Firefox startup slow

**-=Rousseau=-** · 11-20-2006, 08:37 PM

Firefox has recently started taking 10-12 seconds to begin loading the home page upon start up. I will start Firefox and it will come up to a white screen, pause for 10-12 seconds, then begin loading the webpage. What's up?

martt · 11-20-2006, 11:06 PM

Have you installed any extensions or themes recently that the problem could be put down to?

Too many extensions can cause the problem, depending on what some of them are. Try starting the browser in Firefox Safe Mode (starts Firefox without loading any extensions or themes) to see if it starts more quickly. There should be a shortcut for Firefox Safe Mode in: 'Start Button > Programs'.

Are you using an old Profile? If so, perhaps try creating and using a new one.

I've noticed that my copy of Firefox can load slowly if I've been using any other heavy program for a while (PhotoPaint or Xara Xtreme for instance). Windows seems to take a while to release enough memory or resources for the browser to start. Is that when your own installation of Firefox starts slowly?

**-=Rousseau=-** · 11-29-2006, 10:28 PM

Not too many themes, but I have been using the same profile since I installed Firefox. I don't run any big programs that should be slowing it down.

martt · 11-30-2006, 12:01 AM

Did you try opening the browser using Firefox's Safe Mode (shortcut in the Start Menu). Is it still slow to start?

**-=Rousseau=-** · 11-30-2006, 12:04 AM

I created a new profile and it is fixed now, so I think that was it. I only kept the bookmarks, a theme, and one extension from the old profile so the too-many-plugins problem is also avoided.

Thnx for the help all.

robmcd · 12-02-2006, 08:29 PM

I always thought firefox's startup was sloooooow... not on the order you were talking about, but maybe a couple of seconds too slow, especially on the first launch. I changed my shortcut target to
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /prefetch:1
and that seems to help.... every second counts!

martt · 12-03-2006, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robmcd

I always thought firefox's startup was sloooooow... not on the order you were talking about, but maybe a couple of seconds too slow, especially on the first launch. I changed my shortcut target to
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /prefetch:1
and that seems to help.... every second counts!

Comment and discussion about adding '/prefetch: 1' to Firefox's shortcut can be found in this page. There's more here under the 'Misinformation and the The Prefetch Flag' heading (scroll down the page a bit). This is written by a developer on Microsoft’s Windows Client Performance Team (according to the first page I've linked to).

**Kalim** · 12-03-2006, 12:51 AM

Shouldn't do that. If your startup is lagging, then you have a problem that is not going to go away or its because you have too many chrome extensions/themes that will take a while to load up.

obituary1992 · 04-03-2009, 08:19 AM

Ha I know this is old, but thanks guys for the tips. I was having the same problem with my firefox but now its starting up and running nice and smoothly

mazal · 04-25-2009, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obituary1992

Ha I know this is old, but thanks guys for the tips. I was having the same problem with my firefox but now its starting up and running nice and smoothly

My firefox takes over a minute to load first time around, it's quite pathetic compared to IE7. I think that part of the problem is that NoScript wanders around on the Internet before firefox is ready for m.

What did you do, the "prefetch" trick or the "profile" one? If the latter, where/how does one change a profile?

obituary1992 · 04-28-2009, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mazal

My firefox takes over a minute to load first time around, it's quite pathetic compared to IE7. I think that part of the problem is that NoScript wanders around on the Internet before firefox is ready for m.

What did you do, the "prefetch" trick or the "profile" one? If the latter, where/how does one change a profile?

I just took off most of the chrome extensions/themes.... It would be a good idea to possibly just get rid of most of downloaded themes/applications like (and this is what I had on mine) speed speed dial, which took a heavy toll on start up speed. Also, uninstall any unnecessary toolbars and possibly even rid some of your unneeded bookmarks... Lol, I did mine a while ago, so I don't exactly remember what I did right down to the exact procedures, but I'm sure it was along the lines of what was discussed throughout the page. Also, for creating a new firefox profile, a simple google search should bring up an answer....

mazal · 08-29-2009, 02:01 AM

Nailed it! Seems like antivirus AVG 8.5 was slowing down the load times of almost every program in my PC, including Firefox. I switched over to Avast 4.x, now Firefox loads in about 2 seconds, all other windows open very much faster as well. I have not changed any settings on Firefox.

11-20-2006, 08:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
-=Rousseau=- Biker, Geek and Jock Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Nashvegas Posts: 827 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate My System	Firefox startup slow Firefox has recently started taking 10-12 seconds to begin loading the home page upon start up. I will start Firefox and it will come up to a white screen, pause for 10-12 seconds, then begin loading the webpage. What's up?

11-30-2006, 12:01 AM	#4 (permalink)
martt Alternative Computing Team Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South of England Posts: 310 OS: XP Pro	Did you try opening the browser using Firefox's Safe Mode (shortcut in the Start Menu). Is it still slow to start? Last edited by martt; 11-30-2006 at 12:02 AM.

04-03-2009, 08:19 AM	#9 (permalink)
obituary1992 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Windows Xp	Re: Firefox startup slow Ha I know this is old, but thanks guys for the tips. I was having the same problem with my firefox but now its starting up and running nice and smoothly

08-29-2009, 02:01 AM	#12 (permalink)
mazal Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2 OS: WinXP Home SP3	Re: Firefox startup slow Nailed it! Seems like antivirus AVG 8.5 was slowing down the load times of almost every program in my PC, including Firefox. I switched over to Avast 4.x, now Firefox loads in about 2 seconds, all other windows open very much faster as well. I have not changed any settings on Firefox.

11-20-2006, 11:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
martt Alternative Computing Team Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South of England Posts: 310 OS: XP Pro	Have you installed any extensions or themes recently that the problem could be put down to? Too many extensions can cause the problem, depending on what some of them are. Try starting the browser in Firefox Safe Mode (starts Firefox without loading any extensions or themes) to see if it starts more quickly. There should be a shortcut for Firefox Safe Mode in: 'Start Button > Programs'. Are you using an old Profile? If so, perhaps try creating and using a new one. I've noticed that my copy of Firefox can load slowly if I've been using any other heavy program for a while (PhotoPaint or Xara Xtreme for instance). Windows seems to take a while to release enough memory or resources for the browser to start. Is that when your own installation of Firefox starts slowly?

11-29-2006, 10:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
-=Rousseau=- Biker, Geek and Jock Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Nashvegas Posts: 827 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate My System	Not too many themes, but I have been using the same profile since I installed Firefox. I don't run any big programs that should be slowing it down.

11-30-2006, 12:04 AM	#5 (permalink)
-=Rousseau=- Biker, Geek and Jock Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Nashvegas Posts: 827 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate My System	I created a new profile and it is fixed now, so I think that was it. I only kept the bookmarks, a theme, and one extension from the old profile so the too-many-plugins problem is also avoided. Thnx for the help all.

12-02-2006, 08:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
robmcd Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 19 OS: XP	I always thought firefox's startup was sloooooow... not on the order you were talking about, but maybe a couple of seconds too slow, especially on the first launch. I changed my shortcut target to "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /prefetch:1 and that seems to help.... every second counts!

12-03-2006, 12:51 AM	#8 (permalink)
Kalim Roaming To Help Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 5,642 OS: Many	Shouldn't do that. If your startup is lagging, then you have a problem that is not going to go away or its because you have too many chrome extensions/themes that will take a while to load up.