Firefox 38 slow to respond or hangs out of options?
After the latest Firefox 38.0.1 it has become unusable. I have tried many different suggestions found on the forum and through Google searches but noting seems to cure my issue.
I use MSN as my home page and initially thought this was the root cause but using IE I don't have the hanging issue. I have tried reinstalling, refreshing, new profile creation, updating all video and other hardware drivers etc. but can't seem to find the key....
The only thing that seems to alleviate the symptoms is using the "noscript" and "adblock plus" add-ons.
I have added troubleshooting information below.
Any help or suggestions are very much appreciated.
Application Basics
Name: Firefox Version: 38.0.1 Build ID: 20150513174244 Update Channel: release User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/38.0 Multiprocess Windows: 0/1 (default: false)
Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
Report ID: bp-9544f9b6-5e25-4c62-956e-93d262150527 Submitted: 1 day ago
All Crash Reports
Extensions
Name: Adblock Plus Version: 2.6.9 Enabled: true ID: {d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}
Name: NoScript Version: 2.6.9.25.1-signed Enabled: true ID: {73a6fe31-595d-460b-a920-fcc0f8843232}
Name: Adobe Acrobat - Create PDF Version: 1.2 Enabled: false ID: web2pdfextension@web2pdf.adobedotcom
Graphics
Adapter Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 Adapter Description (GPU #2): NVIDIA NVS 5200M Adapter Drivers: igdumd64 igd10umd64 igd10umd64 igdumd32 igd10umd32 igd10umd32 Adapter Drivers (GPU #2): nvd3dumx,nvwgf2umx,nvwgf2umx nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um Adapter RAM: Unknown Adapter RAM (GPU #2): 1024 ClearType Parameters: D [ Gamma: 2200 Pixel Structure: R ClearType Level: 100 Enhanced Contrast: 50 ] D [ Gamma: 2200 Pixel Structure: B ClearType Level: 100 Enhanced Contrast: 50 ] Device ID: 0x0166 Device ID (GPU #2): 0x0dfc DirectWrite Enabled: false (6.2.9200.17292) Driver Date: 3-20-2014 Driver Date (GPU #2): 4-26-2015 Driver Version: 9.17.10.3517 Driver Version (GPU #2): 9.18.13.4807 GPU #2 Active: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 0/1 Basic (OMTC) Subsys ID: 05351028 Subsys ID (GPU #2): 15351028 Vendor ID: 0x8086 Vendor ID (GPU #2): 0x10de WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0) windowLayerManagerRemote: true AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureContentBackend: cairo AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0
Important Modified Preferences
browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 4 browser.download.importedFromSqlite: true browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20150513174244 browser.startup.homepage: http://www.msn.com/ browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20150513174244 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 38.0.1 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 38.0.1 gfx.direct2d.disabled: true gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0 layers.acceleration.disabled: true media.gmp-eme-adobe.lastUpdate: 1432767155 media.gmp-eme-adobe.version: 9 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1432767155 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.4 media.gmp-manager.buildID: 20150513174244 media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1432767154 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1432842131 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 0 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1432830759
Important Locked Preferences
JavaScript
Incremental GC: true
Accessibility
Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0
Library Versions
NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.8 Version in use: 4.10.8
NSS Expected minimum version: 3.18.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.18.1 Basic ECC
NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.18.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.18.1 Basic ECC
NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.18.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.18.1 Basic ECC
NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.18.1 Version in use: 3.18.1
Experimental Features
Chosen solution
These programs were flagged in the crash report;
sysfer.dll = Symantec CMC Firewall
IPSEng32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection
IPSLdr32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection
Total Virtual Memory 4294836224
Available Virtual Memory 3668897792
System Memory Use Percentage 66
Available Page File 11060457472
Available Physical Memory 2870013952
Download the current full installers for your Norton programs and save them.
Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product
After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner. Then run the installers.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-slow-how-make-it-faster
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-many-cpu-resources-how-fix
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (6)
Hello!
Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:
Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.
- Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
- After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu
and click the close button 
).
- Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
- Windows:
- C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
- Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
- Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
- Windows:
- Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
- Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
- Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.
More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.
WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.
Please report back to say if this helped you!
Thank you.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
- Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
- Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
You can check for problems with preferences.
Delete possible user.js and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename (or delete) the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in the current Firefox release.
You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
You can set all plugins to "Ask to Activate" on the "Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Plugins" page to check for issues caused by plugins.
Chosen Solution
These programs were flagged in the crash report;
sysfer.dll = Symantec CMC Firewall
IPSEng32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection
IPSLdr32.dll = Symantec Intrusion Detection
Total Virtual Memory 4294836224
Available Virtual Memory 3668897792
System Memory Use Percentage 66
Available Page File 11060457472
Available Physical Memory 2870013952
Download the current full installers for your Norton programs and save them.
Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product
After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner. Then run the installers.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-slow-how-make-it-faster
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-many-cpu-resources-how-fix
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.
While Microbot and cor-el's suggestions did not help I am pursuing the suggestion made by FredMcD.
@FredMcD - You mention running a registry scanner after removal of Notron programs. Could you provide any recommendations for such a scanning tool?
Thank you again to all of you for the help.
UPDATE:
Removing Symantec appears to have corrected my issues with Firefox. I will try to re-install it after running a registry scan and report on the findings.
Is there any information I can send that would help resolve this conflict in future releases of Firefox?
Well, not to much. Just remember what you do here and use that for future problems (remove / reinstall).
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