FF drawing too many resources . . . ?

[Bruce L.]

This has been an intermittent problem in the past year but in the past few days it is driving me nuts. It happens once a month or so and I think it has something to do with Windows update. I'm on auto update but there seems to be two different updates and one of them does NOT automatically update. Then there's the problem of MS always installing Edge which I have no interest in.

My Asus laptop fan keeps blowing wide open for a half-minute or so (maybe less) then idles down. Then it starts up again, the cycle continues, never stops. In previous times it would eventually stop after a couple days but not this time. I can close the browser and everything else but the fan keeps going. Rebooting does not help.

Task manager shows various draws: FF (I've run in safe mode but it didn't help and can actually make it worse). Sometimes FF "Power Usage" will show "High" or "Very High" and sometimes not. Various other things in the list may or may not show as being a problem. It all seems random. I've Googled this problem to death. All I get is "try this," or "try that," or various work-arounds.

Now this afternoon the fan will run for maybe 10 seconds, shut off, and do it all again. The "Power Useage" and "Power Useage Trends" can all be "Low" or "Very low," but it doesn't matter, fan runs anyway.

I'm at my wit's end. Although FF sometimes shows up as the problem, not always -- so I'm still thinking (from Googling around) that it has something to do with Windows updates. I have posted this problem a couple times in the past year on Windows forums but all I ever get is suggestions (none work) and workarounds -- which I'm not interested in. I want to find and solve the problem of why it is overheating, or why it THINKS it is overheating.

Can anyone here direct me to a forum that can help with this? TIA!

[mightyglydd]

Did you ever try a New test Profile?

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... #p14804840

[LIMPET235]

This sounds more than a Firefox problem.

Moving to the Tech. forum...

[mightyglydd]

Well until he tries a new profile (which has been suggested before and conveniently ignored ) we won't know will we?

[LIMPET235]

MG...
He said that he's tried Safe Mode & it didn't make any difference.....(actually made it worse?)
Maybe the laptop is full of dust & requires a clean?

Will wait 'n' see how he goes.

[Bruce L.]

Did you ever try a New test Profile?

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... #p14804840

That was a different computer, different problem. My current laptop is only 11 months old. Everything works fine except for the crazy random fan.

I don't know how to create a new profile, but I guess I could google around and figure it out. Does this mean I would lose all my personal settings, desktop, etc.?

Doing so would be a workaround. Is there no way of actually diagnosing and fixing the problem? I've been noticing this for 20 or more years when it comes to computers and (computerized) cars -- the technology advances faster than the ability to diagnose and fix problems.

[mightyglydd]

Does this mean I would lose all my personal settings, desktop, etc.?

No, you can go back to the old one; but if a new one works you likely wouldn't want to use that one because it contains the problem.
Takes five minutes max. (don't add anything)
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_ne ... on_Windows
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pr ... x-profiles

@Going backwards and forwards with Fx versions using the same profile and Windows System Restores can corrupt profiles .

[Bruce L.]

Does this mean I would lose all my personal settings, desktop, etc.?

No, you can go back to the old one; but if a new one works you likely wouldn't want to use that one because it contains the problem.
Takes five minutes max. (don't add anything)
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_ne ... on_Windows
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pr ... x-profiles

@Going backwards and forwards with Fx versions using the same profile and Windows System Restores can corrupt profiles .

Ah ok, I thought you guys were talking about an entirely new Windows account/profile.

I'll give the new FF profile a whirl.