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When I open too many windows, Firefox slows

  • 10 replies
  • 12 have this problem
  • 68 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

ohoni
ohoni

I've been using Firefox forever and am currently using Windows 7 64 bit. As far as I know nothing has changed on my end, but Firefox has started running slowly after opening a lot of windows. How I typically use the program, and have done for years, is to open pages in lots of different windows and close them as needed. This usually causes no problems and I can leave the program running for days at a time, running perfectly well.

For the past week or so though, something has changed. Now, when Firefox first starts up, it runs fine, as expected, but then after a period of time, usually within a day, sometimes within hours, it starts feeling "gunked up." At this point, when I try to load a page in a new window, instead of loading instantly, it takes a second or two, during which time I cannot switch to any other Firefox window, but any other programs running work just fine. This state continues and grows slower and slower to load new pages, until I close and reopen Firefox, and then the cycle repeats.

Again, this is a new situation, my normal behavior would not normally cause this sort of slowdown even after a week or more of continuous operation. I have run a virus check and a malware check, no hits on either, and other programs do not seem effected. I tried rebooting as well, but the problem reoccurred soon after. I also turned off most of my add-ons, including ones that have worked fine for months or years, and still no change, it still slogs down after a while. My Firefox is also currently up to date, of course (27.0.1).

What's going on?

I've been using Firefox forever and am currently using Windows 7 64 bit. As far as I know nothing has changed on my end, but Firefox has started running slowly after opening a lot of windows. How I typically use the program, and have done for years, is to open pages in lots of different windows and close them as needed. This usually causes no problems and I can leave the program running for days at a time, running perfectly well. For the past week or so though, something has changed. Now, when Firefox first starts up, it runs fine, as expected, but then after a period of time, usually within a day, sometimes within hours, it starts feeling "gunked up." At this point, when I try to load a page in a new window, instead of loading instantly, it takes a second or two, during which time I cannot switch to any other Firefox window, but any other programs running work just fine. This state continues and grows slower and slower to load new pages, until I close and reopen Firefox, and then the cycle repeats. Again, this is a new situation, my normal behavior would not normally cause this sort of slowdown even after a week or more of continuous operation. I have run a virus check and a malware check, no hits on either, and other programs do not seem effected. I tried rebooting as well, but the problem reoccurred soon after. I also turned off most of my add-ons, including ones that have worked fine for months or years, and still no change, it still slogs down after a while. My Firefox is also currently up to date, of course (27.0.1). What's going on?

Chosen solution

Ok, I put some time into troubleshooting it and think I figured it out. After going in and out of safe mode a few times, I narrowed it down to a problem with Adblock Plus. With it off, I could open a ton of windows, with it on it would start slowing down. A quick workaround to this was that if I went into the Addon menu whenever it started slowing down and disabled Adblock and then turned it back on, it would reset the slowdown, but I went to their own support site and came across people with the same problem who solved it by picking up a beta build of the addon. Since installing that, I haven't had any issues.

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All Replies (10)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator

You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files in the Firefox profile folder that store session data.

Rename (or delete) the sessionstore.js file and possible sessionstore-##.js files with a number and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox profile folder.

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).

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.
kobe
kobe

In order to be able to find the correct solution to your problem, we require some more non-personal information from you. Please do the following:

  • Click the Firefox button at the top left, then click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information from the submenu. If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Help menu at the top and select Troubleshooting Information from the menu.

Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.

  • At the top of the page, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
  • Now, go back to your forum post and click inside the reply box. Press Ctrl+V to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.

If you need further information about the Troubleshooting information page, please read the article Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues.

Thanks in advance for your help!

ohoni
ohoni Question owner 
Application Basics
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Modified by cor-el

ohoni
ohoni Question owner

I tried the session.js thing suggested above but that seemed to make no difference.

ohoni
ohoni Question owner

This problem has still not been resolved.

ohoni
ohoni Question owner

Just a head's up, this problem is still occurring. I'd hopes that the update last week might fix it, but nope, still slogs down after I've opened and closed a bunch of windows.

ohoni
ohoni Question owner

I still haven't been able to find a solution to this one. I provided the information requested, is this issue even being worked on?

mjb
mjb
  • Moderator

Can you try to access Firefox in Safe Mode to see if the problem still exists and/or if it opens? You can follow the below instructions to start it in that mode.

  • Go to Help > Restart with add-ons disabled
  • When Firefox closes and re-opens, select Start in Safe Mode

If Firefox works fine after starting in Safe Mode, then it's most likely one of your extensions misbehaving. You can enable your add-ons back on by one until you find the conflicting extension.

You're also running a seriously outdated version of Flash.

ohoni
ohoni Question owner

Chosen Solution

Ok, I put some time into troubleshooting it and think I figured it out. After going in and out of safe mode a few times, I narrowed it down to a problem with Adblock Plus. With it off, I could open a ton of windows, with it on it would start slowing down. A quick workaround to this was that if I went into the Addon menu whenever it started slowing down and disabled Adblock and then turned it back on, it would reset the slowdown, but I went to their own support site and came across people with the same problem who solved it by picking up a beta build of the addon. Since installing that, I haven't had any issues.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator

You can try to ask advice at the Adblock Plus forum.