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Firefox is hoging 97% cpu cycles all the time.

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648 have this problem
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Last reply by gmiddleton 1 year ago

iceb00

Posted
9/21/10 4:05 PM

Recently(like today) Firefox has started hogging cpu cycles causing responses to be very s-l-o-w :(

Have scanned with Sophos AV and Windows Defender and there is no indication of malicious program activity.

Firefox process remains running even when browser has been closed.

Modified October 3, 2011 6:51:14 AM PDT by iceb00

Chosen solution

by cor-el

You can try to disable the Java Quick starter extension and remove all Java Console extensions.

See Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

Helpful replies

I've been experiencing this cpu hog situation of firefox for quite some time. It appears to be related to sites which utilize flash. Because until a site is loaded which contains flash, there is no cpu issue. But once the site is loaded (and I've found this to be true with every site containing flash), the cpu usage jumps to roughly 100%. Even after the site is closed (by closing the tab or even the window) as long as firefox remains running the cpu usage will not drop below 100% again.

Many have said this is an adobe flash issue. Others have said it is a firefox issue. What I do know is that I have both the latest firefox and latest adobe flash player and it happens. When I use IE, the cpu usage even with multiple flash sites open never goes above 25% and once the site which contains the flash is closed IE cpu usage drops down to almost nothing. I really prefer the flexibility of firefox with respect to addons, but until this cpu usage issue with flash and firefox is resolved in some fashion, I have no option but to go back to IE as a browser.

Go to answer 15

I got to the point that Firefox 3.6.11 and 3.6.12 and beta 4.07b ground my PC to a halt for two days with 100% CPU usage and 400+ MB of memory usage. I tried all the suggestions of turning off Flash and Adobe and Java--even turned off my antivirus, but nothing helped. Then I found the cure. I realized the one thing in common between all these versions was my profile.

First, I backed up my bookmarks. I also made print screen backup copies of my site passwords. Next, I uninstalled Firefox but allowed it to keep my profile (i.e., do not check the box that offers to remove your settings). I went into my documents and settings folder, then applications, then Mozilla, then Firefox, then Profiles. I found the profile with extension "default" and added an extension of ".old" to it.

Then I downloaded a fresh copy of Firefox, allowed it to create a new profile. I made a backup copy of the new profile.

Then I followed the directions on this page:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile

to retrieve my passwords and form history. You can also retrieve your bookmarks, but since I backed up my bookmarks before uninstalling Firefox, I "restored" my bookmark backup through the bookmarks menu. I copied each of the folders necessary for passwords and form history into the newly installed Firefox profile.

Then, total joy. Firefox and I are friends again. I have all my plug-ins/extensions running, am using tabbed browsing, leave Firefox open, and no more CPU hog!

Hope this helps!

Go to answer 15

Answer 1 · 2010-12-31T11:46:41-08:00

jcbeliever 0 solutions 4 answers

Posted
12/31/10 11:46 AM

Hi footballma32, have you tried the games in Internet Explorer? Does the same "freeze" happen there? What you are describing sounds more of a problem with a 3rd party program like "Flash" or "DirectX" that are often used with games. I would also check to see if you have the latest graphics (video) driver that your system can use. You do not have much RAM available, but Windows 2000 does use less. That can also cause a slow up. Try to close any other unnecessary programs when playing these games. I hope this helps!

Answer 2 · 2011-01-20T22:03:29-08:00

zobva 0 solutions 1 answers

Posted
1/20/11 10:03 PM

I've always been a fan and proponent of Firefox until first the start-up got so slow -- and then it started hogging i00% of my CPU between the firefox running program and the firefox plug-in container. Firefox has been pushing for people to try their newest product, Firefox for Android, but there is no way I am going to load Firefox on my Samsung Epic Galaxy 4G mobile phone so that it can lock that up too! In the meanwhile, I have to keep copies of IE8 and Chrome on my PC to use as backups when Firefox freezes my computer playing a facebook game like Family Feud. I reboot and use IE for a while. I hate this, I used to love FF.

Answer 3 · 2011-02-04T04:05:32-08:00

Crikey 0 solutions 3 answers

Posted
2/4/11 4:05 AM

I originally asked which version of Firefox is the last stable version for older PCs as I was considering updating. Now I will NOT!! I was having CPU pressure problems with upgrades a way last year and did some research back then to find out that the last stable, non-crash version for older machines was and apparently still is - Firefox Version 3.0.19 - believe it or not.

However, with this version Firefox is at pains to broadcast that this version is no longer "safe". But if Firefox is only going to write software for i-5 dual cores and above computers then those with average and way below average machines are going to have to use OLDER versions of Firefox along with other less RAM hungry 'protection' software.

