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Task MGR Shows 6 or more Firefox processes Running

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Ever since the "upgrade", Firefox slows to a crawl after being open a few minutes. When I check Task Manager I find anywhere up to 10 FF processes running at the same time (1-2 tabs open) and the total memory being used can be up to 2 GB. If I close any of the processes then all of them close at the same time. Even as I write this the program will freeze the page for 15-30 seconds or more then suddenly release. I have to use Flash because many of the pages I need to visit daily still uses it and refuse to find any other way to program. I'd really like FF to work. I'd even be okay with the old problems but I might have to move to Chrome if FF stays this unstable.

Ever since the "upgrade", Firefox slows to a crawl after being open a few minutes. When I check Task Manager I find anywhere up to 10 FF processes running at the same time (1-2 tabs open) and the total memory being used can be up to 2 GB. If I close any of the processes then all of them close at the same time. Even as I write this the program will freeze the page for 15-30 seconds or more then suddenly release. I have to use Flash because many of the pages I need to visit daily still uses it and refuse to find any other way to program. I'd really like FF to work. I'd even be okay with the old problems but I might have to move to Chrome if FF stays this unstable.

Asịsa ahọpụtara

Also, please see the reply from philipp in this thread regarding accessibility services: Firefox 57 hangs up.

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All Replies (6)

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That seems like a lot of processes; I don't really expect to see more than 4 or 5. You can adjust the number of content processes on the Options page to see whether that improves responsiveness. This article has the details: Firefox's performance settings. Does that make any difference?

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Asịsa Ahọpụtara

Also, please see the reply from philipp in this thread regarding accessibility services: Firefox 57 hangs up.

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i reduced the processes to 4. I was able to use the browser for a while but then froze again. I found four copies (with 1 tab open), one was 2.6 GB, one was 1.8 GB and the other 2 were right at 500 MB. I tried the thread you recommended and changed that setting so we'll see how that goes.

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The last solution seems to have worked. I still have too many FF processes going on (dropped to 4 but still see 5 or 6). Nevertheless, it hasn't frozen for the past few days so it seems to be working. Thank you for your time and happy holidays.

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There option to limit one process does not work with the new Firefox Quantum so you will have to use and older version of Firefox and then it may actually work.

This does not work in the newest version of Firefox and will NOT run only one process. I am a 35 year computer tech with a LOT of experience. Firefox will need to patch the new Firefox Quantum to allow this option to work.

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ARREB said

There option to limit one process does not work with the new Firefox Quantum so you will have to use and older version of Firefox and then it may actually work.

The setting on the Options/Preferences page is for one to seven content process. There also will be a process for the UI.

My about:config lists these preferences and I currently have 6 total firefox.exe processes, five of which have -contentproc in their command line:

  • dom.ipc.processCount => 1 (default)
  • dom.ipc.processCount.extension => 1 (default)
  • dom.ipc.processCount.file => 1 (default)
  • dom.ipc.processCount.web => 4 (computed by Firefox?)
  • dom.ipc.processCount.webLargeAllocation => 10 (default)