16 replies to this topic

[marko]

Not sure if anyone else has experienced the same issues as myself, but as Firefox is my default browser I use it everyday at many points during the day.   However, over the previous weeks I've been noticing considerable slow-downs with the browser not to mention hanging and other incompatibilties such as not being able to click hyperlinks or popups.   I usually always update Firefox as soon as they release their latest edition, although I'm finding myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the browser and fast loosing patience with it.

I was shocked recently when I gave explorer an airing and actually realised that explorer was out-performing Firefox in every way.  Admittedly, I have a few add-ons to Firefox but nothing out of the norm, and I have been running these add-ons for some time now though it's just recently Firefox has been playing up.

I'm convinced this is a Firefox issue and not a PC issue, and was wondering if anyone else is having similar issue's with Firefox or noticed a decline in it's speed or compatibility with certain websites, etc.

I have also recently started using Chrome from Google, which is fast becoming my first choice now as the speed this browser can operate at is nothing short of phenominal and I would urge anyone to give it a whirl and experience the thrill!!!! http://www.freewarebb.com/Google-Chrome-30...B-file5257.html

[James (Jim) Hillier]

Hey Marko - Yes, I have noticed Firefox under performing in recent weeks, others have mentioned it to me also. Seems to be since upgrading from V3.0.10 to 3.0.11 and, as you so rightly conjecture, nothing to do with P.C. issues. In particular, I have been experiencing serious lag between FF opening and actually becoming usable/responsive. I am hoping the impending release of V3.5 will overcome this. Oh...I just checked on the net and FF V3.5 final has just been released, let's hope it rectifies the slowness, compatibility and latency issues.

I tried out Chrome about 8 months ago and was very impressed by the speed but had some reservations re privacy...this is a part of what I wrote at the time:

"I installed Chrome and ran it for just over one week during which time I found it to be very fast, markedly faster than either IE or FF BUT I also discovered that invoking Chrome's 'delete history' options does not delete all the history data, only some of it. In Vista, the path to that data is 'C:\Users\Username\App Data\Local\Google'....some serious privacy issues there."

Mind you, that was many, many versions ago...obviously, things may be very different now. The main thing which ties me to FF are the add-ons, there are two or three I would hate to be without....at the risk of stating the obvious, I suspect that would be the case for many. Google do have plans for Chrome add-ons (extensions) and I predicted long ago that, once those get up and running and acquire sufficient numbers, Chrome will challenge for a significant browser market share. If FF continues with its current trend, that may well happen quite a bit earlier than expected.

Will be interested to hear your opinion after you have taken FF 3.5 for a spin.  

  cheers mate....JIM

[marko]

Surprisingly enough Jim I had actually been using the 3.5 Firefox beta for a while, then the release candidate but with the recent release of 3.5 final I'm finding no difference at all, in fact if anything I feel Firefox has actually 'broken' more.   I'm no longer able to click on any of the javascript popups on our own site, such as when trying to include a smiley from the 'fast reply' and I have to manually end the firefox process now through task manager as firefox just seems to want to hang on in there for ages after closing down the browser!.

This is beginning to worry me somewhat because Firefox really shouldn't be experiencing these issue's with the level of involvement from the open source community and certainly shouldn't be part of a final release.   I'm still kinda 90/10 that it isn't a PC issue but to make absolutely certain I think I may rebuild my main PC as I do this every so often anyway as a matter of course.  I'll keep the thread alive with my results (he says trying to insert a smiley face, with no luck!), I'll just do it manually then

[James (Jim) Hillier]

Oh...well that puts things in a very different light Marko. Have you tried running FF in 'Safe Mode'? If those issues continue in safe mode that would definitely disqualify any incompatibilities with add-ons as the culprit. If, on the other hand, the problems disappear when using safe mode..that would point to a definite problem with one of your add-ons.

  cheers....JIM

[marko]

Hmm, your not going to believe this but ever have one of those "what the !*@!!!" moments ... now I disabled all the addons I have for Firefox previously and restarted the browser and the problem was still there, so I enabled them all again, obviously problem still there but I overlooked the obvious thing to do which you suggested Jim and started FF in safe mode, problem disappeared!.   OK, I thought, how come - so I started FF in normal mode and it was at that point I happened to notice the WOT (Web Of Trust) add-on wasn't actually being displayed - strange I thought, so I disabled it and the problem disappeared again, enabled it - problem back, disabled it problem disappeared!?

Even after disabling all the add-ons before, the problem still existed so I'm at a loss as to how I actually managed to miss this but one things for sure and that's the WOT add-on is not working correctly with the latest FF.   I'm about to send them a note to this effect and hopefully they'll have it sorted but for now it's waaaaaaaayyyy past my sleepy time, thanks for the suggestion Jim, you've saved Firefox's bacon for me anyway  

[James (Jim) Hillier]

Hey Marko - No worries mate, pleased to hear you sorted it out. The issues you detailed were certainly symptomatic of a recalcitrant add-on. The FF add-ons are a real bonus but can be a right pain in the %$$# whenever a new version of the browser if released.

Thanks for the heads up, I use WOT myself as do a lot of my associates so that is some really useful information to have. Will be interesting to hear what the people at WOT have to say.

  cheers.....JIM

[marko]

Still a strange one, but almost there I think - WOT advised me to create a new profile for Firefox which I did and it has actually solved all but one of the problems, the remaining one is that the WOT button itself is no longer displayed and even trying to 'customize' the toolbar doesn't show the button.  Everything else works as it should, and for some other reason I noticed many of the images on web sites seemed a little 'blurry' but with the creation of a new profile everything is crystal clear again so I think I've definitely had some form of corruption in my FF profile.

I've contacted WOT again regarding the missing WOT button so hopefully they may have an answer to that one.

[stargazrroger]

Marko,
I have been using 3.* and have not experienced any problems with wot or ant other add on. I am now using 3.5 final and still no problems yet. I am still holding back judgment for now.  Tell everybody we all said hello.

[marko]

I'm definitively having some issue with the WOT plugin, even now with the creation of a new FF plugin I'm noticing some sites won't allow me to popup or open new windows, uninstalling or disabling the WOT plugin put's everything back to normal!.   Can't understand this to be honest, for now though I'm having to live without WOT in Firefox but here's hoping

[James (Jim) Hillier]

Marko....I can only suggest you uninstall Firefox completely and fresh install the V3.5 final version. I realise that is a pain in the you know what, having to re-install all your add-ons, themes, etc., but it may well prove to be the easiest/quickest solution in the long run.

  cheers....JIM