Currently My line-up is :

Firefox Version 3.0.19 (Old but NO bother, like a charm and add-ons :)

PC Tools Anti-virus (free & not the Spyware doc version) THE lowest RAM on the net (believe me I have tested them ALL!)

Advance System Care Professional (on) and NO trouble. The PRO is what you want.

IOBit Security 360 (on) and NO trouble (Free version is just fine, although I have Pro).

And if you are really F***ed - RAM Booster Free II (Again a sweet one, no trouble at all.)

And my system - a Dell Pentium 4

Now you have an answer. The very BEST of luck!

Crikey

Answer 4 · 2011-02-10T11:29:23-08:00

rockymntnman 0 solutions 3 answers

Posted
2/10/11 11:29 AM

My Firefox also recently upgraded itself and all its plug-ins. Now I can't even play solitaire because the plug in container module uses 80 to 100 % of the CPU even if I'm not Playing, the computer freezes up and takes forever to do anything. Can't imagine why Adobe would create such a resource hog when everyone else is trying to come up with ways to save the cpu usage. When I end The Plug in container module in the task manager, my cpu usage drops to nearly zero and everything works fine again.

Answer 5 · 2011-02-10T11:40:44-08:00

rockymntnman 0 solutions 3 answers

Posted
2/10/11 11:40 AM

When Firefox recently upgraded itself, it added a new feature called the "Plug-In Container", It is supposed to protect the browser when a plug in crashes but it is the source of the CPU usage and the computer freezing. Java does nothing different, but If I stop the plug in container process in task manager, the computer instantly starts going again and the CPU usage drops to around 10 to 15 percent. Got to have a flash player but the new Adobe is just too much of a resource hog. It uses nearly 100% all the time, even if your not doing anything that would need a flash player. Anyone know of another compatible Flash player that works on Firefox 3.6 or is it time to go looking for a new browser? Adobe has pretty much disabled firefox.

Answer 6 · 2011-02-11T08:42:00-08:00

rockymntnman 0 solutions 3 answers

Posted
2/11/11 8:42 AM

I found that by taking out the plugin container in the mozilla file, uninstalling flash, and reinstalling flash, that it reduced the cpu usage by 1/2. But this only worked on the computer that also has the Opera browser installed. For some reason the flash installs in the opera browser but firefox still utilizes it. In the add ons in firefox it doesn't even appear yet all my flash sites load and play just fine, no more cpu issues. Hope this helps!

Answer 7 · 2011-02-19T09:56:54-08:00

Achagoosee 0 solutions 1 answers

Posted
2/19/11 9:56 AM

I have found exactly the same thing. I now have to use Chrome to open my Conceptis puzzles ( which use FlashPlayer) and even watch movies on Netflix, as Firefox won't open that up. Uses up to 98% of CPU even after I've shut it down, usually uses from 0 to a high of 29% when operating normally. I love Firefox, but...

Answer 8 · 2011-03-31T09:50:47-07:00

maxxm 0 solutions 4 answers

Posted
3/31/11 9:50 AM

I have been a loyal Firefox user since version 1. I installed version 4 two days ago, and now this CPU hogging problem is creating major issues for me. I have tried the fixes above, but they haven't helped. In addition, the links on this page ([[http://kb.mozillazine.org/Java#Multiple_Java_Console_extensions]] come back with Error messages too. What's happening with Mozilla? I don't want to start using Chrome as my default, but that may become necessary if this CPU memory issue remains.

Answer 9 · 2011-10-03T06:51:14-07:00

gmiddleton 0 solutions 7 answers

Posted
10/3/11 6:51 AM

Hopefully my tests here might help towards a solution:

I installed a NEW version of firefox portable 7.0.1 - completely empty- and tested with it. (I followed a document I found on dhdaily.com on how to install it in parallel.)

I made the following discovery: Firefox runs normally IF you only open up one tab. If you open up more than one tab at a time, EACH TAB must complete IN ORDER before the next one works. So site 1 has to load to completion before site 2 can complete etc. If any site is slow, then the rest of the chain is slow.

As a test, I opened up my EBAY account and, while it was loading, opened up my feedback in a second tab. The second tab would not even start until the first tab page completed.

I then closed and restarted Firefox and opened up three different webpages in three tabs: www.google.com www.refdesk.com www.microsoft.com. Again google had to finish before refdesk would load. Refdesk, being large, stopped Microsoft from completely loading until it finished.

So it seems to be some sort of thread balancing issue involved where the first tab is not playing well with subsequent ones.

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Firefox is hoging 97% cpu cycles all the time.

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