Firefox

[rp2813]

Is anyone noticing that Firefox is slow to load?  This started yesterday on my laptop, which is running Windows 10.  It can take as much as 15 seconds to load when first opening Firefox.  Once it's open, additional tabs load quickly/normally.  I opened Edge just to see if it had the same problem and it loaded quickly as usual, so this seems to be a Firefox issue. 

 

Can anyone advise on what may have changed, or is MS just sabotaging any browsers other than Edge now?

 

[sudsmaster]

Sometimes it is slow to load when it is engaging in an update.

 

[rp2813]

Yeah this has been going on for more than 24 hours, but . . .

 

I rarely shut down my laptop so I just now did a re-start and Firefox is again loading normally.  I think it makes sense to re-start or shut down once in a while rather than just closing the laptop and putting it to sleep.

 

[countryguy]

All browsers need to be closed on a regular basis (and the PC, laptop, etc. rebooted) in order to clean out the cache, download history, etc. I use Chrome and I have to do this every couple of days otherwise I notice that chrome sort of becomes stuck every now and then....and I just have to wait until it becomes responsive again. As soon as I clear the cache, download history, etc. it starts working normally again. I also have a free program from Piriform called CCleaner which I run at least weekly to clean the files, registry, etc.

Gary

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Gary,

 

I recently saw a post from someone with computer credibility who stated that they almost never shut off their computer, so I started a practice of just closing the laptop and not shutting it down.

 

After this experience and reading your post, I'm going back to shutting down or re-starting on a regular basis.

 

[DADoES]

 
I haven't rebooted in 10 days.  Often go longer than that, typically don't reboot unless a software update needs it, such as an AV program update.

I don't leave FF open continuously but I often have multiple FF tabs open when I am using it, not unusual to have multiple windows (Ctrl-click and Shift-click on links are useful!).  May be several YouTube videos queued-up for viewing.  Some may be left open for a while if I get interrupted.  FF may cache some of the data stream on some of them.  Sometimes it stays in memory for a few mins to do "housekeeping" on closing after such a session, and/or is unresponsive for a few minutes upon reopening (the drive activity light indicates action is happening).  My desktop system has only 4GB of RAM (32-bit) and 500MB of that is used for video memory.

I clear History by month (History / Show All History, select month, right-click, Delete) when I think about it, usually leaving the current + 2 months.

 

[arbilab]

On the last FF that would accept XP.  10sec startup is the rule.  Longer if XP is interrupting to do other things. 

It does that a lot at initial startup.

 

FF has an add-on, programmable to delete history 'older than X' so you don't have to do it by hand.  I think mine is set to 10 days.  One thing that detracts from the usefulness of FF history, it doesn't display dates or times.

 

[DADoES]

 
History dates/times ... my FF shows that data.  Has a column for Most Recent Visit.  Time-only for current day.  Date and time for yesterday back to the extent of retained history, sectioned by month.  There's no left-right scroll bar on the history view so maybe you're not seeing it?  The individual column width can be adjusted, and columns can be shown or not (right-click on a column heading to select what is shown).  Or maybe the older version doesn't include the info?

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Mine isnt slow to load but its been locking up for quite a while. I close it and restart but its annoying as hell! I guess it needs a refresh but last time I did that I lost stuff so wont do it again. Its a PITA though

 

[cleanteamofny]

 

 

FF has been a nightmare after Windows 10 Update 20H1. I even ranted on Twitter @Mozilla about long loading and hanging times.

I've refreshed FF several times on 2 different PCs and the results were the same.

What you may need to do is turn off any unnecessary add-on or extensions also uncheck performance in FF settings until you update to Windows 10 Version 21H1 update.

It has taken 4 FF updates to correct this problem.

I hope this helps!

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[DADoES]

 
Help/Troubleshoot Mode on the top left text menu bar (if that menu is shown) starts it in Safe Mode with all add-ons temporarily disabled (until the next close/reopen).

Or Help/Troubleshoot Mode (or it may be Help/Safe Mode) from the three-bar menu icon at the top right on the toolbar.

Or hold Shift while double-clicking the desktop program icon, or Shift while single-clicking the program icon if on the Windows task bar.

 

[mattl]

Months go by between reboots on my main computer, it's used as a server for data, movies, and DVR recordings. I use it everyday with various browsers that are left open, no issues.  But then again it's Linux...