Help sought with netbook problem

[mobaholic]

Hi folks.  I don't know if we have any PC whizz kids ?        

I am pulling my hair out with a problem afflicting my netbook !        

I normally run 3 browsers concurrently: Chrome, IE 8; and Firefox.  I need all 3 concurrently in order to to have 3 different gmail accounts open at the same time.  However, Firefox has taken to disappearing from the task bar - and cannot be recovered.        

Task manager shows it as still running OK, but there is no way to access it that I have been able to find.  Opening a new Firefox window does just that - it gives a new version running, but you cannot open any closed Windows - because they are still running as far as Firefox is concerned !        

I have spent over 2 hours this morning, running malware and virus checks.  Only 2 suspect files showed up - which were both deleted.  yet the problem persists.        

I have also run c-cleaner - which amazingly recovered 235 MB of space from my hard disk for me - and also used it on the registry to remove conflicting entries. Still no good.        

The *ONLY* way that I have found to deal with the problem is to close everything down, and to restart windows.  However, having to do that 3 or 4 times per day is very wearying !      

Does anybody have any constructive thoughts to offer please ?        

I am using the Home version of XP if that is relevant.      

[Mikael]

I have found Firebox to be the worst browser in terms of memory usage and stability, even worse then IE. I would get rid of it completely. I use Opera and find it to be the best I have found so far, or perhaps QTweb, which is also efficient, although does not cope well with all websites.

This way you could still have three separate browsers, but not have to use Firefox.

[davegr]

I second Mikael' comments about Firefox. I have absolutely no idea why it is so popular, except that it has a lot of extensions. I would rather use IE! I would go along with Mikaels suggestion of Opera. Probably one of the best browser experiences I have ever had, though eventually I settled on Chrome.

[mobaholic]

My thanks to both Mikael and davegr for their comments and suggestions.       

With regards to Firefox, the very simple reason why I use it is that it is the ONLY browser which enables me to login to my Lloyds Banks accounts online.  It has proved impossible to do this using either Chrome or IE.       

And the equally simple reason why I do not use Opera is that it will NOT work with my mobile broadband.  I have downloaded it 4 times now, I believe, but I just cannot get any mobile data to pass through it.  I will happily try Opera once again if you, or any other member, can suggest a way to get round this problem.       
( I use opermini all the time on my mobiles though. )       

With regards to QTweb, I have to admit to ignorance, as I have never heard of it.       

[Mikael]

That is strange, as I have installed Opera on a netbook with a 3G dongle in it, and it seems to work quite well. There must be something that can be done to make it work. I can confirm that Opera also works well with Lloyds bank accounts, as I use it for banking with Lloyds too.

For more info on QTweb, see here http://www.qtweb.net/

[getcopy]

Hi Mh,

Your main problem is FireFox disappearing when task manager shows it's still there, so I'll first comment on this.

It's worth doing following when FF disappears, in task manager when you see it as running (I guess in "Applications" tab), right mouse click on the FF application, and select "Bring to Front". Many times this brings disappeared application back to life.

Which softwares you used to check for malwares and viruses. I strongly recommend "Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware".

As per Mikael's and Davegr's suggestions you can go with other browsers, but I use Firefox as well and I do not have problems with it.