Firefox Taking Over Disk
I have been having an issue with Firefox for the past 3 days, where opening Firefox will bring my entire laptop to a halt and make everything run extremely slow (the system clock even has to play catch-up). After watching the Resource Monitor of irregularities, I found that when I start Firefox, the Disk Highest Active Time shoots up to 100% and the Disk I/O goes down to 0 (with the occasional spike every 10 seconds or so). During this time, Firefox stops responding, as does every other program on my machine. The disk images which are named "firefox" during this time whittles down to two processes: one of which is referring to a profile in the Roaming folder. If I cancel the Firefox process, it takes some time for it to die entirely, but I think normal system speed is restored once the image referring to the profile goes away. I have tried running Firefox in safe-mode, but the exact same results are observed, so this is not a plugin issue. Any suggestions?
Operating System: Windows 7, 64-Bit Firefox Version (according to application.ini, since I can't actually start Firefox): 31.0, BuildID: 20140716183446
Alle Antworten (7)
The AppData\Roaming folder is where your Firefox data is stored, so it's possible that Firefox is reading your session history to try to restore your previous session. Usually that wouldn't take down a newer system, so something more may be happening. Also, nothing should execute out of that folder (although it may contain DLLs and other add-on components).
I'm not sure I understand your reference to multiple Firefox processes, though. Really, you should never see more than one firefox.exe in the Processes tab. What tool are you using and can you provide more information about what the other Firefox is doing?
Two general suggestions:
(1) Replace your Firefox 31 program folders with Firefox 33 using the clean reinstall procedure (below); and if that doesn't help, then
(2) Try creating a new Firefox profile to see whether it starts up normally.
Do NOT uninstall Firefox.
"Clean reinstall" procedure
(1) Download a full installer for Firefox 33 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)
(2) If applicable, exit Firefox
(3) Rename the Mozilla Firefox program folder
64-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox
32-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files\OldFirefox
(4) Run the installer you downloaded in #1. It should automatically connect to your existing settings.
Any improvement?
Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:
- OldFirefox\Plugins
- OldFirefox\browser\plugins
To bypass potential issues in your current profile, try:
Create a new Firefox profile
A new profile will have your system-installed plugins (e.g., Flash) and extensions (e.g., security suite toolbars), but no themes, other extensions, or other customizations. It also should have completely fresh settings databases and a fresh cache folder.
If applicable, exit Firefox.
Start up in the Profile Manager using Start > search box (or Run):
firefox.exe -P
Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.
Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like 1020 Profile (or something more original), and skip over the option to choose a custom folder location. Then start Firefox in the new profile you created.
Does it start up normally?
When returning to the Profile Manager, you might be tempted to use the Delete Profile button. But... it's a bit too easy to accidentally delete your "real" profile, so I recommend resisting the temptation. If you do want to clean up later, I suggest making a backup of all your profiles first in case something were to go wrong.
I am using the Resource Monitor which comes default with Windows. You access it by going to the Task Manager > Performance > Resource Monitor To my understanding, the multiple references to firefox in the Disk section of the Resource Monitor are not referring to multiple processes, but rather multiple files the firefox process is using. The PIDs are the same for every firefox reference, so the same process should be accessing the different files. The files in particular being accessed (other than the profile) are: C:\$Mft (NTFS Master File Table C:\$LogFile
Also, my system came to a halt when it started reading from: C:\$BitMap and started running normally again when it stopped reading that file (although firefox never fully started up). I'll try the upgrade like you suggested and get back to you.
If you still have a problem,
Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All of them.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;
Type about:preferences<Enter> in the address bar
Select Advanced > General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.
Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?
Then restart.
Creating a new profile seems to have worked. Is there a way to get my bookmarks and stuff from my previous profile?
Hi aussiemcgr, yes, you can do selective transfers of data files. I guess the easiest method depends on which types of data you want to try to transfer. Bookmarks, for example, have two options:
- Copy over the places.sqlite database which stores bookmarks and history
- Restore a backup file from the bookmarkbackups folder and forget about the history
These articles have more information on the available files and methods:
These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.
These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox
FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.
OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences