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How can I fix a drastic and sudden increase in memory usage?

  • 4 replies
  • 16 have this problem
  • 70 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

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Before I start, I've already been having slight issues since the middle of last year, but I thought nothing of it. Firefox starting up using a good chunk of memory was normal, and I could run it alongside my other programs just fine. However, about 3 or 4 days ago, Firefox has started to spike in memory usage, to the point where it slows my entire computer down, will not load pages, and it's generally a mess. I always have to force close it, too, because whenever I close it conventionally, it's still open in the background. I've been having the background issue for a few months, but it's never been a large problem until the last few days. I had thought, at first, that it was the result of some programs that got installed as part of another installer. I had no issue with the installer, considering it came from a trusted forum for game design on an official topic, from a veteran member. However, it installed multiple toolbars and multiple programs. I went through all of them, uninstalled them, cleared my registry, everything was gone. However, this memory problem reared its ugly head, later. I uninstalled, reinstalled. Didn't work. I tried to reset firefox, but it stayed open in the background, and I could not reset it. I disabled my addons (ones I've been using for over a year, now), nothing. I tried to open Firefox with all addons disabled, but it stayed open in the background and refused to re-open properly. I'm actually on another browser right now because Firefox is no longer working for much of anything... I also put a couple of attachments up to show the increase in question. It starts at around 270,000 K (though the screenshot shows around 312,000), then after about 4 or 5 minutes on my homepage, shoots up to well over 1,000,000 and it basically stops functioning. If anyone has any additional steps they think I could take, I would appreciate it.

Before I start, I've already been having slight issues since the middle of last year, but I thought nothing of it. Firefox starting up using a good chunk of memory was normal, and I could run it alongside my other programs just fine. However, about 3 or 4 days ago, Firefox has started to spike in memory usage, to the point where it slows my entire computer down, will not load pages, and it's generally a mess. I always have to force close it, too, because whenever I close it conventionally, it's still open in the background. I've been having the background issue for a few months, but it's never been a large problem until the last few days. I had thought, at first, that it was the result of some programs that got installed as part of another installer. I had no issue with the installer, considering it came from a trusted forum for game design on an official topic, from a veteran member. However, it installed multiple toolbars and multiple programs. I went through all of them, uninstalled them, cleared my registry, everything was gone. However, this memory problem reared its ugly head, later. I uninstalled, reinstalled. Didn't work. I tried to reset firefox, but it stayed open in the background, and I could not reset it. I disabled my addons (ones I've been using for over a year, now), nothing. I tried to open Firefox with all addons disabled, but it stayed open in the background and refused to re-open properly. I'm actually on another browser right now because Firefox is no longer working for much of anything... I also put a couple of attachments up to show the increase in question. It starts at around 270,000 K (though the screenshot shows around 312,000), then after about 4 or 5 minutes on my homepage, shoots up to well over 1,000,000 and it basically stops functioning. If anyone has any additional steps they think I could take, I would appreciate it.
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test.


Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

See also:

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;

Type about:preferences#advanced<Enter> in the address bar.

Under Advanced, Select General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.

Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?


Firefox uses too much memory (RAM) - How to fix This article describes how to make Firefox use less memory to make it run faster and prevent crashes.

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Chosen Solution

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test.


Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

See also:

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I have no idea why it's fixed, but it is. At first, I was fearful it would prove unfruitful, considering that while it worked wonderfully in safe mode, disabling hardware acceleration wasn't helping for normal running (I also never have had a custom theme until now). Disabling all addons did nothing, either. I decided to uninstall roughly half of my addons, and disable or remove most of my extensions. I also decided to experiment with a theme just on the off note that it was the default theme for whatever reason (it isn't, by the way). So, I'm not entirely sure which addon or extension it was, but it's running great now. Thank you both very much.

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Could be the problem got cleaned out by something.

Keep an eye out if the problem returns (not). Good luck.