How to Prevent a Browser From Shutting Down Prematurely

Browser shutting down -- just when you've navigated to that page you've been Googling for all this time? Don't lose it. Find it, with these steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Patience, some research, and an investment of time and probably some money -- although you can find some freeware or shareware to do the trick for you.

1. Whether you're running Windows XP, Vista, or Mac OS, if your browser is shutting down on you in the middle of a work session (or a fun game of online Pac-Man), it's a sign there may be something more wrong than just your browser.
2. It may take you more than three steps. Be prepared. Your computer is a machine, just like any other machine. Don't be intimidated. Machines are kind of stupid, really. You are much, much smarter. It's their stupidity -- their "Amelia Bedelia" sort of literal "thinking" that makes their operators feel dumb. Computers can't jump to conclusions like we can. You have to "think" like a computer. That means: ruling out what's wrong, step by step.
3. Before you uninstall your browser, you might want to save all your carefully collected bookmarks in one of these online bookmark keepers, thoughtfully collected for you here in this blog:
   http://loosewire.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/a_directory_of__1.html
4. The first thing you might want to try would be to uninstall your browser, and reinstall it, fresh and new. It could be simply that somehow your browser has been corrupted. Hopefully, this will do the trick.
   
   For a good resource on step-by-step uninstallations of the many different browsers on the many different operating systems out there, visit this web page and join the forums. They have a separate "uninstall" tab.
   
   http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/
5. Once you've uninstalled your browser, navigate to the site where your browser is (for example: firefox.com, netscape.com), download it, then follow the instructions to reinstall it.
6. Try browsing again. If you're still having difficulty -- if it's still shutting down prematurely -- you are likely to have some kind of virus or spyware or what's called "malware" on your computer that's causing the trouble.
   
   Use one of these online spyware scanners for an initial check:
   
   http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
   http://www.kaspersky.com/kos/english/kavwebscan.html
   http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
   http://www.virustotal.com/
   http://virusscan.jotti.org/
   
   These, however, mainly offer information for free only -- not solutions.
7. To truly protect yourself, you will need malicious software protection and deletion -- and what is called a firewall, to keep unwanted viruses, worms and other bad stuff out of your computer when you are online.
8. Here are 15 good ones to try, according to PC World Canada -- and they're all free:
   
   http://www.pcworld.ca//news/column/d134e5a30a01040801f4a74172226a6a/pg2.htm
9. Of course, the last solution is to back up all your data onto external sources -- keeping in mind, of course, that you may also be backing up your viruses -- and reformatting your hard drive. That is, starting from scratch.
   
   But hopefully, the above fixes will do the trick.

Tips & Warnings

• Get virus and spyware protection, as well as a password-protected firewall. Update it regularly -- don't be lazy about it.
• Don't be online all the time. If you don't need to be, shut it down.
• Contact the IT department at your local community college. Many of them know recent graduates who are helpful and eminently qualified to help you -- and who work relatively inexpensively. Also, many IT experts at colleges do side work themselves.
• Take care to follow all manufacturer's directions precisely. If you aren't sure, ask.
• Time spent researching is time well-spent. Many of us don't like to read directions -- but computers are based on directions, and some of it is simply arbitrary, not intuitive.
• Consider heading to the bookstore and picking up a "Spyware for Dummies" or some other simple, easy-to-understand manual.