Firefox has recently started hanging and opening very slowly and I need help figuring out why/how to fix it
So last week firefox has started getting progressively slower for me and now it takes a while to open and hangs upon opening new tabs, clicking links, and loading videos. I can usually troubleshoot issues but I've tried so many routes in order to fix this and have yet to see any form of improvement. I've updated all my software and any plugins associated with firefox, tried running firefox in safemode (no improvement), uninstalled and reinstalled firefox, used the refresh feature, and a few other methods but absolutely nothing has changed which leads me to believe something is corrupted or that a program is blocking firefox. On that note, I am using Microsoft security essentials and avast as my antivirus right now and I don't feel as though they are the issue; they don't SEEM to be blocking anything in firefox. I've also gone into my windows firewall and made sure that mozilla wasn't being blocked there. I have done a few virus scans and boot time scans but nothing has come up.
Here are a few side note: I used chrome before this and switched to firefox a couple months ago because I was having this issue in chrome and it slowly got to the point where chrome was unusable. the problems of hanging and slowness only occur once I start using a browser (everything is fast when I'm playing video games or running other software). There was no specific change that I've made to this computer around the time this issue started to occur HOWEVER, chrome started acting funny once I installed a new SSD and migrated data over from my old drive. This wouldn't seem to be an issue because I had deleted every trace of chrome and anything associated with it but upon re-installation the hanging and extreme slowness was still there.
I'm totally out of ideas on this one and it's getting to the point where I can hardly do schoolwork on this PC =[ If anyone has any information on what might be causing this issue or how I could fix these symptoms please help me out. Thank you for your time!
All Replies (5)
Use this link to check that your plugins are up-to-date. If any are listed as unknown or research, do not worry about them.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-slow-how-make-it-faster
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-many-cpu-resources-how-fix
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-responding
You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file (bookmarks, history) in the Firefox profile folder.
- Places Maintenance: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/
If the Places Maintenance extension can't repair the places.sqlite database file then remove all places.sqlite file(s) in the Firefox profile folder to make Firefox rebuild the places.sqlite database file from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file
Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox menu button/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
- Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox menu button/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
- Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
I'm afraid I've already tried both of these methods and gone through the troubleshooting sequence that firefox has set out and nothing seems to change. After doing a few test the hanging and slowness issue gets progressively worse the more active I am in firefox. For instance, I was doing research for a project the other day and had about 4 tabs open while browsing a few sites and I began to notice that opening a new tab or clicking on a site's link would cause Firefox to hang for longer periods of time and it took much longer to load images. The longest it would hang for was about 30 seconds which isn't terrible but when you're trying to work on something it can really ruin my focus. To clear anything up, the only plugin I use is Adblocker and I've uninstalled it to test and see if it was the cause of the issue which it isn't, I haven't messed with any advanced settings or tried to modify my browsers in fear that I will scew thing up.
Do any of those pages use flash, or ads?
Install this add-on. When you feel the browser acting up, use it. Restart Button {web link} Restart button for Firefox
TonyTheDoomLord said
I'm afraid I've already tried both of these methods and gone through the troubleshooting sequence that firefox has set out and nothing seems to change. After doing a few test the hanging and slowness issue gets progressively worse the more active I am in firefox. For instance, I was doing research for a project the other day and had about 4 tabs open while browsing a few sites and I began to notice that opening a new tab or clicking on a site's link would cause Firefox to hang for longer periods of time and it took much longer to load images. The longest it would hang for was about 30 seconds which isn't terrible but when you're trying to work on something it can really ruin my focus. To clear anything up, the only plugin I use is Adblocker and I've uninstalled it to test and see if it was the cause of the issue which it isn't, I haven't messed with any advanced settings or tried to modify my browsers in fear that I will scew thing up.
Tony, was this ever resolved. I'm having exactly the same problem and have literally tried just about everything. I also only use a few extensions/addons and nothing that I've been able to find is causing this, or at least nothing anyone tells me could be causing this.
I get the longer hangs after being on a session for awhile, but the most annoying/disruptive are the small second or two hangs every five or ten seconds after I've been on for awhile. I've come to accept having to close out of a session after an extended session, but I HATE having to do it for the intermittent smaller hangs.
Modified by FireFoxFan1