Firefox Problems

[Ann]

Anyone else experiencing problems with Mozilla Firefox? It is so slow when loading, I'm always ahead of it when typing and I have constant crashes, problems with plug ins. I keep refreshing it most weeks or even days. I'm on Windows XP and have Firefox 39.0 which I think is the latest version.
Can anyone suggest anything or would switching to Google Chrome be better? Would appreciate any advice please.

[dannyk13]

Ann, I have both and switch between them as any problem arises.

[Ann]

I think it must be FF as it just asked if I wanted to send a crash report to them - I clicked yes and it said it can't be sent!

[Ann]

Thanks Danny I will look into Chrome .....

[murraymints]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome&referrer=ai%3DCtnZsnMisVe_yK8m97gawpIHoA6jbm58E4Pz5-GmYtYDDRwgAEAFgu87Kg9wKoAHwktfdA8gBAaoEJE_Q_ZHeYM-WJ58paMn42d4uO17Xm4oE7TtOTqwvIwYd3rVBzbAGAYAH-OyoIpAHA6gHosIbqAemvhvYBwE%26gclid%3DCI6dkMy76cYCFXDHtAodXI0JSQ%26conv%3D1001769328

[New Judge]

Ironically as I was typing this my Firefox fell over!

I have all sorts of problems with it and, coupled with the hopelessly inadequate Windows 8, I believe the developers have an absolute liberty foisting it on unsuspecting customers. Neither is fit for purpose. I’ve tried all the usual recommendations. But still it falls over (at least twice a day and usually much more frequently). It takes ages to restart and then you get the ridiculously childish “Well, this is embarrassing…” nonsense.

It’s not embarrassing it’s an absolute disgrace. I now have to run three browsers. I undertake online share dealing and cannot possibly rely on Firefox to stay connected long enough to complete a deal so have to use IE instead. But other sites that I use are not compatible with IE.

The whole business is a complete farce. Using the internet is supposed to make life easy.

[Old_Geezer]

I have been getting problems. At work it may be because it isn't the standard browser, at home maybe because a game I'm playing doesn't seem to gel with the video driver (or something) and it keeps crashing out & recovering but Firefox is one of the things that doesn't recover correctly. I assumed I was the only person having issues though, for different reasons.

Always worth having a selection of browsers. But they all seem to have their issues.

[Old_Geezer]

"Using the internet is supposed to make life easy."
:-D
Who on Earth told you that ? Technology is the devil's tool, it stresses us out to the max.

[SlackAlice]

Have you tried restarting Firefox with add ons disabled? Just in case one of them is causing you problems.

If it all seems ok, then you can activate them one at a time, to find out the guilty party.

My Firefox is fine, the only adds ons/plug ins I use are AdBlock Plus, English Dictionary and the pop-up blocker is enabled. Never have too many tabs open at a time (my limit is about 15) and restart Firefox about every hour.

Firefox did at one time use excessive memory the longer it ran, which denied memory to other processes and hence you would get a 'slow' down.

I would rather have Firefox than Chrome, mainly because I have no love of Google.

[ivor4781]

no probs here with firefox,my only browser (version 39.0)

[ukbod2015]

I use Firefox and have problems very rarely - there are, however, numerous issues on other forums relating to Chrome so maybe one to avoid. maybe a delete of Firefox and a complete reload. I wouldnt write off it having problems with compatibility with XP as that is so old and unsupported.

[New Judge]

"If it all seems ok, then you can activate them one at a time, to find out the guilty party."

Shouldn't have to do it Slack. Sorry to appear brusque (I know your advice is well meant for which I thank you). But this is a particular bugbear of mine. These things should work. All I want to do is browse the internet. I didn't ask for any "plug-ins", or "add-ons". I frequently get a message that something called "shockwave" has stopped working. No idea what that is. Never asked for it. Why should I care if it stops working (but Firefox does because it usually falls over).

When I buy an electric drill I don't expect to have to take it apart every few minutes and put it back together to get it to work properly. I just want to drill holes. So it should be with this stuff.

[HansUrbancka]

@New Judge.....The advice given by SlackAlice is well meant and is excellent.
We must bear in mind that Ann's Operating System is Windows XP and, whilst it was one of the best produced by Microsoft, it is Not any longer supported by Microsoft and consequently does Not receive Up-dates to keep everything running smoothly.

You say that you don't know what is 'Shockwave'. It's the same as 'Adobe Flash' and is required to view and play Videos and on-line games etc from numerous sites. It will be an add-on/plugin within your Firefox Browser and the up-to-date version is 18.0.0.209

Hans.

[SlackAlice]

I'm only trying to resolve a problem with an old O/S with perhaps a more up to date plug in. Some plug ins/add ons are very good and some not so good.

In an ideal world nothing ever should need to be changed, but it's far from being an ideal world is it.

Perhaps it's time for me to move on.

[Ann]

//Perhaps it's time for me to move on//

Yes that's all well and good Alice but I don't want to move on to .... Windows 8 which everyone who I know who have it just hates! Why change XP when it worked perfectly?

NewJudge you are a person after my own heart! I too think the error message from Firefox when it crashes, is so patronising "Well this is embarrassing!" As you say, it's not embarrassing - it's flipping annoying and has me screaming! I try to watch Youtube but it tells me that FF has blocked Adobe Flash Player - do I want to allow and remember? I click Yes but it doesn't take a blind bit of notice!
I'm completely fed up with FF and I do not want to get rid of Windows XP and have the unpopular Windows 8 as that has numerous problems of it's own! Maybe I will resort to slate board and chalk! ;)

[SlackAlice]

I didn't suggest you need to move on.

This is what I said with a slight change to help you.

"Perhaps it's time for ME to move on."

[Ann]

Alice - you shouldn't need to move on, THEY should be making systems etc that are more compatible and user friendly!

[ukbod2015]

On the whole systems are quite reliable but they have to keep evolving to keep up with newer technology and those nasty little hacker bleeders. The number of people who baulk at paying for antivirus astonishes me - and the occasional click on windows update doesnt help.

[New Judge]

Thanks for the info about "Shockwave", Hans. I never watch videos or play online games so perhaps I can get rid of it. But having said that, even though I don't need it (and presumably never use it) it stops working three or four times a day so it clearly isn't up to much.

Yes Ann, I have an older machine with XP and Internet Explorer and it rarely causes me any trouble.

I had to disable updates being made to Windows 8 because they took hours (and I mean many hours) to install an ended up with me losing the use of Outlook Express. I had to reset my machine to an earlier set of settings.

There should be no need for these constant updates and changes to keep things running. The fact is these products are not it for purpose from the outset and are launched with faults. It seems to me the "updates" simply fix those faults as they are identified.

As I speak (or rather write) I have lost the use of Outlook Express. It closed itself down (with no instructions from me). Windows obviously thinks it's still open because when I try to launch it I get:

"Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the open the Outlook window. The set of files cannot be opened. The file blah de blah de blah.ost cannot be opened"

This means a shut down and restart (that may work it may not) and so the fiasco goes on.

[Ann]

I often get that with Firefox "another instance of FF is still running, please restart etc etc - It's so annoying that it somehow runs unseen on any tabs in the background and won't let you open it again .....

[Ann]

There is a related question below from 2009 so it's not a recent problem!
//Firefox problems
is anyone else experiencing problems with firefox at the moment, sometimes pages are taking ages to load and if I just close the browser and try to start again it says can't open firefox as it is still running, if i then open task manager there is no sign of firefox running, using vista home premium, cheers, dougie.
11:20 Sat 14th Feb 2009