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Why does Firefox stop responding?

  • 14 replies
  • 8 have this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by tonygat

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Ever since firefox updated (version 3.1.0) it constantly stops responding. This especially happens when attempting to view a video or pop-up image on sites such as Facebook, The Chive, Youtube, etc. The browser stops responding about every 10 seconds then seems fine after about 40 seconds. This repeats for viewing most videos or pop-ups.

Things I have already tried that has no apparent effect:

Updated Flash to latest version. Updated Java to latest version. Disabled all Add-Ons. Set all Plug-Ins to "Ask to Activate". Uninstalled custom theme. Renamed File: places.sqlite to places.sqlite.old.

Any help is appreciated.

Ever since firefox updated (version 3.1.0) it constantly stops responding. This especially happens when attempting to view a video or pop-up image on sites such as Facebook, The Chive, Youtube, etc. The browser stops responding about every 10 seconds then seems fine after about 40 seconds. This repeats for viewing most videos or pop-ups. Things I have already tried that has no apparent effect: Updated Flash to latest version. Updated Java to latest version. Disabled all Add-Ons. Set all Plug-Ins to "Ask to Activate". Uninstalled custom theme. Renamed File: places.sqlite to places.sqlite.old. Any help is appreciated.

All Replies (14)

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You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files in the Firefox profile folder that store session data.

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).

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Anyone else have an idea?

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I've been having the same problem..also Firefox 31 has been running very slowly. Disabled McAfee Site Advisor (v3.7.1) and Firefox is normal. No problem with Site Advisor and Chrome so I now do most of my browsing on Chrome.

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the tool bar. Followed by;

Windows; Tools > Options Linux; Edit > Preferences Mac; application name > Preferences

Then Advanced > General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.

Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?

Then restart.

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Turning off "Use Hardware Acceleration" has no effect.

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I've tried this, but it doesn't do the trick. Have switched all plug ins to activate when asked. Seems to improve the speed. But Firefox is still slower than it used to be.

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Have switched all plug ins to activate when asked. Doesn't seem to help.

Modified by tonygat

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As if my original issue was not enough, since the last Firefox update (09-20-14), now my FF completely crashes and gives me the same connection issue error as if I had no ISP at all.

"Firefox can't find the server at www.google.com. Check the address for typing errors such as ww.example.com instead of www.example.com If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection. If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web."


Funny thing is, this complete crash thing happens on all three of my comps since installing the latest FF update. IE and Chrome function without issue. My ISP connection is good and no firewall.

I have completely uninstalled FF, deleted all Mozilla/FF folders, cleaned all temp files/cookies, ran a registry cleaner, rebooted and reinstalled FF. Still have both issues. The only difference is that now I have zero add-ons and have lost all of my saved passwords. I have been using FF for years and have never encountered such a mess.

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You should not have removed the user profile. Can you recover it?

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Your Profile that is outside of the Firefox program folder is where you keep your Firefox settings like the Bookmarks, Password, Extensions, Cookies.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

The best way to have a clean Profile is to make it with the ProfileManager. You can create a new one by deleting as you did as Firefox will then create a new one next time it starts, however unless you made a copy of the Profile(s) you may not be able to recover it short of trying a file recovery software. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

Also since Firefox is not just for Windows it uses the registry very little.

Modified by James

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Actually the profile is the least of my concerns. I can deal with the temporary freeze ups as stated in my original post but my biggest issue now is FF constantly crashing since updating to 32.0.2. Is there a place where I can download Version 30.0?, which seems to be the most recent stable version.

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I hate to bump such an old topic but I updated to 34.0 today and things immediately got worse. Constant, complete freeze ups that require a manual (press and hold the power button) computer restart. Still looking for a 30.0 download since I had no issues before that version. Internet Explorer and Chrome are now rapidly advancing and becoming more stable and useful, while Firefox seems to be stepping backwards and becoming more and more unstable with every update. It's a real shame.

Does anyone have a link to an FF 30.0 download?

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Please go to the top of any support.mozilla.org web page and use the Ask A Question link; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new This will let us look at your system details. No Personal Information Is Collected.

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LOL. The links that you provided are the very same that led me here. After reading through many topics, it's apparent that nobody in the community, including the developers themselves have the knowledge to fix most issues that arise. No worries. I finally decided to dump Firefox. Although I prefer to use FireBug and Fire FTP for web design purposes, the browser itself is simply not worth the hassle.

Modified by tonygat