[Solved] FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

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ineuw
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[Solved] FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by ineuw »

The problem started a few weeks ago with my FF ESR installation, which currently is v52.5.2. On opening, it can take up to 2 minutes to load the home page which normally is https://ducduckgo.com/, or https://www.google.com and both are very slow to load. Afterwards, new web pages load normally. The slowdown happens after a few startups, after the browser was refreshed, or with a completely new installation. It also happens with or without syncing.

My OS is Windows 7 ultimate, 32bit and did a sfc /scannow, chkdsk c: /f, and also verified that the disk is not fragmented. I followed every known procedure by adding or disabling the extensions step by step, and then without extensions, disabled the plugins, removed the two dictionaries, and removed all bookmarks (<2400) and not modifying any config settings. In safe mode it starts up fast but then, I am unable to test my work environment and I rely on the 6 extensions (reduced from 9) to get my work done. Also tested Firefox 57+ and the problem is the same after a few browser startups, even though there were fewer extensions. Below are the links to pastebin of the text and raw data reports. if anyone has ideas I am ready to try them.

text version https://pastebin.com/3Vy0tybp
raw data https://pastebin.com/pGDEtDJW
Last edited by ineuw on February 25th, 2018, 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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malliz
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by malliz »

What are the extensions?
What sort of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter.
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flaneurb
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by flaneurb »

malliz wrote:What are the extensions?
They're in the pastebin...
Google Keep was pretty heavy last time I used it on a desktop browser (Google Chrome).
Brummelchen
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by Brummelchen »

your system is out of date:

Description: NVIDIA GeForce GT 620
Driver Date: 8-30-2012

latest
http://www.nvidia.de/download/driverRes ... /128431/de

try safe mode

but if firefox quantum behave same i would say that your system is delaying, there is nothing we can do.
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ineuw
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by ineuw »

The six extensions are:

Classic Theme Restorer
Form History Control
Google™ Keep
Scroll to Top/Bottom
WiktionaryMultiLanguageDictionary
Wired-Marker

As for the video driver, any newer version crashes Firefox and I tried them all, starting with the latest versions and proceeding in reverse order until I found the right driver. With this driver, I never have problems of crashing, or a slowdownr. Also keep in mind that it is an older card, of the same generation as the driver and the Windows OS. But, will make another attempt with their latest driver.

After my first post, I removed and cleaned everything related to Firefox, including the profile folder because it was several years old and it may have been cause of the slowdown due to some corruption. I have a hard copy of the passwords and several backups of the bookmarks in both json and HTML. Now, I reinstalled the ESR 52.5.2 and the extensions, but not the sync account which I will delete from another computer. So far things look good, but will take a few hours to know for sure.
Firefox 115.0.2 (default install) in Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 64 bit, updated on 2023-07-31 00:05
Brummelchen
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by Brummelchen »

any newer version crashes Firefox
i maybe repat myself again - that is NO firefox issue - if it would be there were lot of complaints but there are not.
provide the crash reports and then i can point out why it is crashing. but i would bet its same issue because slowness - word.
running windows 7/8/10 here with several systems and none of them has this issue.

Name: WiktionaryMultiLanguageDictionary
Version: 0.2.1.1-signed.1-signed <-- rather old because autosigned = possible issue

Wired-Marker <- old JAR addon inside, not jetpack = possible issue
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therube
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by therube »

(Another slow to load thread, Seamonkey slow to load home page at start up.)
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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ineuw
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by ineuw »

Success so far. My thanks to everyone for ALL the info and I replaced everything related to the old installation.
  • 1. Disconnected the sync, because it tends to mess up my bookmarks.
    2. Exported the bookmarks in both json and html formats so that I can have a local copy.
    3. Exported the passwords (in .csv format) to have a hard copy.
    4. Uninstalled Firefox, including the manual deletion of the Mozilla folders in Appdata Local, LocalRow, and Roaming sections. This does not affect Thunderbird Mail.
    5. Updated the Nvidia driver to the latest version.*
    6. Reinstalled Firefox 52.5.0 which created a new, fresh profile folder. (I need this FF version for some old extensions which are not yet available in v57+).
    7. NO importation of old profile data, because the cause of the slowdown is unknown.
    8. Omitted the installation of the two possible offending extensions. Wired Marker and Wiktionary.
Some comments.

4. It's very important to delete the three Appdata folders because they contain old profile information. These folders alert a fresh install that it is a reinstall, and will not create a new Profile folder.
6. & 8. The Nvidia driver update and the omitted extensions relate to my system.

