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two plugin-containers

  • 4 replies
  • 8 have this problem
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  • Last reply by KLewis727

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I have been having this problem for months but nothing that I try will resolve it (I'm a trier but certainly not an expert!). I think that it is a problem with Shockwave Flash - or it started out as being that - but my pc 'hangs' at least two or three times a day. When it does, I go to my 'Windows Task Manager' and it regularly (but not always) shows that I have two "plugin-containers for Firefox" running. One shows a massive 'memory usage' and the other shows what I would estimate is a reasonable memory usage (I have taken screen shots which I have redacted to show only the relevant elements and will attach these hereto).

In my attempts to resolve the 'hang' issue, I usually select the massive plugin within Windows Task Manager and hit the 'end process' button. Recently, I have been getting the message, "Bad News First: This Tab Has Crashed". Previously I used to get a message telling me that Adobe had crashed, refresh to resolve. In essence, that is (I hope) the problem explained but do please feel free to quiz me and I will try to give as much further information as I am able (ageing but willing, so to speak!)

I thank you all/anyone in advance for any assistance which you are able to give.

Best regards,

Kev

I have been having this problem for months but nothing that I try will resolve it (I'm a trier but certainly not an expert!). I think that it is a problem with Shockwave Flash - or it started out as being that - but my pc 'hangs' at least two or three times a day. When it does, I go to my 'Windows Task Manager' and it regularly (but not always) shows that I have two "plugin-containers for Firefox" running. One shows a massive 'memory usage' and the other shows what I would estimate is a reasonable memory usage (I have taken screen shots which I have redacted to show only the relevant elements and will attach these hereto). In my attempts to resolve the 'hang' issue, I usually select the massive plugin within Windows Task Manager and hit the 'end process' button. Recently, I have been getting the message, "Bad News First: This Tab Has Crashed". Previously I used to get a message telling me that Adobe had crashed, refresh to resolve. In essence, that is (I hope) the problem explained but do please feel free to quiz me and I will try to give as much further information as I am able (ageing but willing, so to speak!) I thank you all/anyone in advance for any assistance which you are able to give. Best regards, Kev

All Replies (4)

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Hi Kev, prior to Firefox 48, you wouldn't expect to see two plugin-container.exe instances unless one had crashed. If this problem started in early August, it could be the following:

One of the headline changes in Firefox 48 is that some users have a new feature enabled, which separates the browser interface process from the page content process. The performance impact of this can vary a lot between systems, so could you check whether you have this feature turned on? Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, check the row for "Multiprocess Windows" and see whether the number on the left side of the fraction is greater than zero. If so, you are using e10s, and apparently it doesn't perform well on your system...

If you need to turn off e10s, you could try this:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste autos and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.tabs.remote.autostart preference to switch the value from true to false

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Huge thanks for your very prompt response, jscher2000.

"Multiprocess Windows 2/2 (Enabled by default)" was what was shown at your initial element.

The "browser.tabs.remote.autostart" preference was already set to 'false' but "browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2" is set to true ~ should I change that to false?

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KLewis727 said

The "browser.tabs.remote.autostart" preference was already set to 'false' but "browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2" is set to true ~ should I change that to false?

Hmm, I don't know. I have various extensions that are incompatible so I can't experiment with it myself. I suppose you could always try it and let us know what happens.

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I have changed that second option to false and shall wait and see what happens; waiting with bated breath is a hobby of mine! Thanks again.

Kev