This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Firefox 4 crashes randomly; it also uses far to much memory

  • 3 replies
  • 17 have this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by Xircal

omphalloskepsis
omphalloskepsis
more options

The crashing doesn't seem to have any correlation to any web site or any particular amount of run time. The system is Vista. I usually have four or five tabs open in one window.

I have noticed that Firefox bogs the system down. Task Manager sometimes shows its memory use going up by almost a megabyte per second when the browser is not in use. I often have to close the browser and restart it to free up resources.

The crashing doesn't seem to have any correlation to any web site or any particular amount of run time. The system is Vista. I usually have four or five tabs open in one window. I have noticed that Firefox bogs the system down. Task Manager sometimes shows its memory use going up by almost a megabyte per second when the browser is not in use. I often have to close the browser and restart it to free up resources.

All Replies (3)

Xircal
Xircal
more options

Try running Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode. If it functions properly in that configuration, then one of your add-ons is the culprit.

If you want to test it over a couple of days, you can launch Firefox in Safe Mode by holding down SHIFT when you click the desktop shortcut or quick launch icon.

Also, go to Tools | Add-ons | Plugins and disable these.

  • Java console 6.0.7
  • Java console 6.0.12
  • Java console 6.0.13
  • Java console 6.0.15
  • Java console 6.0.16

Then go to Windows Control Panel | Java | Update and install 1.6.0_24 (6.0.24)

After you disable the above, go to Add/Remove Programs and uninstall them because they pose a security risk to your system.

I know OpenBook is a popular add-on and can be enabled in FF4 by hacking the xpi for it, but it's incompatible with Firefox 4.0 and will cause the browser to crash every so often.

Also, update your graphics drivers. According to your system specs, your display drivers are three years old already and these can also affect performance.

omphalloskepsis
omphalloskepsis Question owner
more options

Openbook was disabled; I removed it. I uninstalled all Java instances in the software list, then installed a fresh version. That got rid of most of the Java consoles (it left three, which are disabled). The graphics drivers were OK according to the driver installation system under device manager.

I wasn't running in safe mode, and it crashed again, but it took longer. I'll switch to safe mode.

Xircal
Xircal
more options

If it doesn't crash in Safe Mode it's because all the extensions have been disabled. So what you should do is to start in Safe Mode (hold down SHIFT when you click the desktop or quick launch icon) and then click "Disable All Add-ons". Then click the button, "Make changes and restart".

After that, re-enable them one-by-one until the problem recurs. Then you'll know which one it is that's causing the problem.