The following:

Update to Firefox 17 beta.

Then, try to test with a Fresh Profile, Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles. Is Firefox Faster there?

Also, make sure you correctly configure your Firewall/Antivirus (and what software do you have performing those functions?) Configure firewalls so that Firefox can access the Internet

I have not tried a new profile as I do not want to lose all my bookmarks and passwords.

I use Norton as my firewall and Firefox is set to have full access to the internet. Every upgrade I have tried still has the same problem of being slow as a snail.

The point of a new profile is to leave your old one untouched, but use the new one for testing to narrow down the problem. Please create a new profile, test, let me know the results, and then you can switch back to your old profile which has your data.

I will try a new profile. Just one question...how do I go about doing that?

Use the link I gave in my first comment. Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles

Thank you!

Okay, I created a new profile. It upgraded to version 17 and seems to work up to speed. I then switched back to my original profile, which upgraded to version 17 I guess when the test profile upgraded. It seems a little slower than the test profile but not as slow has it had in the past whenever I upgraded. Any idea(s) as to what the problem is or was?