Now FF is loading as fast as it always did and the unintended consequences are that I replaced some very old passwords.
Firefox 115.0.2 (default install) in Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 64 bit, updated on 2023-07-31 00:05
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ineuw
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by ineuw »

Apologize that some of my later posts belonging here, were posted in the Seamonkey post with similar problem, http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... p14785613|.

As of two hours ago, my then existing installation with a new profile froze and crashed twice on startup. Firefox did not generate error reports but Windows generated two technically detailed error messages. Opened a bugzilla bug report https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1427451 and attached the error messages and details of how it happened.

Now, reinstalled Firefox and created a new profile without importing anything form previous profiles, and without extensions. Imported a greatly reduced bookmarks file and the passwords. Added the userChrome.css and modified the following in about:config.

browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab = false
browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent = false
browser.tabs.warnOnClose = false
browser.tabs.warnOnCloseOtherTabs = false
browser.urlbar.maxRichResults = 0
extensions.pocket.enabled = false
reader.parse-on-load.enabled = false
Firefox 115.0.2 (default install) in Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 64 bit, updated on 2023-07-31 00:05
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therube
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by therube »

During the hang, WhatIsHang might provide (Mozilla) with additional information.

When it hangs, how much RAM & CPU are in use?
What extensions are you using?
And if you don't use any?
And if you run in Safe Mode for a while, are you able to duplicate the hang there?
Other then DDG, do any other particular pages cause you to hang?
Are the hangs a new issue with 52.5.3?
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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ineuw
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by ineuw »

Thanks for the reminder about Nirsoft's tools. I forgot about them. Safe mode always worked fine, loaded with normally and never crashed. I will give it an extended try again.
Firefox 115.0.2 (default install) in Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 64 bit, updated on 2023-07-31 00:05
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ineuw
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Re: FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable reason

Post by ineuw »

Time is too precious and I am too ignorant to even try to resolve Firefox's problem, so I reverted to FF 45.9.0 ESR. This version works normally with no slowdowns, no crashes and with my extensions and dictionaries installed. Thanks again to everyone who got involved and tried to help.

How should I mark this thread? Can I mark it [CLOSED] or [ABANDONED]?
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ineuw
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Re: [Solved] FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable re

Post by ineuw »

The problem was the Windows registry. Interestingly, it only affected ESR 52.X.X, but not ESR 45.9.0, or any release => 57 and this inconsistency confused me. I have many mirror backups of the system partition, but a couple of days after restoring any of them, the registry got corrupted again. So, uninstalled Firefox and used several reliable registry cleaners to remove all bad entries (one will not find all corrupt registry entries). Then, reinstalled FF 52.6.0 which is functioning well ever since with the above listed extensions.

@Brummelchen, I had to use the old Nvidia driver because every release between that 8-30-2012 and 1-23-2018 blanked the screen intermittently. With the latest version the problem was corrected.
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therube
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Re: [Solved] FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable re

Post by therube »

The problem was the Windows registry.
Do you know what setting(s) in there caused it?
the registry got corrupted again
Corrupted how?

(I'm thinking it is not the Registry [FF does very little with the Registry], but rather a Profile issue.)
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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ineuw
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Re: [Solved] FF slows down on startup by an unexplainable re

Post by ineuw »

therube, I have a dual boot desktop with the identical browser setup in Linux Mint where I had no problem. The two installations use the same restored bookmark and password files and I never transfer files between profiles, but rather rebuild from scratch. In Windows, every couple of days Firefox slowed down, so I created a new profile and restored the bookmarks and passwords stored in the cloud.

When Firefox crashed, there were no crash reports in the Firefox folders, but unknown to me everything was placed in the C:\temp folder. I found these in February 17th when I was cleaning up. I kept these files, even though earlier I asked the Bugzilla report to be closed.
Directory of C:\temp

2018-01-08 01:20 AM 225,553 Firefox 2018-01-08 01.18 profile.sps.json.gz
2018-01-08 10:30 AM 1,987,471 Firefox 2018-01-08 10.28 profile.sps.json.gz
2018-01-08 01:22 PM 90,536,319 firefox (2).zip <--- .DMP file
2018-01-08 01:25 PM 18,415 mozilla crash report.txt
2018-01-08 01:26 PM 330,962,342 firefox.zip <--- .DMP file

2018-01-08 01:17 PM 190,849 perf html io save profile option is frozen.jpg <--- my screen capture
Firefox 115.0.2 (default install) in Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 64 bit, updated on 2023-07-31 00:05
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