Error: Firefox plugin manager not working ...

[barney]

Searches, here & Google, have done nothing.

Firefox v3.6.6 will run for 10-20 minutes, then it'll white out (Win7, 64-bit).

I've neither loaded nor updated anything in the last 2-3 days, just started today.  I kill the process, restart, and it's good for another 10-20 minutes, maybe half an hour at times.

Yeah, I could switch browsers, but some things I do require Firefox & some plugins.

I can probably live with it, but the constant restarting is really getting on my nerves  .

Anyone have ideas for circumvention?

[Curt]

forgive me for being such an ignorant, but how do you know it is the plugin manager that is not working; you only tell us that Firefox itself is 'whitening out'?

Do you have some "force Firefox to trim memory cache"-addon enabled? The new versions of Firefox has this feature as default, so MAYBE you are emptying an empty cache, so to speak?

[barney]

Basic scenario is as follows.

Firefox will white out (the title bar text ends with "Not Responding" and the application is overlaid with a white screen), and Win7 eventually (or if I try to terminate) presents its alert window offering to check online for a resolution and terminate, terminate, or (sometimes) wait for the application to respond.

Occasionally, a second alert will appear stating, "Plugin Container for Firefox has stopped working," with the first two (2) of the three previous options.

There is no clear indication whether this second alert is a Firefox message or a Win7 message, but I'm inclined to believe it a Win7 alert.

There is, neither, a clear indication whether the Plugin Container is just a plugin manager, or if it includes all extensions, plugins, and themes.

Online search (Google) returns a plethora of results, but almost all are extension/plugin/theme specific, and none have yielded any hard results.

As to cache cleaners, I don't use 'em.  Became allergic from the first one I used in Win95.  I've tried several since then, in all iterations of Windows save for WinME, and found them to create more problems than they resolved.  Some people swear by them, but in my experience, all it takes is one mis-perceived memory address cleared and a system crash is imminent.

Just as a sidebar, the problem under discussion has occurred three (3) times during the creation of this post, pretty much obviating idle time or lack of activity as a probable cause.

[hamradio]

From what I have read plugin container is new starting with 3.6.4...and does...

From 3.6.4 release notes...
"Firefox 3.6.4 provides uninterrupted browsing for Windows and Linux users when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins.

If a plugin crashes or freezes, it will not affect the rest of Firefox. You will be able to reload the page to restart the plugin and try again."

Edit: Thats what plugin-container does or should do.

Additionally...
plugin-container.exe • mozillaZine Forums
FF 3.6.4 update underwhelming • mozillaZine Forums
What is plugin - container .exe? from Plugin Container - Google Search

[barney]

Firefox has been running w/o a whiteout for several hours now, so this probably can be called resolved.

The problem seems to have been a Bing toolbar that I did not [intentionally] install .  It just seemed to magically appear .  The installation date matched some Windows Live installs I did a day before the problem started, so either MS slipped one in on me, or I was careless about checking what would be installed - prolly the latter.

I found the Bing toolbar - inactive - as I was cataloging extensions preparatory to ditching them all and reloading one at a time.  Because of the time stamp and the unintentional install, it was the first thing killed ... the system has functioned flawlessly - well, as flawlessly as it ever does - for about six (6) hours, now, so it seems safe to call the issue resolved.

Note:  edited for typo.