firefox downloads constantly in the background - how do i stop this?
in task manager there are 3 firefoxes running, 2 of them constantly transfer data.
i need to stop this
Chosen solution
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
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More than one process is normal for the current Firefox. http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/22/multi-process-firefox/
Multi-process Firefox is codenamed "e10s". https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/multiprocess
Try to disable multi-process tabs in Firefox.
You can disable multi-process tabs in Firefox by setting
the related prefs to false on the about:config page.
browser.tabs.remote.autostart = false browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 = false
http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/22/multi-process-firefox/
Type about:config<enter> in the address bar. If a warning screen comes up, press the Be Careful button. At the top of the screen is a search bar.
What kind of data do these processes transfer and what IP addresses are involved?
See also:
FredMcD said
More than one process is normal for the current Firefox. http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/22/multi-process-firefox/ Multi-process Firefox is codenamed "e10s". https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/multiprocess Try to disable multi-process tabs in Firefox. You can disable multi-process tabs in Firefox by setting the related prefs to false on the about:config page. browser.tabs.remote.autostart = false browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 = false http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/22/multi-process-firefox/ Type about:config<enter> in the address bar. If a warning screen comes up, press the Be Careful button. At the top of the screen is a search bar.
That resulted in killing 2 of the three firefox processes. sadly, the one that survived is downloading...
cor-el said
What kind of data do these processes transfer and what IP addresses are involved? See also:
I don't know how to find the ip address(es)
Chosen Solution
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
the data reds have stopped. not sure exactly why but changing the setting to browser.tabs.remote.autostart = false did it, i think.
thanks guys :)
That was very good work. Well done. Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.
MonteWard said
the data reds have stopped. not sure exactly why but changing the setting to browser.tabs.remote.autostart = false did it, i think. thanks guys :)
This has fixed it for me. I'm not sure why it was happening for the first time. When I looked up in about:config, I actually have two of browser.tabs.remote.autostart - the one enabled is browser.tabs.remote.autostart2
Everytime I load a page and when the page has completed loading, the Firefox continues to download for several seconds more! Therefore it slows down the whole things of opening links and websites.
Now that it is turned to false, the browsing is much snapper as I only have 3 MB connection.
If it wasn't fixed in the first place, I would have to use other browser for the first time in years...this was unacceptable.
It is still not fixed as it is still downloading constantly after just opening one or two tabs...what is going on?
barnettgs
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
The safe mode was fine so I decided to do the refresh and it is still downloading in the background each time after webpage is loaded.
I believe this has occured only after Firefox update of 55.0.3, it has never been like that before.
It downloads for something like 10 seconds or more, just after the loading icon has completed.
Modified
Did you re-install any add-ons?
Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration in Firefox. Since this feature was added to Firefox it has gradually improved but there are still a few glitches.
You will need to restart Firefox for this to take effect so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.,) and then perform these steps:
In Firefox 54 and below:
- Click the menu button and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
- Select the Advanced panel and the General tab.
- Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.
In Firefox 55 and above:
- Click the menu button and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
- Select the General panel.
- Under Performance, uncheck Use recommended performance settings. Additional settings will be displayed.
- Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
If the problem is resolved, you should check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in these Knowledge base articles:
Thank you.
Disabled both options, restarted and it still made no difference.
I decided to count the number of seconds after it has completed loading, it is over 30 seconds!
But seriously, I believe this is a network issue with Firefox but how can it be down to graphic settings that has nothing to do with downloading?
If the page has graphics or a player, I may agree.
Just disabling 'S3.Google Translator' add-on seemed to have solved it as it has 'Legacy' status beside it.
I think it was Firefox's new update that caused the problem with add-ons which are not updated yet to reflect of the Firefox's new changes...
I suppose I have to find an alternative translator add-on.
Modified
That was very good work. Well done. Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.
Legacy just means that in a future version, those add-ons will not work in Firefox. They will need to be rewritten or replaced.
I would mark it as solved but there is no 'Solved' button - I think this thread was already marked as solved with the original poster, I just hijacked this thread as I had the same issue as him.
Modified
Okay.