Hi,

Please check if this happens in Safe Mode. Safe mode disables the installed Extensions, and themes (Appearance) in Tools (Alt + T) > Add-ons. Hardware acceleration is also temporarily disabled - the manual setting is Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Use hardware acceleration when available. All these settings/options/add-ons can also be individually or collectively disabled/enabled/changed in Firefox normal mode to check if an extension, theme, option or hardware acceleration is causing issues. Disabling/enabling hardware acceleration, and some types of add-ons in normal mode may require a Firefox restart.

Uninstalling Add-ons

Uninstalling Toolbars

Troubleshooting Extensions and Themes

Problematic Extensions

Options

Hi dumdidadida,

Thank you for your reply. I followed your instructions, and the box for hardware eccel. is already checked. I also did a restart, as firefox suggested sometime earlier. I don't know if I'm in safe mode or normal mode? I'm not a P.C. wizard, so please bear with me. I was also having difficulty in listening to music on youtube with the switch to version 13, where as there were no issues with that with 3.5. I took the advice I got on this forum, and it seemed to solve that problem. So, I thought I would try to solve this problem through the same forum. I do appreciate any help. Just try and remember, I'm sort of a novice at solving P.C. problems. Thank you!

Usually once you exit Safe Mode and start Firefox, it will be in normal mode. To start in Safe Mode you would have to do it purposefully using one of the stated methods. Before starting in Safe Mode you'll get a startup mini-window with options. So you would know you're proceeding into Safe Mode. If the bookmarks problem doesn't appear in Safe Mode, possible reasons could be an Extension or themes (Appearance) in Tools > Add-ons, or hardware acceleration. Safe Mode disables these. So if the problem goes away in Safe Mode, you can then try to Disable or deselect these options in the respective menus and restart Firefox to check. If you have many extensions, you may have to experiment to find the problematic add-on.

Thanks again. But, how do I get firefox in safe mode, to see if the problem will go away? Can you explain how to access safe mode? Again, thank you.

From within Firefox you can restart in Safe Mode by selecting Firefox Help (Alt + H) > Restart with Add-ons Disabled. There are also other methods. Please see this for a pictorial explanation and also other methods.

I tried the safe mode approach, and it made no difference. Sure is strange how trying to scroll up or down in the bookmark menu is so much slower than before with old version 3.5. Maybe, because my system is so old, only 256 ram, could that be a problem? I thought I read somewhere, someone complaining about switching to the new version and having problems, and someone chimed in about it was your lack of ram? I do try to keep my system in good working order though, even though it is old. Any suggestions dumdidadida?

That could be a reason. A normal Windows XP with security software would almost cover that RAM during daily usage. The old Firefox could have managed to squeeze in the remaining amount. The later versions continue to add many features and enhancements to keep up with the ever changing web technology and websites. You can try to up the installed RAM. Please also see this recommendation.

You can also consider the Reset Firefox feature via Help (Alt + H) > Troubleshooting Information after thorough consideration, to check if a slight improvement can be made, but you don't have to do it. It is not a strict requirement for every case.

Did you try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox by removing the checkmark?

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

You can also check if there is an update for your graphics display driver.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/how-do-i-upgrade-my-graphics-drivers

You can also try to repair the places database with this extension:

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/

Problems with bookmarks and history not working properly can be caused by a corrupted places.sqlite database file.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file

I have a similar issue. I am using Firefox 13.0.1 on Mac OS Lion When saving a bookmark, I try and click the dropdown triangle to expand a folder and it takes for ever to open the folder seems like 3 to 10 seconds. I've tried running in Safe Mode with all the add-ons disabled and I've disabled "Use hardware acceleration when available". I've installed the places database extension and ran with all options ticked. No improvement what so ever. Problem only seemed to start occurring after recent upgrade to version 13. I have a reasonably large bookmarks database (approx 5000). Looking for a resolution as i rely a lot on bookmarks and this is really slowing me down. BTW this happens on two of my macs so It's not isolated to a single computer.

It seems, at least for some, that Firefox's latest versions has this issue. Admittedly, I have an old system, and maybe that is causing some of my problem. So, I revert back to an older version of Firefox---3.5 to solve my problem. Unfortunately, Firefox keeps trying to change my old version to a newer version, and that in it self causes another problem. Wish I could just keep my old version--3.5 and go on about my own way. But again, Firefox keeps wanting to change that. Thanks for your reply

Hi again sciencemagic, hello homerjsimpson8,

One more thing we could try is to import a plain HTML backup of the bookmarks into a new database. Please note that this would forfeit the entire history: Open the Bookmarks/History library, click Import and Backup > Export Bookmarks to HTML. Next click Firefox Help > Troubleshooting Information > Show Folder. Exit Firefox and delete the places.sqlite file. Start Firefox, open the Bookmarks library > Import and Backup > Import Bookmarks from HTML and point to the previously exported file.

Alternatively, to keep the history, please try this: Open the Bookmarks/History library and after exporting the bookmarks to HTML, manually delete all the entries inside the Bookmarks Toolbar and Bookmarks Menu. Exit and start Firefox, and then Import Bookmarks from HTML.

Hi dumdidadida I started doing your recommendation. i.e export bookmarks, close Firefox then deleted places.sqlite. When I restarted firefox I'm not sure if this was the desired effect but my bookmarks appeared to still be there and all intact. I tried saving a website as a bookmark and bookmark folder performance went back to normal. I'll see how this goes. Thanks for your help.