Google Chrome crashes when I type in a URL with something already in the bar

2

Whenever I try to add a / to the end of a URL in Google Chrome the browser crashes and asks if I want to restore it.

It can be anything. Not just the slash. I have no problem when I simply open a new tab and enter the URL but a lot of times I want to add something to a URL.

I'm using the current stable build of Chrome and have tried to uninstall and reinstall. The problem started two weeks ago. What is the issue?

ComputerLocus

Posted 2011-12-13T03:31:46.043

Reputation: 968

Do you hit enter after adding the "/" or does it crash without hitting enter? Also, can you give an example of one of the URLs? – Ralph Lavelle – 2011-12-13T05:32:53.727

In my google chrome browser (15.0.874.121), I do not have this kind of difficulty. Have you changed your OS by this time? – None – 2011-12-13T05:34:22.850

1

FYI, to uninstall Google Chrome completely, you must select the [ ] Also delete browser data option in the uninstall dialog. Try that, and let us know if you still have problems after reinstalling. http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95319

– iglvzx – 2011-12-13T08:40:00.067

All windows SP's and Updates applied? Check within your Application Event Log what the actual crashes are caused by to verify if it's Chrome or something else. – HaydnWVN – 2011-12-13T12:03:38.850

Does it happen with all URLs, even ones you have never been to before? – Bobson – 2011-12-30T21:45:49.077

Answers

2

It sounds like your problem is reliably reproducible. Try testing the same procedure with an empty/new user profile.

  1. Close all Chrome windows
  2. Navigate to the parent folder of your user-data directory and rename it to something like User Data.temp or User Data.bak
  3. Run Chrome and navigate to some pages (to build up the history a bit)
  4. Try editing the address in the Omnibar

If it crashes, then there is something wrong with your Chrome installation. Try updating it or uninstalling and reinstalling a fresh copy.

If it does not crash, then the problem is with your user profile. In that case, you can consider deleting your old profile (probably undesirable) and using the new one. If you want to keep the old profile (likely), then delete the new User Data folder and rename the old one back to User Data (consider making a backup copy). Now run Chrome again and clear your history. (If it only happens with some URLs, then open the History page (Ctrl+H), click Edit items... in the top-right corner, and delete just the offending items.

Bobson

Posted 2011-12-13T03:31:46.043

Reputation: 709

WOW I didn't think I was ever going to get help! So I did what you said and renamed the user data and then I could type in the url bar without any crashes at all. I then went back to the old profile and still crashed. I was going to clear the history for just youtube and try that but the history was HUGE for YouTube and would take ages so I just cleared it all. And I'm happy to say that it works fine now! – ComputerLocus – 2011-12-31T04:27:15.103

My question is why did the history matter? Can Chrome not handle the HUGE amount of history for the site, since when I enter the / it searches the history? So I'm assuming it just can't handle all the data it has to check? – ComputerLocus – 2011-12-31T04:28:19.017

1One more thing to note. By clearing my history my user data folder has dropped a WHOLE 300MB. I can't believe the history took up that much! – ComputerLocus – 2011-12-31T04:29:16.330

@Fogest That is really strange! Why doesn't this happen to other Chrome browser users, I wonder? I mean, lots of us have tons of YouTube video history. Although I've noticed that YouTube seems to save everything in history! I often clear mine out just because I can't find stuff. But I still wonder what caused 300MB to build up for you...? – Ellie Kesselman – 2011-12-31T06:27:56.470

1@FeralOink Well I bet a lot of people clear there history more often though and a lot of people probably never enter a / into the bar unless it's for a site they have never been to. All those ones with lots of history such as YouTube they probably never enter a slash. – ComputerLocus – 2011-12-31T15:13:21.083