Chromium based browsers keep crashing

Question

Hello,

I've upgraded from Windows 7 to 10 on my vintage PC (Intel Core2Quad 9650, MSI Neo 2 with NVidia 560Ti).
Since upgrade any browser keep crashing from time to time. Usually when rendering newly opened page, sometimes right after start.
I've tried Chrome, Brave, Opera and Edge. As well Firefox is crashing, but not as often as Chromium based browsers.

I've done repairing of Windows, which didn't helped. Then I did clean installation of Windows 10 and did all updates.
The issue still persists.

Does anybody have any hint, how to troubleshoot what's wrong? The machine ran through many benchmarks without issue, just the browser seem cursed.

Martin Petera

Answer 1

Hello Hahn,

thank you for your tips and hints.

I've tried most of tricks mentioned above. I'm using the latest drivers from NVidia available for 560Ti.

The browser usually won't run as long, so I can open the crashlogs or settings. Usually it crases directly after start. After clicking the short cut, a main windows is displayed and after 1-2 seconds it dissapears.

In Windows event-log there were many events logged, from various sources, but none which I consider related to the browser crashes. Do you perhaps have any hint, which kind of event I should be looking for?

Disabling HW acceleration hasn't helped. In one of the luckiest sessions I was able to navigate to the settings and disable the acceleration.

Interesting fact is, that only Chromium-based browsers are influenced. Firefox runs fine (without any crashes).

Besides, many available Benchmarks passed and I haven't encoutered any issue running graphics-heavy games. But somehow It seems like the issue is releated to the rendering of webpages...

Thank you for you effort, I would be happy to hear more hints.

Martin_P

Answer 2

Hi Martin,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I'm Hahn and I'm here to help you with your concern.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your browsers crashing on Windows 10. Browser crashes can stem from various sources, including conflicting software, hardware issues, or browser-specific problems. Here are some steps to troubleshoot:

• One common cause of browser crashes is a corrupted or outdated graphics driver. You can try updating your NVidia 560Ti driver to the latest version from the official website. This may improve the performance and stability of your browsers.
• Another possible cause is a conflict or compatibility issue with some extensions or plugins that you have installed on your browsers. You can try disabling or removing any unnecessary or suspicious extensions or plugins from your browser settings. You can also try running your browsers in incognito mode to see if the crashes stop. This will disable some features and security measures, but it may help you identify the source of the problem.
• A third possible cause is a corrupted or outdated browser profile or cache. You can try clearing your browsing data, such as cookies, history, and cache, from your browser settings. You can also try creating a new user profile or renaming the User Data folder in your browser installation directory. This will reset your browser settings and preferences, but it may also fix the crashes.

Disclaimer: Your browser automatically saves temporary internet files to help pages load faster. Clearing this cache will sometimes fix website issues. Please back up all your personal files first, such as Favorites, to ensure you do not lose data.

• Run browser diagnostics: Some browsers have built-in diagnostic tools. For instance, in Edge, you can type edge://crashes/ in the address bar to see crash reports. These might offer clues about the root cause.
• Check event logs: Windows Event Viewer can provide insights into what might be causing the crashes. Look for error messages around the time of the crashes.
• Disable hardware acceleration: In browser settings, try disabling hardware acceleration. Sometimes, this feature can cause issues with certain graphics cards.
• Try a different user profile: Create a new user profile on your computer and test the browsers there. This can help determine if the issue is user-specific. Create a local user or administrator account in Windows - Microsoft Support 

Start with these steps, and hopefully, you'll be able to narrow down the cause of the browser crashes on your vintage PC. I hope this helps.  If there is anything not clear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Your Sincerely

Hahn - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist