This is a pretty common problem with Firefox considering its open 'extension' nature.
Typically, it's caused by a badly written extension or plugin, although that's not to say it could be caused by a problem external to the application.
If you want to diagnose your problem, go to Firefox's add-on interface (Tools > Add-ons) and disable all extensions and plugins. If this fixes the crashing problem, re-enable each plugin one at a time (enable it, restart the browser), followed by each extension one at a time and try to pinpoint what is causing it to crash.
Alternatively, if you're not too worried about your user data, do a full clean of all your Firefox configuration files (assuming you're on Vista and your Users directory is on C:):
- Uninstall Firefox and remove the Program Files/Mozilla Firefox directory
- Remove C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla (alternatively, use Run to go to %APPDATA% and remove Mozilla)
- Remove C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Mozilla if it exists
If you want to post your extensions/plugins here, we can probably share some wisdom as to what causes the crash.
99% of the time, if you keep up-to-date with security updates and use UAC, you're not going to get any 'spyware' directly through Firefox, except in the cases of new exploits and where you decide to downloading random executables, but it's advisable to run a spyware check/virus scan on a regular basis, just to be on the safe side.
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