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Starting Firefox "the first time" takes between 5 and 8 minutes to start, after that starting firefox is quick. I'm running Windows 7 Pro X64.

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  • Last reply by jg48386

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I have a HP Pavillion a6500f PC running Windows 7 Pro X64-bit with 4 gb of ram. When I start Firefox for the first time it takes between 5 and 8 minutes to load. As long as I don't reboot and after starting Firefox the first time it starts up in a timely fashion. I reinstalled the latest version and it is doing the same thing. I read an article that Firefox may be opening up more HTTP ports than earlier versions but not sure this is the cause.

I have a HP Pavillion a6500f PC running Windows 7 Pro X64-bit with 4 gb of ram. When I start Firefox for the first time it takes between 5 and 8 minutes to load. As long as I don't reboot and after starting Firefox the first time it starts up in a timely fashion. I reinstalled the latest version and it is doing the same thing. I read an article that Firefox may be opening up more HTTP ports than earlier versions but not sure this is the cause.

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A possible cause is security software (firewall) that blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.

Remove all rules for Firefox from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.

See:


Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

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I may not have been clear. Here is what I have done; 1. I removed the existing version of Firefox on the computer. 2. I downloaded the newest version of Firefox and installed it, nothing more. 3. The problem is when I try to start Firefox the first time it takes anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes to come up and it's effectively locked up the computer until it loads. After it's finished everything is fine. 4. As long as I don't logoff or reboot all other attempts of starting Firefox startup in a timely fashion. 5. It seems to be only Firefox as Internet Explorer starts correctly every time.

Is is possible that something is not working right on the Windows 7 X64 bit systems?

I hope this helps.

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I have this same problem. I've tried all the listed solutions without success. I have one further symptom. If I turn the computer off it will not boot past the "starting windows" screen. I have to try repeated reboots, going to BIOS to change boot order to finally get the machine to boot. After removing Firefox 12 I have no problem. Using Win 7 Pro SP1. I'm afraid to use Firefox anymore and have switched to IE9 and Chrome. If there is a solution I'd like to use Firefox.