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Firefox crashing at random moments

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Since I have been experience increasingly common crashes when using Firefox, I recently reset Firefox in hopes that my problems would be solved. However, I am experiencing browser crashes in random situations, such as it crashing in the middle of watching a video, crashing while loading a website, and even crashing when I maximize the window. These crashes are really problematic, since they tend to slow down my entire computer when they occur. I have been trying to use different programs and add-ons to minimize CPU usage for Firefox, such as Firemin and Memory Fox, and I have also been trying to watch YouTube videos with HTML5 instead of the regular Flash player, but my computer is still notifying me of high disk usage from Firefox. If there are any suggestions you could give me to fix this problem, I would greatly appreciate it.

Since I have been experience increasingly common crashes when using Firefox, I recently reset Firefox in hopes that my problems would be solved. However, I am experiencing browser crashes in random situations, such as it crashing in the middle of watching a video, crashing while loading a website, and even crashing when I maximize the window. These crashes are really problematic, since they tend to slow down my entire computer when they occur. I have been trying to use different programs and add-ons to minimize CPU usage for Firefox, such as Firemin and Memory Fox, and I have also been trying to watch YouTube videos with HTML5 instead of the regular Flash player, but my computer is still notifying me of high disk usage from Firefox. If there are any suggestions you could give me to fix this problem, I would greatly appreciate it.

All Replies (12)

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- Check plugins for updates -If plugins is updated ,then try to uninstall flash player and install it again

  • For usage problem

-many opened tabs cause high usage - Some add-ons cause this problem - If problem is continue to appear try to uninstall Unimportant adds I hope that it works  :D

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Hello halfturretturbo, we're sorry to hear that Firefox is crashing. In order to assist you better, please follow the steps below to provide us crash ID's to help us learn more about your crash.

  1. Enter about:crashes in the address bar (that's where you enter your website URL) and press Enter. You should now see a list of submitted crash reports.
  2. Copy the 5 most recent crash ID's that you see in the crash report window and paste them into your response here.

Thank you for your help!

More information and further troubleshooting steps can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.

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If you have submitted crash reports then please post the IDs of one or more recent crash reports that have a "bp-" prefix:

  • bp-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

You can find the IDs of the submitted crash reports on the about:crashes page.

  • You can open the about:crashes page via the location bar, like you open a website, or open the crash reports page via "Help > Troubleshooting Information".

See:


Try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

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Okay, I have just disabled hardware acceleration for Firefox, and I would like to ask if you want me to do the same for the Flash Player. I also want if this will have a major impact on Firefox's speed and performance, since I have a relatively slow Internet (usually 60-70 KB per second).

That said, here are the IDS for the five most recent crash reports I've sent:

bp-81778395-714e-499a-84f0-df3672130829
bp-5dbcfe82-6506-4449-a75b-bb87b2130826
bp-915d2c4a-74d5-4bf4-8491-81aef2130824
bp-57145a72-ec65-4a30-8dfd-2f3892130822
bp-28ee57df-9600-4bd4-a875-e60312130812

Feel free to look up these IDs and make suggestions accordingly. Thank you, everyone, for your help.

Modified by cor-el

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If you have a slow internet connection then you most likely won't notice any difference in performance.

Note that the crash report seem to be from August (Date Processed: 2013-08-29), so they may not be from the last few days.

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

  • disable a possible RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin extension for Firefox and update the RealPlayer if installed
  • disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)
  • disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin

Try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

Modified by cor-el

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Quick question: where would I find the Real Player plugin? I checked in the add-ons section and did not find it. I couldn't find it on my computer anywhere, either.

Also, I noticed that while I was watching a video with YouTube's HTML5 player, the CPU usage for Firefox went up to 20-30%. Is this normal?

Modified by halfturretturbo

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You can skip that step if you do not have the RealPlayer plugin.
You can do only the steps that apply to your installation .

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I have tried all of the suggestions, but I am still experiencing hang-ups in random situations, even when I am trying to load up a Google search. I've noticed that Firefox's CPU usage randomly spikes from 0% to 20-30%, even when I am not using anything with Flash. I really need advice right now, because about 3 weeks ago, I was able to have up to 3 idle YouTube videos and 15-20 tabs open with no performance issues. I will take any suggestions you can give me, since I absolutely need by computer and Internet to be running the best they can for my college work.

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Have you tried windows safe mode, maybe another program like a Antivirus or driver is interfering.

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I am fairly certain that my drivers or my anti-virus software are not causing Firefox to hang. All of my important drivers are up to date, and I have had no problems in the past where my anti-virus software caused my browser or my computer to lag. What concerns me is that I have not had any occurrences of these problems until roughly 3 weeks ago, and I am not certain what is causing them to happen.

Modified by halfturretturbo

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So does it work properly in safe mode?

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I have not yet tried running my computer in safe mode, but I will make sure to do so the next chance I get.

So, here's an update: I created a new places.sqlite file and did an uninstall and new installation of Firefox. That said, I am still experiencing problems with Firefox's CPU usage. With only one YouTube video playing, the overall CPU usage of my computer randomly shoots up from 0-1% to 40-50%. Bear in mind that this happens with only two tabs open. If there are any suggestions to help with this, I would gladly take whatever I can get.