Is it bad form to reply to my own question? Anyway, I received a recommendation via another forum to try a fresh install after fully removing Firefox 7 from the system via Add/Remove Programs. I did so; the problem didn't go away.

I have this same problem. I updated to 7.0.1 and now it takes a very long time for some websites to open. I get the spinning circle saying connected, but it takes minutes for the page to load. This didn't happen in any previous versions and I have been using Firefox on this PC since version 4. It isn't a wireless problem because Steam still connects and I can use Internet Explorer without it slowing down. I like Firefox much better, but this problem is forcing me to use IE instead. It only happens some times and other times the site load quickly like normal. I thought that shutting down Firefox and reopening would help (which is a pain), but that doesn't even always work.

I have tried a complete uninstall/reinstall and I ran a registry cleaner before reinstallation.

I use PC tools Spyware Doctor if that has anything to do with it, but I don't think it's blocking anything as I have been using Firefox for years with this PC and that antivirus.

Edit: I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, with 8 GB of ram, quad core extreme, and dual NVIDIA 280m graphics cards. I don't know what other info would be helpful.

I should clarify that once the problem starts happening, it's not just one particular site that's affected. The *act* of trying to load a site seems to trigger the problem, but no one site does so consistently, and once the problem has occurred, *no* site will load until I completely close down and restart the browser (or wait a few minutes for it to clear up on its own).

-> Clear Cookies & Cache

• https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Template:clearCookiesCache

-> Clear the Network Cache

Perform the suggestions mentioned in the following article:

• Firefox can't load websites but other browsers can

Check and tell if its working.

No dice, I'm afraid. I already tried clearing my cookies, clearing my network cache, and even doing a clean reinstall. In addition, disabling IPv6 and DNS pre-fetching doesn't seem to have had any effect, and none of the other suggestions in the linked article seem applicable given the symptoms I'm experiencing.

Type about:config in the Location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key. When you see a warning, click I'll be careful, I promise! button.

-> In the Filter bar, type network.http.max-connections

• Right click the preference network.http.max-connections and choose Modify
• change the value to 30 or 48
• click OK

-> Close the about:config tab

• Restart Firefox.

Check and tell if its working.

That seems to have improved matters, but the erratic and intermittent nature of the problem makes it difficult to say for certain. I'll get back to you tomorrow - if it goes 24 hours without recurring, I'm prepared to call it solved.

Running about 7 tabs open at startup, this has always worked fine, here is the problem and the sequence of events leading up to hope. Any suggestions would be appreciated:

Background:

   Mozilla updated me to 7.0 automatically a few days ago, no problems
   Yesterday they auto updated me to 7.0.1, now it won't connect (random tabs of the seven)
       Scaled back to 3 tabs at start now it connects but after a minute of so, the icon in the tabs just spinning and it isn't connected.
    When an open tab is spinning or trying to connect all other tabs sit and wait (my performance monitor shows CPU usage through the roof)
       Scaled back to one tab the same thing, ran with plugins disabled/safe mode
       Reinstalled Firefox, disabled the Norton firewall to test, same thing
       Checked the application setting on the firewall, it is set to allow or auto
       I downloaded Firefox 8 beta same issue, went back to 7.0.1 same issue
Any suggestions would be appreciated, never happened until the upgrade to 7.0.1 
       

This problem manifests itself as slow to connect, never connects, poor performance, high cpu usage etc

Comments on this issue are all over the web, LETS GET A FIX ON THIS please.

   BTW IE 8 and Chrome work fine, I've tried the suggestions above

Here is the fix, the problem is you dont have to setup memory at 30 but 48, Firefox Stop Loading Pages FIX

Thanks for the recommendation I will try it, test and get back to the group.

Thanks looks like a fix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tried it 4 hours ago, multiple (up to 12) tabs running, ran video's from different sites simultaneously and have not had any recurrences of the issue.

Appreciate your recommendations.

Sorry for the delayed response. Changing max-connections to 48 seems to have cleared the problem right up. I have noticed a moderate reduction in performance on sites with very large numbers of images, though - hopefully we'll get a fix to the underlying issue of Firefox choking on too many concurrent connections at some point.

This fixed it. Thank you mha007. Changed it to 48 and Firefox works great again now. I was afraid I was going to have to use IE lol.