# Has Firefox been really slow for anyone else? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959 "2009-12-29T20:43:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/21 "2010-01-01T07:15:47Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > A few years ago, on this board, someone named a Firefox file that keeps some kind of history, and grows without bound. Deleting it was safe (it just recreated), and it stopped Firefox from bogging down. Don’t remember the file though. It was in the user’s personal settings. Another thanks! This just help speed things up a bit - but to be honest, I still miss the days I clicked and it opened in seconds - now I click and can go get something to drink in the kitchen and come back to see it gradually open - but this did help a lot! ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/22 "2010-01-01T07:40:42Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > How do I turn this off? Right-click on each of the different things AVG does and you’ll get “open” in bold and in nonbold letters will be the option to “ignore the state of this component.” You’ll get an annoying message at the top of AVG main’s window saying you’re not fully protected. If you reinstall it though, you can choose not to even install certain things and it’ll keep them and the annoying message out of your face. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/23 "2010-01-01T19:03:03Z")
Here’s a data point: I installed the latest Linux Mint a couple weeks ago, and it uses Firefox 3.5.3. I’ve got that running well, so last night I upgraded my Ubuntu 9.04 partition to 9.10, which uses Firefox 3.5.6. I don’t know if it’s the OS or Firefox, but version 3.5.6 on Ubuntu is very jerky, with short pauses every time I charge tabs or scroll, to the point it’s very irritating to use. I didn’t have this problem with Ubuntu 9.04, which used 3.0.x (or 3.1.x?). Also, note that Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu 9.10. > [@Taenia\_spp](#): > > **ZenBeam** has it. The bigger the personal history file, the slower FF will run because it has to load all the entries in it every time you want to enter in a URL. > > Press **Ctrl** + **Shift** + **Del** or **Tools** \> **Clear Recent History** > > ETA: Clear all history, not just a couple hours worth. Will this make me lose all the user names and passwords Firefox automatically fills in for me? I don’t remember a lot of them, and would have to get them reset, which is always a pain. ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/24 "2010-01-01T20:50:30Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Will this make me lose all the user names and passwords Firefox automatically fills in for me? I don’t remember a lot of them, and would have to get them reset, which is always a pain. No, your saved usernames and passwords will still be intact. However, I think the default settings for the clear personal history deletes automatic form fields, so after you clear your data you will probably have to click on the field before it will automatically fill in the data, costing you one extra mouseclick. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/25 "2010-01-01T20:55:16Z")
My biggest problem is that it take for freaking ever to load. Once it’s open, I don’t have any problems with slowness. MacBook Air, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/26 "2010-01-01T21:32:29Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Will this make me lose all the user names and passwords Firefox automatically fills in for me? I don’t remember a lot of them, and would have to get them reset, which is always a pain. No, your saved usernames and passwords will still be intact. However, I think the default settings for the clear personal history deletes automatic form fields, so after you clear your data you will probably have to click on the field before it will automatically fill in the data, costing you one extra mouseclick. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/27 "2010-01-02T16:56:58Z")
Another possibility I’ve come across at the Ubuntu forums is that recent versions of Firefox try to use IPv6 instead of IPv4, and IPv6 needs to time out first, slowing things down. [This post](http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=8365269&postcount=25) gives directions applicable (I’m pretty sure) for Firefox on all OSs for changing some of your Firefox settings to avoid this. This seems to be a problem for only some people, depending on their ISP. I did items 1 - 7 on my Ubuntu system, but it didn’t solve my problem. I didn’t try 8 myself because I have problems even when offline, on locally stored webpages. And thanks, **Taenia spp.** , I’ll try that, but I don’t think it’s my problem. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/28 "2010-01-02T19:56:17Z")
I have XP and when I shutdown Firefox it still runs - in fact it uses 50% of my CPU. When I try to restart Firefox it tells me it is still running. I need to kill it with task manager. I have 3.5.6 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/29 "2010-01-05T09:09:46Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Here’s a data point: I installed the latest Linux Mint a couple weeks ago, and it uses Firefox 3.5.3. I’ve got that running well, so last night I upgraded my Ubuntu 9.04 partition to 9.10, which uses Firefox 3.5.6. I don’t know if it’s the OS or Firefox, but version 3.5.6 on Ubuntu is very jerky, with short pauses every time I charge tabs or scroll, to the point it’s very irritating to use. In general I say to try using optimized builds in Firefox. In Linux, there was one orignally called SwiftFox. Google for the appropriate repositories. And, really, 3.5.6 is really not that better than 3.5.3. The security issues were pretty small, and you’ll almost never run into the stability issues. Also, everyone needs to be sure and Vaccuum their places.sqlite file. Auto vacuuming won’t be included until the next major version. But there is a [plugin](http://www.ghacks.net/2009/08/27/vacuum-places-improved-firefox-database-optimization/) that can handle it. (Link goes to a place that explains it better than the official page.) BTW, I won’t be leaving Firefox until someone else implements Live Bookmarks (and hopefully better than Firefox does.) There are some feeds that are much better as bookmarks than Email RSS style. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/30 "2010-01-05T19:37:20Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I have XP and when I shutdown Firefox it still runs - in fact it uses 50% of my CPU. When I try to restart Firefox it tells me it is still running. I need to kill it with task manager. I have 3.5.6 Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/31 "2010-01-05T20:11:56Z")
> [@Hanna](#): > > I’ve done the suggestions in this thread and while it seems to be scrolling and loading much better, videos are still lagging every 20 seconds or so. Maybe it’s something on my Mac doing some sort of operation ever 20 seconds, but I’ll be darned if I can figure what’s doing it. :mad: I have the exact same issue - video lag every 20 secs or so. Totally annoying. And it’s not bandwidth, videos work fine in IE and Chrome on the same machine. There’s also annoying pauses in Firefox. Like I’ll be typing along and it just stops for a half a second. Drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959/32 "2010-01-05T21:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s also annoying pauses in Firefox. Like I’ll be typing along and it just stops for a half a second. Drives me nuts. Yes! I forgot about that one! It is really annoying when I want to change what I have typed and I need to wait for the words to catch up so I can see where I need to start editing. Oddly enough, it isn’t doing it right now. Off to watch You Tube vids! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-firefox-been-really-slow-for-anyone-else/522959.md?page=1)