Firefox - Frequent, frustrating hangs and lockups on new PC
I was lucky enough to be able to buld a new PC recently, Running Windows 10 Pro on a AMD Ryzen 9 5900X rig, Asus Crosshair VII Hero motherboard and 32gb of RAM. Nvidia Gforce 1070 GPU (stand in until I can get better in the new year) Should easily be enough to run Firefox right? Apparently not.
Performance in Firefox is little better than it was on my old rig, (which was still lousy). The browser constantly freezes and locks up, not responding at all to mouse clicks between tabs or on the page. It is especially common when a website opens a file requester, such as when I'm working on my website in Wordpress, but it also happens when working with downloads or seemingly randomly too (my downloads folder is on the C drive and always accessble).
I've tried disabling all plugins (I only have 3, Privacy Badger, Facebook container and Sticky Password), I don't see what point there is in resetting the profile as I only got this computer 3 days ago.
Regards software that might conflict, I run Malwarebytes anti-malware and DisplayFusion but I've tried disabling the latter and still no joy.
I really don't want to Chrome but it's leaving me little choice here. Is there anything else I can try? Thunderbird on the same PC works perfectly.
All Replies (12)
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link}
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Secure websites. Is the problem still there?
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia
Is the problem still there? Well when it happens intermittently it's hard to tell. I can't use my computer in safe mode and get any work done.
My Firefox install is pretty barebones as it is, if it only runs in safe mode it's not really much use. I'll try it tomorrow anyway.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode
Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes). If the problem goes away, that tells us one thing. If it does not, that tells us something else.
Ok I'll need to use Firefox at least a day with my usual workflow to say with any certainty, I'll report back.
Problems persist in safe mode.
It's particularly troublesome downloading files, or even just saving an image from the web, which frequently locks firefox up for several minutes or until I lose patience and kill it through task manager.
Google Chrome has no such issues on the same PC.
Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Secure websites. Is the problem still there?
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia
Too much hassle sorry, using a computer in safe mode is not much fun I can't get any work done like that. I'm just going to stick to Chrome unless you can suggest anything else I can try?
What do you mean by secure sites? HTTPS? Isn't that most of the web now?
Start Safe Mode as a test. If there is no issue, then it means that something on your system is causing the problem.
Yes but its an intermittent problem and that would mean working in safe mode with my usual workflow, that's not really practical.
I did some more investigating, uninstalling some apps just in case... the problem /might/ have got a little better but certainly hasn't gone away.
Some days it takes longer to happen than others.
Any operation which interacts with the file system (uploading or downloading) is likely to cause it.
When it happens on a download, the download sits at 0 bytes in my download folder and firefox either freezes entirely or becomes extremely sluggish (e.g, 5 or 10 seconds just to switch a tab)
Once I kill Firefox with Task Manager and restart it, the same download can just download instantly no problem most times.
I suspect conflict with Malwarebytes anti-malware but loathe to disable it unfortunately.
If you have any (sensible) suggestions please let me know.
We have seen problems with Malwarebytes. Contact their support.
I have now completely uninstalled Malwarebytes as part of the troubleshooting process and I still experience freezes in Firefox. Just now trying to upload a file to a wordpress site Firefox locked up completely forcing a kill/restart using Task Manager. After restarting, the file uploaded with no issues.