Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

everything on firefox is jerky and slow since 38.0.1 update how do I fix

  • 4 replies
  • 120 have this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by guigs

more options

Can't play games, access e-mail, browsing & typing this - is all jerky and very slow. How do I fix? I don't understand technical terms so need basic "click on this" instructions please. Can anyone help me? I have windows 7 and all my updates are automatically done. I use my laptop - I don't know how it works!!

Can't play games, access e-mail, browsing & typing this - is all jerky and very slow. How do I fix? I don't understand technical terms so need basic "click on this" instructions please. Can anyone help me? I have windows 7 and all my updates are automatically done. I use my laptop - I don't know how it works!!

Chosen solution

The other issue that you might be experiencing is due to hardware acceleration?

If you try Firefox Safe Mode, it will disable hardware acceleration and add ons temporarily and you can see if these are contributing to the issue. If it was indeed hardware acceleration see the update below.

Just as an update, after investigation of general hardware acceleration issues there is an update going out today that should resolve this. The new version will be 38.0.5 on beta on June 2nd. Thank you for your patience, please do report back if there are any further issues.

(*please note the update in this post for the change in release channel also subject to change)

Read this answer in context 👍 7

All Replies (4)

more options

Hello,

The Refresh feature (called "Reset" in older Firefox versions) can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies, and other essential information.

Note: When you use this feature, you will lose any extensions, toolbar customizations, and some preferences. See the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article for more information.

To Refresh Firefox:

  1. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using one of these methods:
    • Click the menu button New Fx Menu, click help Help-29 and select Troubleshooting Information. A new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
    • If you're unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting Information page.
  2. At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Refresh Firefox" ("Reset Firefox" in older Firefox versions). Click on it.
  3. Firefox will close. After the refresh process is completed, Firefox will show a window with the information that is imported.
  4. Click Finish and Firefox will reopen.

Did this fix the problem? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

more options

Thank you for your very easy to follow instructions - I'm very grateful. Sadly it hasn't solved the problem. If refreshing hasn't helped, I don't suppose uninstalling, then installing FF again would help either? I'm having to use IE in the meantime, and just wishing for another update that will (hopefully) get rid of this irritating problem.

more options

hi silversurfer63, please see Firefox is slow after updating to Firefox 38

more options

Chosen Solution

The other issue that you might be experiencing is due to hardware acceleration?

If you try Firefox Safe Mode, it will disable hardware acceleration and add ons temporarily and you can see if these are contributing to the issue. If it was indeed hardware acceleration see the update below.

Just as an update, after investigation of general hardware acceleration issues there is an update going out today that should resolve this. The new version will be 38.0.5 on beta on June 2nd. Thank you for your patience, please do report back if there are any further issues.

(*please note the update in this post for the change in release channel also subject to change)

Modified by guigs