Firefox is exponentially slower after update
Firefox v. 13.0 was the last version that gave me good performance. I tried 13.0.1 but my speeds dropped substantially. I was able to go back to v 13.0 and resumed my normal speeds. I tried further updates but, since my speeds again dropped, I again went back to v. 13.0. Now, when I installed v. 17.0, not only has my speed dropped, v. 13.0 no longer works, either.
Using www.speedtest.net my ping went from 5 - 8 ms to 85 -135 ms! Right now I get a 113 ms ping using Firefox and a 6 ms ping using Opera. My speeds are showing up the same but the difference in ping times is indicative of the tremendous slowdown I've experienced by doing nothing more than updating to a new release.
I've tried all of the suggestions given to others who have experienced this frustrating slowdown but nothing worked. I finally wiped out everything I've accumulated over the many years I've happily used Firefox except my bookmarks and reinstalled v. 13.0, the last version that worked, but even that failed to solve my problem. What a pain in the butt! I completely removed v. 13.0, deleted all of the folders and installed v. 17.0.
I've run in safe mode, I ran the fresh install of v. 17.0 without installing any add ons or extra plugins. I deleted my profile. I started from zero. Nothing worked.
I can't use Firefox. It's turning my 20 Mbps internet connection into dial-up speeds. Please help!
Chosen solution
I had tried resetting the permissions and even very nervously turned my firewall off to no avail. I had not tried Windows safe mode with networking but Firefox worked correctly when I did. Yay, progress. I rebooted and tried turning my firewall off, again to no avail. I decided to completely shut down the firewall and that fixed the problem. I thought there might be a conflict and I'd have to find a new firewall but I completely uninstalled and reinstalled my firewall, set my permissions and voila, it works! I loaded nine pages in six seconds when earlier today it took over four minutes for them to completely load.
This even fixed a problem I've had for a few months with Thunderbird. It took forever for graphics to load when I pressed "show remote content." I also had intermittent connection problems, all of which appear to be solved.
Thanks for your help and I hope this helps somebody else avoid the frustrations I've endured.
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A possible cause is security software (firewall,anti-virus) 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 and the plugin-container 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:
Try to boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.
Chosen Solution
I had tried resetting the permissions and even very nervously turned my firewall off to no avail. I had not tried Windows safe mode with networking but Firefox worked correctly when I did. Yay, progress. I rebooted and tried turning my firewall off, again to no avail. I decided to completely shut down the firewall and that fixed the problem. I thought there might be a conflict and I'd have to find a new firewall but I completely uninstalled and reinstalled my firewall, set my permissions and voila, it works! I loaded nine pages in six seconds when earlier today it took over four minutes for them to completely load.
This even fixed a problem I've had for a few months with Thunderbird. It took forever for graphics to load when I pressed "show remote content." I also had intermittent connection problems, all of which appear to be solved.
Thanks for your help and I hope this helps somebody else avoid the frustrations I've endured.
Modified by SlimP
You're welcome.
Which security software (firewall, anti-virus) do you have?
ZoneAlarm was the firewall causing the conflict before reinstalling.
Modified by SlimP
Thanks for telling. Some firewalls can be difficult to configure to make them accept Firefox after an update.
I never thought a firewall could cause my problems. I thought it blocked or restricted traffic, not slowed it down.