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I have the new Firefox and avg is reporting up to 450MB of memory. I only have one extension running avg. what can I do to reduce the memory usage??

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  • 15 have this problem
  • 32 views
  • Last reply by Hasan

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within two hours I get a notification from avg that Firefox is using anywhere from 200 MB to 450MB of memory. I have closed the browser occasionally, wait a minute or two then reopen Firefox. Sometimes I won't see the avg notification for a couple days, others it's back within an hour or two.

within two hours I get a notification from avg that Firefox is using anywhere from 200 MB to 450MB of memory. I have closed the browser occasionally, wait a minute or two then reopen Firefox. Sometimes I won't see the avg notification for a couple days, others it's back within an hour or two.

All Replies (17)

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You can manually clear the cache and also set the memory limit.

Tools>Options>Advanced>Network - Offline storage

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Should 90 MB of memory be enough??

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I have set mine to 10 MB. I don't have a problem. But if you're running many tabs simultaneously, try with 50 MB first.

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Ok. Usually (80% of the time) i have less than 3 tab open. Other times (15% of the time) I have no less than 5 tabs open. And the rest I have more than 5 tabs open, but it doesn't happen very often. DO you think I should still set it at 50MB??

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You are like me. 10 MB is more than enough.

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Okey dokey artichokey!!! 10MB

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OK. Come back and post whether you get any more warnings from avg about memory leak.

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I shall.... I went with 15MB but i will let you know if I get any more notifications....

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I just got another notification saying Firefox was using 420MB of memory about and hour ago... I didn't mention it before in my first question but Firefox also is Not Responsive randomly, though usually not for more than 5 seconds...

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Disable your add-ons one by one and see if one of them is leaking the memory.

Mine (FF 8.0 + 12 add-ons) uses from 150 K to 250 K for 2 to 6 open tabs.

Modified by amkeew

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Here is a comparative study of various browsers on memory usage.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/internet-explorer-9-chrome-10-opera-11,2897-11.html

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I have an older computer and am careful. I open a blank tab and clear the cache, periodically. I love Foxfire and so have found 7.01 great so far. Chrome was a HUGE hog of memory, IE has security probs...so I use FF. I am able to have 3 tabs open, watch Youtube and no freezing...by using the blank tab to clear cache often. It only takes a few minutes and works for me so far!

I was set to 5 mb as a default, and I just upped it to 10, after reading this. Thanks!

Plus, I use CCleaner often! Search for CCleaner and download it free from Pirifoam. CCleaner is VERY fast and clears your computer of all the crap left behind after uninstalling programs, clears all browsers of cookies and temp files, passwords, etc. I've used it for years and love it.

Good luck! :)

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I have all add ons and plugins disabled and still getting high memory usage from firefox 7. What else can I do to resolve this??

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How much RAM do you have?

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2gb...but considering switching to Google Chrome at my mother's urging because Firefox is Not responding a lot.

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With 2GB of RAM, I think that AVG feature is set for too low of a level.

'Course, you won't get that warning with Chrome, it runs every tab in its' own process. No one process will be high enough to trigger the threshold for the warning, but overall it will probably use more RAM than Firefox when you have multiple tabs and windows open.

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Check and tell if its working.


Btw Your Java plugin is quite older. You need to update it.

-> Update All your Firefox Plugins

When Downloading Plugins Update setup files, Remove Checkmark from Downloading other Optional Softwares with your Plugins (e.g. Toolbars, McAfee, Google Chrome, etc.)

-> Clear Cookies & Cache

-> Clear the Network Cache