One of the biggest performance bottlenecks on a PC is not the speed of CPU engines, but the amount of memory the machine has. And Firefox performance, like all applications, can be adversely effected by amount of cpu and/or storage being used. This artical is about looking at addressing memory constraint issues to greatly improve your Firefox performance and your general PC performance as well. __TOC__ <!-- NOTE: That's how you make a table of contents --> =How to determine if you have a memory issue= <!-- NOTE: This is a level 1 heading --> ==Microsoft's "Windows Task Manager" and the "Perfomance Tab" window == Use the following link to see an example of the windows task manager - Performance tab window: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/see-details-about-your-computers-performance-using-task-manager From the microsoft link, click on "Get details on how much memory is being used". It will show you the bottom half of the "Performance tab" data that you should look for on your windows task manger (Performance tab) screen. ==Checking your machines physical memory use.== Now, open the windows task manager on your machine and select the "Performance tab" to see your machines physical memory use Looking at the bottom right of the "performance tab" window, you will see the percentage of physical memory used. ''If that is a very high percentage'', say 90 percent or more, memory constraints can be the source of your performance problems. <!-- NOTE: There is another example in this paragraph of a link to an article that changes the displayed text of the link. --> ==Do you have a lot of applications open?== <!-- NOTE: This is a level 2 heading. Can you guess what a level 3 heading looks like? --> If you have many applications running simulataneously, closing down some of the unnessary applications may be the simple solution to your memory issue. ==Does the memory issue (causing a performance problem) with Firefox happen immediately even after just rebooting your computer== For checking for physical memory constraints and usage, see "Checking your machines physical memory use." above. If you reboot your machine and start firefox and still see memory issues and performance issues, consider the following: 1) Can you add more memory to your machine? More memory is cheap and will provide a huge performance boost IF your machine will allow you to add more memory. Probably today for best performance your machine should be running at least 3gb, if your machine will allow you to install it. 2) If you cannot add more memory, are you running a top of the line anti-virus product (like Norton 360?). Even when you turn off some of the Norton 360 features, it will reduce the cpu use. But the major impact of Norton 360 (in a memory constrained system) will be the storage use by Norton 360 itself (some of which is hidden in other processes and/or the kernal itself). For example, on a windows machine with only 2gb of installed memory (and limited to a 2gb max memory for machine), the best thing to do in this case was to deinstall Norton 360 and install Norton Anti-virus instead; if you just don't want to upgrade to a new machine. Even though you can turn off some of the Norton 360 features (making it, in effect "Norton Anti-virus), the storage issues remain. Only actually switching Norton security products by deinstalling Norton 360 and installing Norton Anti-virus (rather than just disabling features) could help resolve the storage constraint issues on a 2gb machine. Of course installing a 3rd GB, if machine allowed it, would have been the best option or just buying a newer machine with more memory to begin with. Adding a 4th GB to a Windows/XP or Vista32 machine may not be advisable however. The reason is you may only get a fractional benefit from that extra GB. For more information on why this is, see microsoft's artical: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605 To see how much memory your machine you can install on your machine go to the manufactures support web site and look for the machine specs for your machine to see the maximum amount of memory you can install. For more information on adding memory see microsoft's artical: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/addmemory.aspx#fbid=EjoUPHVLZji

One of the biggest performance bottlenecks on a PC is not the speed of CPU engines, but the amount of memory the machine has. And Firefox performance, like all applications, can be adversely effected by amount of cpu and/or storage being used. This artical is about looking at addressing memory constraint issues to greatly improve your Firefox performance and your general PC performance as well.

How to determine if you have a memory issue

Microsoft's "Windows Task Manager" and the "Perfomance Tab" window

Use the following link to see an example of the windows task manager - Performance tab window:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/see-details-about-your-computers-performance-using-task-manager

From the microsoft link, click on "Get details on how much memory is being used". It will show you the bottom half of the "Performance tab" data that you should look for on your windows task manger (Performance tab) screen.

Checking your machines physical memory use.

Now, open the windows task manager on your machine and select the "Performance tab" to see your machines physical memory use

Looking at the bottom right of the "performance tab" window, you will see the percentage of physical memory used. If that is a very high percentage, say 90 percent or more, memory constraints can be the source of your performance problems.

Do you have a lot of applications open?

If you have many applications running simulataneously, closing down some of the unnessary applications may be the simple solution to your memory issue.

Does the memory issue (causing a performance problem) with Firefox happen immediately even after just rebooting your computer

For checking for physical memory constraints and usage, see "Checking your machines physical memory use." above.

If you reboot your machine and start firefox and still see memory issues and performance issues, consider the following:

1) Can you add more memory to your machine? More memory is cheap and will provide a huge performance boost IF your machine will allow you to add more memory. Probably today for best performance your machine should be running at least 3gb, if your machine will allow you to install it.

2) If you cannot add more memory, are you running a top of the line anti-virus product (like Norton 360?). Even when you turn off some of the Norton 360 features, it will reduce the cpu use. But the major impact of Norton 360 (in a memory constrained system) will be the storage use by Norton 360 itself (some of which is hidden in other processes and/or the kernal itself).

For example, on a windows machine with only 2gb of installed memory (and limited to a 2gb max memory for machine), the best thing to do in this case was to deinstall Norton 360 and install Norton Anti-virus instead; if you just don't want to upgrade to a new machine.

Even though you can turn off some of the Norton 360 features (making it, in effect "Norton Anti-virus), the storage issues remain. Only actually switching Norton security products by deinstalling Norton 360 and installing Norton Anti-virus (rather than just disabling features) could help resolve the storage constraint issues on a 2gb machine. Of course installing a 3rd GB, if machine allowed it, would have been the best option or just buying a newer machine with more memory to begin with.

Adding a 4th GB to a Windows/XP or Vista32 machine may not be advisable however. The reason is you may only get a fractional benefit from that extra GB. For more information on why this is, see microsoft's artical: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605

To see how much memory your machine you can install on your machine go to the manufactures support web site and look for the machine specs for your machine to see the maximum amount of memory you can install.

For more information on adding memory see microsoft's artical: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/addmemory.aspx#fbid=EjoUPHVLZji