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Firefox v34.05 on Desktop (Windows 7) "Not Responding" after "resuming Windows" - takes 2-3 minutes (or more) to be able to click ANYWHERE or do ANYTHING. Why??

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  • Last reply by guigs

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BRAND NEW COMPUTER. Asus M32AD, i5m 8GB, 1T, Windows 7 factory-installed. I have current version of FF 34.05. When I come back to my desktop after the screen has gone black, and I click the mouse to get that "Resuming Windows" screen, if I have left any FF windows open, the computer is essentially dead in the water for up to several minutes - FF will do nothing: no new windows, no closing old windows, no clicking on a tab, no ability to get a cursor in a field -- and if I try ANYTHING, I get the swirly cursor and "(Not Responding") appears in the title bar. This goes on for no fewer than 2 minutes or so, and as long as 3, 4 or even 5 minutes. It takes longer for the computer to become usable coming out of Resume than it does when I first start the darn thing up. Old threads address this issue on versions of FF as far back as 21, 22, 23, but I haven't seen any that address it in the newest versions of FF. Is it hopeless? (p.s. I'm really not terribly tech savvy, so use small words LOL)

BRAND NEW COMPUTER. Asus M32AD, i5m 8GB, 1T, Windows 7 factory-installed. I have current version of FF 34.05. When I come back to my desktop after the screen has gone black, and I click the mouse to get that "Resuming Windows" screen, if I have left any FF windows open, the computer is essentially dead in the water for up to several minutes - FF will do nothing: no new windows, no closing old windows, no clicking on a tab, no ability to get a cursor in a field -- and if I try ANYTHING, I get the swirly cursor and "(Not Responding") appears in the title bar. This goes on for no fewer than 2 minutes or so, and as long as 3, 4 or even 5 minutes. It takes longer for the computer to become usable coming out of Resume than it does when I first start the darn thing up. Old threads address this issue on versions of FF as far back as 21, 22, 23, but I haven't seen any that address it in the newest versions of FF. Is it hopeless? (p.s. I'm really not terribly tech savvy, so use small words LOL)

All Replies (16)

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I've called the big guys to help you. Good luck.

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Luck indeed! I still have until January to return the darn thing at least. I just came back to the computer after some time away, and not only was FF locked up, but so was IE, and I got a couple of "unresponsive script" messages. Ultimately, I had to close out FF entirely (which I couldn't do at first, it wouldn't let me, it was all frozen up). Once FF was gone, IE worked fine.

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Next time a program refuses to close, open the Task Manager <Control><Alt><Delete>.

This is not a cure but will make it easier if Firefox locks up in Windows. https://support.mozilla.org/questions/997866 {web link}


Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;

Type about:preferences#advanced<Enter> in the address bar.

Under Advanced, Select General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.

Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?

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Hi elprofesor2112, It looks like Fred has suggested the next steps to make sure that it is not a plugin or a hardware acceleration issue. Once these changes are made, please also check that your antivirus has been optimized for Firefox browsing as well.

For the unresponsive script, please try these troubleshooting steps https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/warning-unresponsive-script

You may also want to try a clean reinstall of Firefox: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

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@Fred: When it happens, I find that CTRL+ALT+DEL lags just as much as anything, but when I finally end the Firefox process, things seem back to normal, until the next time it happens.

@guigs2: I tried resetting Firefox to factory default (which was no big deal for me since it was basically a brand new computer) and that seems to have cut the frequency with which it happens from EVERY time to only SOME of the times... Trying now to figure out of there's something that in common w/ all the times that it does happen so i can zero in on the problem variable.

The only AV I have is the McCaffee bloatware that came pre-installed. It auto updates, and I have chosen to leave it alone until I know whether I'm keeping this computer or not. Historically what I've done is just relied on the free Ad-Aware, and tried to eliminate every trace of Norton or McCaffee products I can fins, as they only seem to cause problems for people. And Kaspersky confuses me :-) so I avoid that one. DO you think the McCaffee could be to blame? I'm not sure what you mean by configuring it to be optimized for FF...

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I've also read that using about:config can void warranties. What's the truth to that?

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elprofesor2112 said

I've also read that using about:config can void warranties. What's the truth to that?

Basically, it weans; You Break It, You Buy It. If you know what you are doing, or following instructions from someone who does, you should be okay. If you go in and do things without understanding what you are doing . . . . .


Did you run Firefox in safe mode?

Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All of them.


This is not a cure but will make it easier if Firefox locks up in Windows. https://support.mozilla.org/questions/997866 {web link}

Modified by FredMcD

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Hello

elprofesor2112 said

I've also read that using about:config can void warranties. What's the truth to that?

It is for fun, in fact, there is no warranty whatsoever, it's more a joke to ensure that users are aware of what they are about to do. Α bad thing that can be done, is that some changes in about:config can blocks firefox access to internet. Almost everyone can reverse the changes with a totally firefox uninstall and reinstall again.

thank you

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What I meant was to optimize Firefox to access the internet with Mcaffee, but this does not sound like the issue. But for a long shot this is the guide below.

Not responding also comes up when the program begins to hit a limit on resources, but to make sure that it is Mcaffee or not another toolbar, does it stop happening all the time when you start it in Safe mode as Fred suggested?

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FF in Safe Mode - no difference. In fact, it seems worse, if that's possible. Much longer time before the computer would unlock itself, and what finally happened, after 3 minutes or so, is I got an "unresponsive script" error message, and I clicked on the option "stop script" and then it was immediately fine.

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My McCaffee was a trial thing, I think. I clicked on it to see if it was updated, and it said it was expired. So I'm just going to uninstall it completely and install AdAware, which is all I've ever used for years and never had a problem.

It occurs to me -- this must (?) have something to do with my new computer... it was slow right out of the box, and I called ASUS tech support the second day I had the puter up and running, and the tech asked me to do a System File Check (SFC), but discovered that the normal pathways through which one would do a SFC (according to him) did not work - the machine would not either recognize them or it would simply swallow the command and then just do nothing... he put me on hold for a few minutes. He came back with a workaround (don't remember it exactly, but it involved a DOS prompt), and I was able to finally run a SFC, which revealed "corrupted files" that had to be "repaired."

In a brand new computer? That can't be a good thing... Maybe the system software factory install was just a bad install? Because I had some slow Firefox issues on my old machine (Acer, dual core, 4gRAM, 2009 machine), but NOTHING like this. This is getting very frustrating. I'm used to just sitting down to my computer and using it, not sitting down and fighting with it for 2 or 3 minutes or more before i can do anything.

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Contact the place you bought the computer and start asking questions.

You may have to re-install Windows if there are those kind of problems.

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  • sigh* That's what I figured. i wasn't sure at first, because Firefox has been acting squirrelly in general for months now - slow, hanging up, taking 45, 60+ seconds just to open from the desktop, but I don't have these problems this severe on ANY other computer (my old one, or any computer at either place I work). Ceteris paribus, it must be my machine, right?
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Not a frickin' thing works. Still slow as hell.

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Hi elprofesor2112, I understand that all that has been tried so far has not affected the experience. What did the microsoft support have you do?