Okay I think I got this fixed, at least on my machine. Hopefully it will work on others also.

Background: Apparently the newest version of Firefox loads certain plug-ins in a separate process to prevent crashing ie if one page goes down the whole system doesn't go down. Problem being created was it absorbed system resources apparently creating the freeze ups. There is a way to go back to the previous method without downgrading your Firefox version. I will post a link shortly below to correct that item and eliminate the freeze ups. Also, while investigating since I last posted, there are numerous ways to speed up Firefox depending on your connections speeds. I have done numerous of these suggestions and my Firefox has sped up dramatically. I closed with 12 tabs open and they loaded in about 5 seconds when I opened Firefox. Speed problems: Disable Quick Time plug in and only enable it when / if you need it. This appeared to be taking enormous amounts of resources after about an hour of usage. Make sure you have the following add-ons - ADBlock Plus, WOT, FastestFox, and Flashblock (with this you will need to whitelist sites that you want Flash to work on e.g. GMail). I usually have 20-40 tabs open at any given time and my computer has not froze since speeding up the system and adding Flashblock while disabling Quick Time plug in. (It did crash once but no more freezing and no more slowing down as browsing continued on tabs.)

The setting that returns the newest version of Firefox to the way it was before can be found here:

http://www.technogadge.com/how-to-stop-firefox-plugin-container-exe-process/

Other links will be provided shortly to speed up Firefox based on your computer. Hope this works for you!

I have also done some Windows Vista optimization strategies and EVEN that has gotten better. Good luck!

Making Firefox faster Helpful sites – (Note some of this can be repetitive, and some dated.)

1. I liked this one although not complete, tells you how to make adjustments based on your computer and connection speeds. http://www.dagorret.net/2010/04/26/optimize-firefox-as-equipment-characteristics-and-speed-adsl/

2. This site gives a good complete overview on what to try and change to pick up speed. http://webanthology.net/all-you-need-to-optimize-firefox-for-better-performance-33-tips/2009/11/29/

3. This site has some screen shots which sometimes helps to visualize when you are doing this stuff. I do disagree with a blank home page though. I like mine to go to a search engine ( I use Google). I’ll accept the one or two seconds and takes to load that page and its’ resources. Blank pages are ugly! http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-ultimate-guide-to-speeding-up-firefox-3-5/

That should do it for Firefox, the rest of my links were for Windows Vista optimizing. Again, if you don’t have them, I highly recommend the following add-ons:

Ad Block Plus – Who wants to look at advertisements anyhow? (This is just amazing on how it cleans up browsing!) - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865/

WOT – You’ll need this because some of the features to speed up Firefox decrease its security supposedly. - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3456/

Flashblock – This I just added and am still tweaking. The thing you must do is create a whtelist for sites you want to have run Flash: YouTube, Gmail, etc. - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433/

FastestFox- I don’t know what all this does, but just the scroll down for the next page feature for most web sites visited is well worth loading it. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9825/

Tab Mix Plus – I like this one just to be able to customize the tab features. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122/

Better Privacy – This can get rid of so called long term or permanent cookies that are not cleared when you clear your cookies history. Marketing companies, adware, spyware, etc. usually put these on your computer. They are called LSO’s here and can be removed. If you don’t have this loaded, you are gonna be amazed or freaked at all the sites that are tracking your key strokes. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623/

I have same problem on a windows machine. Basically flash hangs the whole browser, it does this on either 3.6.7 or 3.6.8, while 3.6.6 is most of the time fine (but with occasional freeze).

flash blocks whole firefox

I have the same problem, I am running Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate, with the Adobe CS5 Master Collection installed. It hangs for me too but I escape the hang by simply minimizing the window and restoring it. I hope Adobe or Mozilla find a fix!

Thanks Bopperino !!!!!!!!!!

I have had problems with every version of FF since 3.6.4. (which is when I believe they introduced the "plug-in container" to fix some supposed "crash" problem). and I have tried every upgrade since, right up to 3.6.8 Any page with flash content will start to load, and then never finish. If I did ANYTHING except close FF, the whole system would hang and need to be restarted. My only option was always to downgrade to 3.6.3.

I have been searching all over for a "fix" and none have worked until I came across your reply in this thread !!!

I followed the link you gave, followed the instructions there and now FF 3.6.8 is working flawlessly for me.

Disabling the worthless "plug-in container" has worked like a charm for me, So once again, THANK YOU!!!!!

Hello everyone.

If you are having a problem specifically with Flash, please contact Adobe for support. That said, you should make sure it's up to date. Alas, that's the first thing they'll tell you.