduce waste by avoiding the creation of plastic coasters (wasted CD/DVD media), it boots faster than a CD/DVD drive and your computer system is isolated from anything that may go wrong in the operating system you’re trying out.

So, now you’re all set to go play. Report back on the cool new operating systems you find.