Firefox versions 52 & 53 are slow and give many "not responding" messages, even after Refresh and in Safe Mode; why?
Firefox in versions 52 & 53 is much slower than earlier versions and "not responding" messages are commonplace now. I have an SSD drive plenty of free space for programs and data and perfectly adequate memory, using Windows 10. Scrolling is very jerky.
In contrast, I don't have these problems in Chrome (with the same number of identical tabs open).
IBM Trusteer is not yet supporting Firefox 53. which is another irritation.
What on earth has happened to my favourite browser Firefox and when will it be fixed?
Appalled and disappointed in Mozilla, Mike
All Replies (7)
hi, you have adblock plus version 2.9 - there are currently a number of reports that this recent update causes poor performance, please try to replace it with https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ and see if the issue is still there.
as for trusteer, you'd have to contact their support about where/when they release a compatible version - apparently it's already out there: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1157652#answer-974349
Thank you for your response.
I switched to ublock-origin and disabled HTTPS Everywhere but I am still suffering from response times slower than pre 52 & 53 versions, and the "not responding" messages.
I typically run three windows with a total of about 20 tabs. If I do not restart FireFox regularly, its memory usage can double or triple. Is FireFox unable to cope with this tab usage?
I note your comment about Trusteer, but still wonder whether Mozilla is communicating inadequately with IBM or introducing changes that make it difficult for IBM to quickly amend Trusteer.
Mike
Firefox has well documented changes and releases the versions in advance for anyone to test.
Trusteer chooses to use binaries rather than simple addons and needs to review these with each major Release of Firefox. Clearly they do not seem to be attempting to do that. Their current fix may well need to be reviewed and revised again for Firefox 54. That may have already been done but past history suggests that they may not have done so in which case Trusteer or Firefox will fail again in a couple of weeks if you try to use them together.
I could say that Firefox should easily cope with 20 tabs open, but I guess that may depend on the sites used. I have to admit I no longer understand Windows well enough to diagnose it's memory issues, and when I do use Windows 10 often see memory issues being reported from using Firefox. These articles may be of some use to you
- Firefox uses too much memory or CPU resources - How to fix
- Firefox hangs or is not responding - How to fix
What are the actual not responding messages, they may give a clue as to what is slowing down Firefox.
Thank you John,
I have tried both using RAMback and "about:memory minimize memory usage" but I am still getting "Mozilla FireFox: Not Responding" messages.
I have come to the conclusion that there is a serious problem with the current version of FireFox 53 and that I will be forced to use Chrome instead, until I hear that Mozilla have improved their browser.
I am very disappointed to have to do this.
Mike
We at present do not know whether your issues relate to hangs or memory issues; or something else, and so I did suggest you let us know what the exact messages are. Of course if you have given up to using Firefox no need for any further action.
Hi John,
There are no error messages to report.
I simply get "Mozilla Firefox - Not responding" at the top left of the window.
I will try Firefox on my Dell 9200 desktop, using the same number of windows and tabs, in order to see whether the problem is found only on my laptop.
Mike
You can check the connection settings.
- Options/Preferences -> Advanced -> Network : Connection -> Settings
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Options+window+-+Advanced+panel
If you do not need to use a proxy to connect to internet then try to select "No Proxy" if "Use the system proxy settings" or one of the others do not work properly.
See "Firefox connection settings":
When multi-process windows in Firefox is enabled then Firefox will use more memory and may be less responsive. Try to disable multi-process windows in Firefox to see if that has effect.
You can disable multi-process windows in Firefox by setting these prefs to false on the about:config page.
- browser.tabs.remote.autostart = false
- browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 = false
You can open the about:config page: via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.