Firefox is so slow, it is all but useless! Can you help?
Asked by
metadog (
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)
June 27th, 2009
I have the latest version of Firefox running on my home PC (running XP home edition). The application has slowed down so much that it is all but useless. Chrome and IE run fine. I have used “Firetune” and even changed some of the config files. The thing is a dog! Any suggestions?
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Google and download “CCleaner” and then run it.
Try that first, then come back and tell me if there is a change.
Ran CCleaner, even did a defrag and “disk cleanup” still really slow.
The funny thing is that I have FF running on 2 Macs (1 at my work), 1 Vista PC laptop, and a XP laptop at work. All configured in a similar way. This home PC is the only dog. Though the work XP laptop has some issues with Gmail…
are you running enough memory? The sweet spot for XP is about 1 Gig of RAM.
The issues have been mostly in the last 6 to 8 months. I even did a complete reinstall of EVERYTHING. Reformatted the hard drive, reinstalled all software. Sounds like the RAM is low. Here are the specs: Pentium 4 – 3 GHZ – 504 Mb RAM. Maybe FF uses more RAM in the newer versions?
Oh, and FF has been asking me for weeks to update to the newest version. I have blithely ignored any such requests. After the last update fiasco, where everything slowed down, I decided I’ll stay where I am. Latest isn’t always best. Look how AOL and countless other software programs became memory hogs with each new version.
@metadog yeah, XP needs a Gig of RAM to run efficiently and I think Vista needs almost 3 times that.
My wife’s XP machine is as slow as you say, because she doesn’t have enough RAM. Add more memory if you can. But too much is as bad as too little, unless you are running programs that demand high memory useage.
On my 6GB RAM desktop, FF 3.5 uses 120MB @Google and almost 250MB on flash heavy websites (albeit, I may hae many tabs open). FireFox can be a hog.
RAM must be the issue. My home PC has the least amount of any of my computers. Crucial.com has a nice diagnostic tool that will tell you about your RAM and the upgrade options. Running that now.
Looks like I can install up to 4 GB of RAM, though this OS will only recognize about 3 GB. Stupid Microcrap OS. The good thing is that it should only cost me around $65! RAM is soooo cheap these days. I remember the old days when you had to take out a loan for RAM upgrades.
Either uninstall and reinstall Firefox, or get Safari 4 for PC from apple.com. Safari is waaaayyyyyy faster than Firefox.
if Firefox is the only app that is slow as hell it is not a RAM issue. Its a Firefox Issue.
Unless you are in desperate need of the apps you use in FF (I can’t live without them) then switching over to Chrome or Safari is probably going to be your best bet.
If IE and Chrome are working fine, it’s not a RAM issue. It could very well be spyware.
buy a MAC and your problems will be solved.
That’s the most useless comment I’ve ever seen.
btw its whats inside your rig that determines all of this. FYI
Install Linux and your problems will be solved.
I was waiting for a linux user :P good job ivan hehe
I had the same problem and did the following.
First backup your favourites and perhaps even passwords online with the xmarks add-on:
http://www.xmarks.com/
Then remove FF completely and reinstall with the least possible add-ons.
Do install the xmarks add-on to get your fav’s and password back.
I noticed my problems started after automatically upgrading from a lower version.
Good luck!
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