Firefox taking up too much memory and CPU
Firefox has been using up way too much memory. On suggestions here I restarted in Safe Mode, blocked accessibility services, turned off multi-processing, and pressed the "Minimize memory usage" button on the about:memory page, but none of them fixed the problem. Just refreshed Firefox and that didn't fix the problem either--it actually made it *worse.* The amount of memory being used is higher now and also a lot of CPU is being used.
Modified by QC
All Replies (6)
Hi, since you Refreshed did you go back and turn off Accessibility Services and lower Processors again ?
Try turning it off this way but suggest you keep a copy of this to undo it : If need to can turn off multiprocessor : You can try to modify multi-process settings to see if this has effect. You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.
set dom.ipc.processCount to 1 if it is currently set to a higher value (4) disable multi-process windows in Firefox
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
http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config Also can reverse everything this tells you to enable it.
No info came regarding your Extensions and Video Card Drivers as probably turned off. If a older system Win 10 can and will change your System Drivers including video card drivers to Microsoft's, maybe 2006, or 08 which can cause more stress on the system. Search for Device Manager and look. https://www.howtogeek.com/302595/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-automatically-updating-hardware-drivers/
If you use a lot of Extensions they can use, give or take 20megs each.
If this is a low Ram and Older System it maybe wise to move to the Extended Support Release. Firefox ESR does not come with the latest features but it has the latest security and stability fixes. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-to-firefox-extended-support-release-esr
Optimize Win 10
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4002019/windows-10-improve-pc-performance
- https://www.windowscentral.com/15-tips-increase-performance-windows-10
- https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/26120-optimize-performance-windows-10-a.html
Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
Did all this and it's helped with the CPU usage but it's still using tons of memory. It can't be extensions because I don't have any installed--they all got removed when I refreshed Firefox. A software engineer friend who's usually my go-to tech support person is advising me against switching to ESR, describing it as "old and crappy." I don't think it's a Windows problem because no other programs are using up so much memory, it's just Firefox.
Hi, esr version is at 60.0.1 and there is a 52.0.8 version as well.
The lower version browsers based on Firefox Source Code are : Tor, WaterFox, Palemoon was, Commodo Ice Dragaon, and a few more.
I suggest the 60.0.1esr version as will be close to all the goodness of this release and be more stable.
If your running that sort of CPU and Ram after disabling I think you should do a scan to make sure you do not have a Bitcoin Miner on-board. Please use more than 1 scanner as each uses diff tech :
Save your Report and google each before deleting anything as do not want to delete something you need, If need help :
Post in only 1 forum, then wait.
Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
I ran a virus scan and it found one single piece of adware, but after quarantining it the high memory usage is still happening.
My friend says that the 52 ESR would actually use significantly more memory and showed me this graphic: https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/2/4/csm_20170724_Firefox_memory_usage_512e961cca.png. And he says the 60 version would not actually have this problem any less than regular Firefox does, and googling I am seeing other people saying they're having memory leaks with it too.
Ok, well will not fight your friend :=} I do not know how you uninstalled or if tried that but this is the way to go I think now : uninstall Firefox. Then Delete the Mozilla Firefox Folders in C:\Program Files , C:\Program Files(x86) & C:\ProgramData Then restart system. Then run Windows Disk Cleanup. (Note: This should be Pinned and run Weekly, If never done below expect 10's of gig's) Then run it again and click the button that says Cleanup System Files. Note: your Firefox Profile is saved. But you should make a back up before you do :
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer
Reinstall with Current Release Firefox 60.0.1 with a Full Version Installer
Can also give this a try : Or it is your Profile : Make a new one and test ...:
If is your Profile :
All right so, I haven't tried this yet, but my friend is now telling me that he thinks that the amount of memory Firefox is taking up isn't really abnormally high and isn't necessarily what's causing some problems I've been having that I thought were because of it (programs freezing up all the time, pages loading really slowly even though I have a fast internet connection). And in just the past couple of days since I reinstalled I've been having a couple of other problems, one being Firefox crashing a lot and the other being when I start it again it loads all my tabs except for the past couple of ones I opened. Do you think that stuff could be related to something possibly being wrong with my profile like you suggested? I'd hate to have to install a new one and lose all my history and stuff.