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Firefox uses 100,000 K - 200,000 K memory even in safe mode; hangs and freezes periodically

  • 3 replies
  • 6 have this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

Baekhesten
Baekhesten
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In the past week or so I've been experiencing regular freezing and hanging, but only when Firefox is open. The freezing and hanging can affect other programs, but it always starts with Firefox. It can be either a) the browser stops responding, dims white, and the spinning circle appears, b) browser stops responding as does the task bar, can't click on any other open windows and sometimes the task bar dims as well, or c) the screen freezes entirely, with mouse movement not shown (although the mouse does move--it appears to freeze, but if I move it and wait, it'll be wherever I moved it) and if I was loading a page, the loading circle in the tab stops moving as well; it's as if a screenshot has been taken and replaced the screen.

I'm thinking this has to do with memory usage; Firefox uses 200,000 K memory normally, and starting in safe mode only drops it by 20,000 K - 30,000 K.

In the past week or so I've been experiencing regular freezing and hanging, but only when Firefox is open. The freezing and hanging can affect other programs, but it always starts with Firefox. It can be either a) the browser stops responding, dims white, and the spinning circle appears, b) browser stops responding as does the task bar, can't click on any other open windows and sometimes the task bar dims as well, or c) the screen freezes entirely, with mouse movement not shown (although the mouse does move--it appears to freeze, but if I move it and wait, it'll be wherever I moved it) and if I was loading a page, the loading circle in the tab stops moving as well; it's as if a screenshot has been taken and replaced the screen. I'm thinking this has to do with memory usage; Firefox uses 200,000 K memory normally, and starting in safe mode only drops it by 20,000 K - 30,000 K.

Modified by Baekhesten

All Replies (3)

Baekhesten
Baekhesten Question owner
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As I posted this it jumped to 300,000 K.

Andrew
Andrew
  • Moderator
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Hello,

The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information.
Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions and some Preferences.

  • Open websites will not be saved in Firefox versions lower than 25.

To Reset Firefox do the following:

For Firefox versions previous to 29.0:

  1. Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
  2. Click the "Reset Firefox"Button reset button.
  3. Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
  4. Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.

For Firefox 29.0 and above:

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu, click help Help-29 and select Troubleshooting Information.

Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.

  1. At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Reset Firefox"Button reset. Click on it.
  2. Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
  3. Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.

Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

You need close and restart Firefox after toggling this setting.

Try to set the Flash plug to click-to-play by setting the permissions for Flash to "Ask To Activate" in "Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Plugins". That way you can activate the Flash plugin when you need it via the Lego block icon on the location bar.

You can check for problems with current Shockwave Flash plugin versions and try this:

See also: