100 % CPU usage makes Firefox unusable :-(

[jonrkc]

I've been getting the same behavior, with Firefox consuming up to 99% of CPU time. It is site-related, for Firefox doesn't cause any problem with only a blank tab open. Also, I just verified that Konqueror is doing much the same thing on certain sites.

The troublesome sites seem to have Flash ads aplenty on them.

I use Flashblock on Firefox but it doesn't prevent this degraded performance. I use Konqueror so seldom that I haven't equipped it with anything; it's just out of the KDE box.

System: Ubuntu Linux 5.04/Pentium III 550 MHz/384MB ram. Typically eight or nine applications open at a given moment, including almost always Firefox and Thunderbird.

I think I will just take to closing all the tabs in Firefox when I'm done with them. Since this behavior happens in both Firefox and Konqueror I'm skeptical at this point about Firefox being the culprit--at least in my configuration.

[musicnyman]

i've had this problem for weeks as well, read this forum, installed flashblock, and now cpu is down to nothing. so flashblock definitely fixed my problems. i was dreading to go back to IE, but now with flash disabled, i can use firefox again.

[jonrkc]

Hmm! I wonder why Flashblock doesn't solve the problem for me. Even though it's blocking the content of Flash presentations, the CPU usage soars and keeps being high, anywhere from 35% to 99%, till I leave that site, when it drops back to 3% average, sometimes even just 1%.

[falconz720]

I am running the newest version of firefox on my 2.26 ghz P4 512 mb custom built machine that i put together a few years ago. I have windows xp sp2 and the system is virus free as well as spyware free. My startup is immaculate. I removed the dumprep-0 k thing with HiJack This and nothing has changed. Firefox constantly, and i mean always under any circumstances (flash or not, even on google.com) uses 100% cpu. I cannot open more than 2 windows without having it freeze up and having to kill it. This does not sound like the problems other people have been having, where cpu usage will accumulate over time, or where half the cpu is already being used by adware and startup programs people are too stupid or just don't care enough to turn off. Why is it doing this? I have run Ccleaner, the harddrive is defragged, the machine is flawless. Yet firefox eats all cpu for no apparent reason. Flashblock didn't work. I do not think that the way Firefox handles flash is the problem in this particular case, so i was not expecting it to work when i installed it. As i suspected, its had absolutely no effect. Please help, i love firefox and use it on other machines including an IBM A22m that i'm on right now that i've had forever and firefox runs flawlessly on and another custom built cpu that 3ghz P4 (hyper threading may have something to do with the 100% cpu usage as in the lack of it on the other computer and the presence of it here corresponding to firefox working) 1 gig of ram, and a 36 gig SATA Raptor hdd. That computer comprises my gaming computer and firefox has not had problems at all with that, nor on my laptop. PLEASE HELP I'M DYING HERE!

[AnotherGuest.]

falconz720,
Possible causes of sever problems of the type you are having:

1. Hyperthreading. An Intel bug that can be solved by a BIOS upgrade, or by a Fx setting (search the forums for hyperthreading). This bit a lot of people at one time.
2. Drivers, especially video drivers. Update drivers.
3. Unspecified hardware problems.
4. A long shot: themes or extensions in Fx. To be really sure, uninstall Fx, reinstall <i>in a new directory,</i> and create a new, default profile using the profile manager. Follow the Fx help link that came with your bookmarks, and search the FAQ for "profile".

[fuscia]

i have a POS 700MHz, 10gig hard drive ?rpm (i could run in faster circles), 256ram (maybe. i think one of the chips has gone bad) and i'm on my third installation of windows ME. according to my hijackthis log, i'm running very, very cleanly. i'm using the M2 moox build and i'm running it off my desktop. i only get 100% usage when opening firefox. once it's open, i get less than 20% usage, even with several tabs open. occasionally, it will kick up to 50% during a sudden flurry of activity. i have both adblock and flashblock. i also have java disabled. the real answer: pure thoughts.

[galp]

I'm using Firefox 1.0.4 and have installed Flashblock 1.2.9. I'm running XP Professional on a ThinkPad and the problem of Firefox using 100% of my CPU happens every day. It happens consistently after my screensaver comes on, automatically, after my computer has been idle for 15 minutes. I'm very close to giving up on Firefox.

[AnotherGuest.]

galp and others,
Thanks for posting a concise and fairly detailed description of the problem.

Unfortunately, the reality is that users who volunteer time to solve these problems have limited time. You are more likely to get help if you can write not only a clear, detailed description of the problem, but also the steps you have taken to solve the problem. You need to show in some detail that you have tried the solutions that have been posted and that they have not worked. Finally, it does not hurt to show that you have exercised some ingenuity in searching for information and trying solutiones.

If you are just posting to report a problem, thank you for your effort, but your report will be more effective if you can show that the problem is actually new and cannot be solved by solutions that have been given. Good luck with solving your problem.

[TC17]

falconz720,
Possible causes of sever problems of the type you are having:

1. Hyperthreading. An Intel bug that can be solved by a BIOS upgrade, or by a Fx setting (search the forums for hyperthreading). This bit a lot of people at one time.
2. Drivers, especially video drivers. Update drivers.
3. Unspecified hardware problems.
4. A long shot: themes or extensions in Fx. To be really sure, uninstall Fx, reinstall <i>in a new directory,</i> and create a new, default profile using the profile manager. Follow the Fx help link that came with your bookmarks, and search the FAQ for "profile".

I would doubt very much its the first 3 choices, as there are too many people with this problem. Its definitely either Firefox or a popular extension causing it. It appears to be random also. (PS: My processor is an AMD64 cpu, and I have this problem with Firefox only, not IE).

[TC17]

At home, I'm running Win98 with an AMD500 processor and 256MB RAM. Whenever I run Firefox, within five minutes it locks up the entire PC -- the clock stops, the cursor stops dead, even CTRL-ALT-DEL won't work.

That's not Firefox, you have buggy hardware. Get a new computer, or fix that one. Sounds like it could be overheating or something, or your HD might have bad spots. Is it a Via chipset? Make sure to install the Via 4-in-1 drivers, 4.38 or so.

Actually is most likely is Firefox. I have a much faster computer than his, along with 1g of ram, and sometimes Firefox does the same thing to me due to it taking total control of the cpu. It appears locked up due to everything being so slow.

[AnotherGuest.]

That's not Firefox, you have buggy hardware. Get a new computer, or fix that one. Sounds like it could be overheating or something, or your HD might have bad spots. Is it a Via chipset? Make sure to install the Via 4-in-1 drivers, 4.38 or so.

Wow. I just tried this [replacing the driver], and have now been running Firefox for 15 minutes without the slightest sign of trouble, or even minor slowdowns. A new record for the old household buggy here! Thanks very much!

<b>But</b>

Actually is most likely is Firefox.... Firefox does the same thing to me....

I am always amazed by people who assume that Fx must be the problem, before they've made the diagnosis. In this case, VirtualLarry hit it right on the nose, as TC17 would have quickly discovered if he had only read the next message.

[falconz720]

falconz720,
Possible causes of sever problems of the type you are having:

1. Hyperthreading. An Intel bug that can be solved by a BIOS upgrade, or by a Fx setting (search the forums for hyperthreading). This bit a lot of people at one time.
2. Drivers, especially video drivers. Update drivers.
3. Unspecified hardware problems.
4. A long shot: themes or extensions in Fx. To be really sure, uninstall Fx, reinstall <i>in a new directory,</i> and create a new, default profile using the profile manager. Follow the Fx help link that came with your bookmarks, and search the FAQ for "profile".

i have no exetions installed, and just updated my BIOS. THe computer which firefox is consuming 100% cpu of does NOT have hyperthreading. I think what i said about hyperthreading may have been confusing. My gaming computer has hyper threading. Firefox runs fine on that computer. However, something else i have noticed is that when Firefox is running, it eats 50% cpu constantly, sometimes more when i'm browsing like 55% or 60%. I believe that because having a hyper-threading processor is much like have two processors, the same problem is occuring on that system but it is able to handle it because instead of consuming the entire processor, the hyperthreading distributes the load equivalent to 100% cpu usage on a non HT processor to 50% on the HT processor. There is another computer, used for email and whatnot, that is also equipped with hyperthreading and displays the same thing. I have no idea what is causing Firefox to consume the equivalent of 100% non-HT cpu on an HT processor, and 100% of cpu power on a non-HT processor, but it would be very nice of them to look into this.

[AnotherGuest.]

There's apparently something in the electricity or your water. I have installed and run Fx on 7 computers with 5 operating systems. Mostly Dells, but also a Gateway and Compaq. 60 MHz to 3 GHz Pentiums. Fx versions from 0.7 to1.0.4. We also have it on every computer in the computer lab, and I have never seen anything like that. Normal is 0%, and higher during brief bursts of activity (a mouse can also give significant bursts on a slower computer).

Soooo, .... try numbers 2-4. When you get to 4, just start with a new profile. If that doesn't work, try the whole #4 enchilada.

Oh. One more thing. A few sites have infinite loops coded in Javascript. These are capable of doing that. Just disable Javascript (Tools/Options/Web Features), or sometimes you can just disable one Javascript feature.

[fuscia]

falconz720,
THe computer which firefox is consuming 100% cpu of does NOT have hyperthreading. I think what i said about hyperthreading may have been confusing. My gaming computer has hyper threading. Firefox runs fine on that computer. However, something else i have noticed is that when Firefox is running, it eats 50% cpu constantly, sometimes more when i'm browsing like 55% or 60%. I believe that because having a hyper-threading processor is much like have two processors, the same problem is occuring on that system but it is able to handle it because instead of consuming the entire processor, the hyperthreading distributes the load equivalent to 100% cpu usage on a non HT processor to 50% on the HT processor. There is another computer, used for email and whatnot, that is also equipped with hyperthreading and displays the same thing. I have no idea what is causing Firefox to consume the equivalent of 100% non-HT cpu on an HT processor, and 100% of cpu power on a non-HT processor, but it would be very nice of them to look into this.

my computer was made before hyperthreading was invented. i suspect it's not the answer.

[AnotherGuest.]

fuscia and falconz720,
There are several possible causes for this kind of behavior, and hyperthreading is one of them. If you don't have hyperthreading, that leaves 2, 3, and 4. If you have the problem, you'd better get cracking.

Edit: Ignore the next paragraph. I misunderstood what she meant by the word "answer".

But fuscia, you just implied that you <i>don't</i> have a problem. Now you imply that you do. So I can't tell if you have a problem. <i>But,...</i> You also told me in another thread that you like to play with your computer and configure the heck out of Fx. And I mentioned that if you do that, you need to be able to fix it too because we don't want to, and you said you didn't mind. Sooo..., better get cracking.