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High-traffic websites do not load completely

  • 9 replies
  • 9 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by bat21bravo

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Websites such as facebook, wikipedia and others do not load completely. They load most of the website and hang, leaving a perpetually-rotating green "loading" icon at the top of the tab. It will usually leave out a couple images after having loaded the text. I've adjusted the firefox settings so that it doesn't block pictures coming from outside sources, but it hasn't fully remedied the situation. The other issue is that it doesn't happen every time. I'll be browsing on facebook or wikipedia and every third link I click (thereabouts) the website hangs without fully loading. I've already adjusted firefox so that it no longer automatically uses any proxies, but while that seemed to reduce the frequency with which this problem presented itself, it still happens 1/3 of the time rather than 3/4 of the time.

A parallel problem (while I'm unsure as to whether or not it is related) is that youtube will load the whole page but the video. This also does not happen every time, but it will register as having completed loading the page (there is no green circle icon at the top of the tab), but no video will appear and no light grey buffer bar will load at the bottom of the video screen. I don't have any flash blockers or anything of the sort.

I've scanned my computer repeatedly for malware using malwarebytes and avast with very little in the way of results (usually nothing or one or two files of malware, no trojans or viruses).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Websites such as facebook, wikipedia and others do not load completely. They load most of the website and hang, leaving a perpetually-rotating green "loading" icon at the top of the tab. It will usually leave out a couple images after having loaded the text. I've adjusted the firefox settings so that it doesn't block pictures coming from outside sources, but it hasn't fully remedied the situation. The other issue is that it doesn't happen every time. I'll be browsing on facebook or wikipedia and every third link I click (thereabouts) the website hangs without fully loading. I've already adjusted firefox so that it no longer automatically uses any proxies, but while that seemed to reduce the frequency with which this problem presented itself, it still happens 1/3 of the time rather than 3/4 of the time. A parallel problem (while I'm unsure as to whether or not it is related) is that youtube will load the whole page but the video. This also does not happen every time, but it will register as having completed loading the page (there is no green circle icon at the top of the tab), but no video will appear and no light grey buffer bar will load at the bottom of the video screen. I don't have any flash blockers or anything of the sort. I've scanned my computer repeatedly for malware using malwarebytes and avast with very little in the way of results (usually nothing or one or two files of malware, no trojans or viruses). Any help will be greatly appreciated.

All Replies (9)

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You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

Reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • Hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • Press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • Press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the cache and cookies only from websites that cause problems.

"Clear the Cache":

  • Firefox/Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"

"Remove Cookies" from sites causing problems:

  • Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: "Show Cookies"

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.
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I've tried these all in the past and just tried them again. Sadly, nothing has worked still.

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It is possible that your ISP has bandwidth issues and response slowly at some times during the day.

You can check the Network log in the Inspector (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer;Ctrl+Shift+I) to see if you can identify the cause.

You need to reload the page, either via F5 or Ctrl+5 to bypass the cache.

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Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings and disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).

(If you're using an added theme, switch to the Default theme.)

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu by clicking on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item:
FirefoxSafeMode

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

  • On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
  • On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
    (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode" Safe Mode Fx 15 - Win

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.

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I've tried both reloading the page while bypassing the cache and safe mode. Unfortunately neither has worked. I know that I've had issues with bandwidth in the past, but I feel like that wouldn't be the cause of these issues, as I've been browsing on other, lower-traffic sites fine for the past 45 minutes or so, while I've had one wikipedia tab up, which has been "loading" the entire time.

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And while it hadn't occurred to me until now, I should caveat the "high-traffic" statements with the fact that I've been successfully browsing reddit the whole time with little to no lag, so the popularity of the site probably has nothing to do with it.

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Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps in case some security software is causing problems.

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Reporting to you from Windows safe mode. Still no dice, sadly.

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Just want to say that I really appreciate all the help despite my computer's lack of cooperation.