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FF not relasing memory, slowing PC OPs

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Matt_G

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From V3.6.18 via WinXP to V9.X via Win7 using DSL/Cable - on multiple PC/NB's.... Running only three tabs, I've found that FF does not release unused/closed items memory - leading to my whole FF/PC "ALL" operations going super slow.

My solution is to go to WinTaskMngr/Processes and view FF mem-use. If mem-use is >250K the PC will start slowing down >1Meg and it is crawling! I highlight FF - right click and hit 'End Process' killing FF. Then restart FF via icon and all is FAST again! May not be the right way but it works and my speed is back to normal and Win does not care!

I do not do a normal FF exit as it hang up for ~10min. The FF page closes but if you try to restart right away it says FF is still running prohibiting a restart. The above method does not have any wait state in firing FF back up!!!

From V3.6.18 via WinXP to V9.X via Win7 using DSL/Cable - on multiple PC/NB's.... Running only three tabs, I've found that FF does not release unused/closed items memory - leading to my whole FF/PC "ALL" operations going super slow. My solution is to go to WinTaskMngr/Processes and view FF mem-use. If mem-use is >250K the PC will start slowing down >1Meg and it is crawling! I highlight FF - right click and hit 'End Process' killing FF. Then restart FF via icon and all is FAST again! May not be the right way but it works and my speed is back to normal and Win does not care! I do not do a normal FF exit as it hang up for ~10min. The FF page closes but if you try to restart right away it says FF is still running prohibiting a restart. The above method does not have any wait state in firing FF back up!!!

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Hi N6JSX,

Have you looked at the Knowledge Base article Firefox uses too much memory or CPU resources - How to fix or Firefox uses too much memory or CPU resources - How to fix? There is a lot of great information in there.

Hopefully this helps!