FireFox randomly freezing computer

[Piu]

Long story short:

 

When I load certain web pages on Firefox, it freezes my computer. Unable to move my cursor, change task windows or open task manager. I'm not sure if waiting will ever unfreeze it, but after 15 minutes of waiting several times, I'd say no.

 

I'm very certain it is Firefox that is causing it. Because after restarting my computer, opening Firefox and opening the same tab I opened before the freeze causes it to freeze again. Viewing it in Chrome or IE is safe, though.

 

Don't tell me to use other browsers because I like Firefox for my own reasons. However, because of this issue, I am forced to load foreign websites on another browser. :(

 

Thanks in advance.

[Lord Diddy]

Are you using the latest version of Firefox, Java, and Flash Player?

 

Try going to the Firefox menu button and click Help -> Restart Firefox with Add-ons disabled. If you are able to see your pages correctly then one of your addons may be causing a conflict in the browser. If the problem still persists then try an uninstall then reinstall of Firefox.

[Howlin0001]

As Lord_Diddy said, is Firefox, java and flash up to date?

Can you tell us what page Firefox is freezing on?

Have you tried to reinstall Firefox?

[Powerfrog]

Same thing happened to me a few times, but it was only 30 seconds and it came back fine afterwards.

 

It only ever happens on one of those big american news sites (Get linked from reddit, click the link then facepalm when i realize my mistake)

 

I don't have a solution other than find out which sites make it happen and avoid them if at all possible.

 

Edit: I do use adblock and i imagine that site really tries to destroy innocence with adverts, much like most american news, so that's probably what's going on for me.

[Sy_Accursed]

Tbh firefox, due to it trying to be diverse and all encompassing and using code fragments all sorts of people come up with is getting kinda large and clunky and beginning to run a bit slower and be a bit of a memory hog.

As much as you do to fix this the issue is just gonna keep getting worse, you may like firefox and be attached to it but I'd strongly advise trying to migrate browsers. Coming from firefox Chrome is actually a win choice, it can import history, password, bookmarks etc and you can get near identical functionality and looks from it, heck half the good ff ad ons (that aren't obsolete due to Chrome native features ff lacks) have chrome versions.

 

Not the advice you want I know, but it's worth being aware of it none the less.

[Lord Diddy]

Tbh firefox, due to it trying to be diverse and all encompassing and using code fragments all sorts of people come up with is getting kinda large and clunky and beginning to run a bit slower and be a bit of a memory hog.

As much as you do to fix this the issue is just gonna keep getting worse, you may like firefox and be attached to it but I'd strongly advise trying to migrate browsers. Coming from firefox Chrome is actually a win choice, it can import history, password, bookmarks etc and you can get near identical functionality and looks from it, heck half the good ff ad ons (that aren't obsolete due to Chrome native features ff lacks) have chrome versions.

 

Not the advice you want I know, but it's worth being aware of it none the less.

 

I'd have to agree with this, Firefox is not as lightweight as it once was. I personally have moved completely to chrome, I was surprised to see Firefox release so many new versions quickly after each other. Some would say its good that Mozilla is keeping with the updates, but all that means is reduced addon compatibility, which is was really the main advantage of Firefox.

[Sbrideau]

You should look up some benchmarks between Firefox and Chrome, they have their strenghts and weaknesses, both of them, but overall the run pretty much at the same speed.

 

I only think that Firefox is getting more and more broken, and they don't seem to work to try to fix it for the guys that have issues, that's why I moved over to Opera (I hate Chrome for a few reasons). I found that for me, Firefox 10 works the best, since prior versions would hang on youtube and other websites with flash players, but I decided not to upgrade until at least version 15. Firefox works flawlessly on Fedora though.

[Piu]

Yes, I do know Firefox is not as lightweight as it used to be and Chrome is indeed faster, but switching browsers is not an option for me. :)

 

Also, Firefox freezes at web pages like this: http://www.pcgamesupply.com/buygames/Runescape-Membership-Online-Code/

 

EDIT: I also have adblock plus, I'll try restarting w/o any addons and see if it'll work.

[Piu]

Back with new results:

 

No good, restarting Firefox in safe mode (EVERYTHING disabled) still causes my whole computer to freeze.

[Sy_Accursed]

I'm curious as to why it is 'not an option'?

Is it just personal preference and unwillingness to change/adapt? Or is there some actual reason preventing it?

 

After all this issue does seem to be getting to the point where it's basically a flaw with firefox becoming slower and the only solution is other browsers.

[Piu]

Well maybe I phrased it wrongly, shouldn't have said 'not an option'.

