Firefox horribly slow loading the first time
this has been going on for a while and i am considering the previously unthinkable and switching to Chrome, i don't want to but waiting five minutes for firefox to open is getting on my last never. the thing is, it only is this slow the first time. after that it is fast as usual. i have tried disabling all addons and plug ins, nothing works. as i said, it only does this when i try to open it up first thing in the morning after booting up the computer. i have a fast computer too, an intel i7 3770 processor and 16 gigs of ram so that is not an issue. i am running windows 8 by the way. i click on the firefox icon and it does nothing for at least a few minutes, then opens. very frustrating. also, i have disabled prefetch as well, no good. attached are screenshots of my addons and plug ins. yes, i have uninstalled it completely and reinstalled, no luck.
Modified by Historywriter
All Replies (20)
Hello,
Please try starting Firefox in Safe Mode and see if that makes a difference. This disables all your add-ons but also makes some other changes to basic Firefox settings:
Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode
For your testing purposes the best option will probably be to launch Firefox directly into safe mode by holding down shift as you launch Firefox.
If the problem doesn't occur in Safe Mode then most likely one of your add-ons or a setting is causing the issue. Follow the instructions in the article above to troubleshoot.
If the problem still occurs in Safe Mode then check all of the suggestions in the help article here:
Firefox takes a long time to start up
If none of that helps then I suggest doing a Firefox Reset. This will return Firefox to its basic, default settings. Your personal data (bookmarks etc) will be saved but you will need to reinstall all your add-ons.
Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings
I hope that helps. Let me know if not.
unreal! i disabled ALL plug ins, and removed all ADD ONS and it still took almost two minutes to open. i am at my wits end here!
Does disabling hardware acceleration work, seems like doing this decreases startup time, and 2 mins is not how long Firefox should start up (starts in about 6s, looking at FHR).
You might need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).
Then perform these steps:
- Click the orange Firefox button at the top left, then select the "Options" button, or, if there is no Firefox button at the top, go to Tools > Options.
- In the Firefox options window click the Advanced tab, then select "General".
- In the settings list, you should find the Use hardware acceleration when available checkbox. Uncheck this checkbox.
- Now, restart Firefox and see if the problems persist.
Additionally, please check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in the following Knowledge base articles:
i disabled hardware acceleration, no good, still took as long as ever to open. i am wondering if this possibly could be a windows 8 glitch? i do not recall having this issue on my other computer which is windows 7
Have you done a Firefox Reset yet?
Not trying to drive you from chrome but I've heard it starts slowly with that too. Can you post a screenshot of the task manager after firefox is clicked and after it has launched.
SOURCES: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/3422276/how-use-windows-8-task-manager/
- Show the processes tab in the task manager under more information (that is whats vital).
AND: How do I create a screenshot of my problem?
Why I am doing this is because I think there is some junkware involved (comes with computer).
attached are the screenshots of my task manager processes, Chrome starts up lightning fast, less than 2 seconds usually...
Kinda weird, not a lot of memory being used, so no problems there, have you tried a new profile? as a test?
If the new profile works, I'd suggest if you want to (may corrupt startup again) is to move some from the old profile to the new one.
i just did that, deleted the old profile and created a new one. it essentially was the same as a fresh reinstall. no good, still slow. i am using chrome until this is resolved. it opened it 3 seconds flat. its not what i want to do but its better than waiting for firefox to open for an hour
Can you disable the javascript compiler (IonMonkey) and see if firefox starts faster there.
Disable these two prefs in about:config (type about:config in the adress bar)
- javascript.options.methodjit.chrome
- javascript.options.methodjit.content
For help with using about:config, refer to http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config .
i went to about:config and neither one of those prefs were in there. there were javascript options but none with those exact descriptions
here is what i saw
Turn off the ion settings...
no good. the odd thing is, it only does it after windows has been either shut down or restarted. in other words, the initial startup. if there were an internal issue with FF you think it would be slow all the time.
Do you have any programs in the control panel by your computer manufactuer?
can you use the junkware removal tool and see if firefox responds faster.
Make sure that you fully allow Firefox in your security software.
Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.
It is possible that your security software (firewall, anti-virus) 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:
Safe mode is different in Windows 8 (compared from other versions), and for some reason Microsoft wanted to make it harder to boot into safe mode.
SEE: http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/
well listen to this! on a hunch i uninstalled Comodo firewall, the latest version 6.3, shut down the computer, started it back up, firefox opened fast as normal. unreal. so i downgraded to Comodo 5.12, which i never had any issues with and firefox is still opening fine. obviously there is some issue with firefox and comodo 6.3. so i am sticking with this version for a while. thanks for all the help
I am having this exact problem and I am using Windows XP. I have AVG Internet Security and Firewall.
This has suddenly become an issue for me after years of using Firefox. This is my Forum post about the problem. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/978026
So far it is a complete mystery and nothing I have done makes any difference. I wonder what changed to cause this problem?
What I don't understand is that it is only on initial start up of pc and first click on my Firefox icon, or if I've been logged off the net for a while and then click on again. In all other instances it works fine, and Firefox works normally once I'm online. When I am online and I click on the desktop icon to open a new Firefox window it fires up straight away as it should.