I want to stay with Opera - but cannot if these crashes persist! Please help!

Hi all

I love Opera and have been using it for years now. There are a couple of things though which are starting to make it a real pain in the butt!
The first one is a crash problem in yahoo which I posted about here:

http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=1165432

.....still hoping someone might be able to help me with that......


More recently Opera has started crashing on me. It simply disappears and closes instantly for no reason that I can tell of. I'm not really sure where to start in troubleshooting this. What i can say is that I have recently been having problems with my PC after I accidentally unplugged it whilst running. To begin with I could not get the PC to boot. Then, when I did get it to boot, I was getting different BSODs and shut downs. That seems to be solved now as well (not sure how!!!). But this Opera crash has started instead. I've no idea if they are related atall, but thought it worthwhile to mention.

Please please help me stay with Opera!

Cheers

Max

Just to add.... I read through the Opera help page after the last crash. It said i needed to "Locate the VPS folder in your profile folder and rename it to VPS1."

But I've looked and I cannot see a vps folder or file anywhere....

Is Visited Pages enabled in opera:config (also accessible by Preferences > Advanced (Ctrl+F12) > History > Remember content on visited pages)? If so, try disabling and see if Opera stops crashing. The visited page index may be corrupt and if you can't locate the VPS directory to delete (or rename), toggling this setting may recreate it and repair the index. If crashes stop when it's disabled I'd suggest leaving it that way.

Thanks for that. I have disabled it and will see how things go and report back with results. Is there any downside to having it disabled?

I have also checked in the Opera > Profile folder and there is still no VPS file. But do I need to re-enable "Remember content on visited pages" before that file would be recreated? And what exactly will the file be called? It will be in the profile folder - is that correct?

Huge thanks

Max

Originally posted by MaxDread:

Is there any downside to having it disabled?

Tracking content on all pages adds processing overhead, massive file bloat and superfluous info overload from my perspective, but to each his own...

Originally posted by MaxDread:

And what exactly will the file be called?

Not sure how the index functions. There are a series of numbered VPS subdirectories with a .dat file in each.

Originally posted by MaxDread:

do I need to re-enable "Remember content on visited pages" before that file would be recreated?

Correct. Toggling off and on and saving settings each time should recreate the directory in the profile folder. I normally leave it disabled, but when enabling just now to test, it immediately created the VPS directory.

OK - just had another crash with it disabled. So don't know if this is the issue or not....

Out of interest, I'll try re-enabling and see if the VPS file is recreated.

Is it possible that the issue is to do with my PC and/or internet connection? Perhaps I should try using Chrome or ??? to see if that works properly or crashes as Opera does. Sound like a plan?

Thanks again

Max

I'm not entirely sure what I am looking for, but since re-enabling all i have in my profiles folder is:

- A Widgets folder which is empty
- A file called "opera6" (configuration settings)
- A file called "override_downloaded" (configuration settings)


Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place?

Sounds like more than the VPS directory has gone missing. The contents of Opera (USB standalone) profile folder here:

Originally posted by MaxDread:

- A file called "opera6" (configuration settings)

Which version are you using? Sounds pre-v10.

Two things to try - possibly in reverse order given the number of apparently missing directories & files.
1. If you can locate operaprefs.ini move it somewhere as backup, restart opera which will rebuild/restore a default profile. If that solves the problem reset your preferences individually.
2. Reinstall Opera in a different named directory. If that's successful you can remove/delete the original installation and go from there.

In Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View, select Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide extensions for known file types. There has to be more in your profile folder than what you see now.

Hi there

Firstly, thank you so much for sticking with me on this....

I opted for option 2 to begin with. Well, kind of.... I downloaded the Opera 11.52 installer (btw, this is the version I was using before as well). I then uninstalled Opera, removed the Opera folders in program files, documents and settings, etc. Then ran CCleaner followed by a Registry clean. Rebooted. The re-installed Opera afresh.

So far so good but it was literally only ten minutes ago.

- No crashes (yet)
- No multiplying stacked up Garnier adverts in yahoo mail
- And as an added bonus, the search function is working in Yahoo mail as well! This was broken before and first use of it would cause a crash.

Fingers crossed it stays this way.


As for the missing vps folder, I have found it now. I was searching in the wrong place before. Seems like my Opera files are split.... Before, I was looking in:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Opera\Opera

Since reinstalling, I've looked a little further and found this directory:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Opera\Opera

Some files are in the first place and some in the second. Presumably that's how it should be seeing as i did a fresh install...???

Cheers

Max

Originally posted by MaxDread:

Some files are in the first place and some in the second. Presumably that's how it should be seeing as i did a fresh install...???

That sounds right. If you run into similar problems next time try the USB standalone installation option which keeps the program and profile in a single location of choice. You may have to tweak a couple registry settings for default browser but it seems to produce better file organization.

One down..... The Stacking Garnier ads problem is back....

Still, if it stops crashing and Yahoo Mail Search continues working, I can live with that. But for curiosity's sake, I'd love to know what causes it to happen.

I assume you've tried (right click) Block Content w/ wildcards?

No - I've not tried that. I've never even heard of it to be honest!

I'll look into that. But in the meantime, it's on to more pressing matters.....

Two down.... Opera is crashing again! It's such a shame as i was starting to feel quite confident. To try and keep my chin up, I just checked whether the search function in Yahoo is working and guess what? We're back to square one on that too. BUGGER!

I'm going to have another read through this thread and carry out your other suggestions. But with regard the crashing, it seems almost too coincidental that this started at the same time I was having the other problems which I referred to in the OP. To quote from the OP:

"What i can say is that I have recently been having problems with my PC after I accidentally unplugged it whilst it was running. To begin with I could not get the PC to boot. Then, when I did get it to boot, I was getting different BSODs and shut downs. That seems to be solved now as well (not sure how!!!). But this Opera crash has started instead. I've no idea if they are related at all, but thought it worthwhile to mention."


Is it possible that the same hardware or software problem that was originally preventing the PC from booting and subsequently causing BSODs, is now causing Opera to crash?

Cheers

Max

Additional note....

I've installed and been using Chrome this morning. No crashes at all. I had both browsers running sometimes. When Opera crashed, Chrome remained stable. The other two issues were also non-existent in Chrome (advert stacking and Yahoo Mail Search crash).

So it would seem the issues are all with Opera.

I was willing to give Chrome a go but have just discovered that it does not save to .mht files, something I really need my browser to do. If I cannot get around that, it will be on to another browser! But I'd love to stay with Opera and as such will try the work suggestions above as soon as I get a moment (now off to work).

Any other suggestions as to how I can fix any of these issues would be fantastic. The more the merrier!

Is it also worth me emailing Opera about the issues...? Is it the sort of thing they can help with if contacted directly?

Cheers

Max