 

Basically it's personal preference, and if I came here to request help about my problem, I expect solutions and assistance on solving it. You don't tell someone to play WoW instead of RS just because they have problems with RS. I know it's a bad analogy to use, but that's just my point of view. If it's really unfixable, then yeah, I'll switch browsers.

 

UPDATE:

Flash - updated.

Java - updated.

Firefox - updated.

Running Firefox on safe mode - doesn't solve problem.

[Sbrideau]

Have you tried disabling hardware acceleration in Firefox? Since version 4 it's been using hardware acceleration to show the pages faster. It could be what's causing issues for you.

[Piu]

How do you do that?

[Sbrideau]

When you to into your options (I don't know if you're setup with the orange tab or the menus), you then go into the advanced tab, and you should see a "browsing" section. There will be a checkbox with something along the lines of "use acceleration when available".

 

Let us know if it still freezes the computer.

[Howlin0001]

Try that http://www.trishtech.com/internet/disable_hardware_acceleration_in_firefox_4.php

Click on the orange colored Firefox box on the top-left and select Firefox → Options → Options

In the Options window, select the Advanced → General tab.

Then un-check the checkbox labeled Use hardware acceleration when available.

Click OK to save the settings.

[Lord Diddy]

Also if you could, tell us your antivirus program along with any other realtime protection you are using.

[jasignhagj]

Try out Firefox Nightly. It's an alpha build of Firefox, and I've found it to be much stabler than release Firefox. All addons should work with it, and it can be installed alongside release Firefox using the same profile, so all your browsing data, favourites, logins, etc. carry over between versions.

[Piu]

Try that http://www.trishtech.com/internet/disable_hardware_acceleration_in_firefox_4.php

Click on the orange colored Firefox box on the top-left and select Firefox → Options → Options

In the Options window, select the Advanced → General tab.

Then un-check the checkbox labeled Use hardware acceleration when available.

Click OK to save the settings.

 

Doesn't work. I'm not sure, but I think I managed to load some elements of the webpage after doing that. Back then it'd crash the moment I visit the page, now I load it THEN crash. Might just be coincidence though.

 

Also if you could, tell us your antivirus program along with any other realtime protection you are using.

 

None, Malwarebytes is all.

 

Try out Firefox Nightly. It's an alpha build of Firefox, and I've found it to be much stabler than release Firefox. All addons should work with it, and it can be installed alongside release Firefox using the same profile, so all your browsing data, favourites, logins, etc. carry over between versions.

 

Will try this!

[Piu]

Nightly did not work for me. I have been trying out Chrome now and I am quite fond of it. :) I wouldn't mind switching now, but I'd like to use Firefox back if possible.

 

I'm running on 32bit Windows 7 if that says anything.

[Arceus]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I have a similar problem. Once my computer has been on for about a day Firefox runs really slowly. Ctrl+Alt+Delete shows that it's using an astronomical amount of memory. I force-close it and reboot it and it's better, but not as good as a fresh restart of the computer.

[Howlin0001]

Does this only happen on Firefox and is there anything in common about/on websites when Firefox freezes?

[Sbrideau]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I have a similar problem. Once my computer has been on for about a day Firefox runs really slowly. Ctrl+Alt+Delete shows that it's using an astronomical amount of memory. I force-close it and reboot it and it's better, but not as good as a fresh restart of the computer.

 

Chrome does the same thing, except it's in more than one process, that's why most people only see Firefox doing it.

[Piu]

Does this only happen on Firefox and is there anything in common about/on websites when Firefox freezes?

 

Yeap, only Firefox.

 

And to the second question, it's something I ask myself every time it crashes. :mellow: I could, however, give you more sites as an example.

 

Actually, most of the sites that I crash on have ads on them. Once I managed to load a page I used to crash on, but there was an error. (Adobe plugin, if i'm not mistaken.)

[Sy_Accursed]

If you have adblock plus active the site having adverts should not be an issue as adblock plus stops them from loading entirely. Also like every webpage has adverts, so it ought not be a factor in the matter. Tip.it, runescape etc. all have adverts afterall.

 

The abode error allowing the page to load would suggest:

1) Your flash, shockwave or other adobe based plugin (pdf viewing and such) is in some way broken/corrupt. Try exploring turning them off and see if it helps.

2) There is a corrupt/badly coded flash applet on the page you are trying to view that via a memory leak or w/e is causing browser issues.

 

1 seems more likely since other seem to load this page fine and it's not limited to a single page.

[Howlin0001]

The next thing I was going to suggest was to disable any add ons you have and see if firefox freezes still, if it doesn't then enable each add on one at time until you find out which one is causing it. If firefox freezes when you have no add ons enabled, I would then suggest a reinstall of firefox.