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somthing is running in the background

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 17 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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The blue circle constantly flickers - telling me there is something running in hte back ground. this causes the computer to be slow and videos and graphics are very slow to open - if at all.

The blue circle constantly flickers - telling me there is something running in hte back ground. this causes the computer to be slow and videos and graphics are very slow to open - if at all.

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On most computers, there are dozens of programs running.

Check the programs that are on your computer

Windows: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs. Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. Linux: Check your user manual.

Go thru the list. If you find something that you don't know what it is, use a web search.

Troubleshoot Firefox Issues Caused By Malware {web link}

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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 to close and restart Firefox after toggling this setting.


If you have an older computer that might not have much physical memory installed then make you that you are running as less programs simultaneously as possible, so check the programs that are started automatically.

You can use the MSConfig program or the Autoruns utility to see which software and services are getting started (be cautious with disabling services).