Firefox 3.5 Excessive CPU/Memory Usage(Copernic issue)

[reft]

I have seen a number of posts stating that Firefox 3.5 on Windows does not exit properly (it has to be ended from Task Manager), and/or that it will not start. I believe that they may well be the same issue - Firefox will not re-start because it has not yet quit from the previous run. I have experienced these symptoms myself since upgrading. I have seen a separate post saying that Firefox grabs excessive mounts of CPU usage after a period of inactivity. I have experienced that, too. I have also noted that the memory footprint/usage changes dramatically over time. An example - when I first started Firefox this morning it did not start, but showed as using 21,500 K memory. I ended the process and restarted it. It then used 65,636 K (that was at 7:35 am). I was on the index page of this forum (the only open page). Without any further activity on the computer, when I returned to it at 9:29 am the memory usage was up to 108,568 K.

It occurs to me (guided by various responses) that this could be an extensions issue. So I thought I'd list my extensions, and see if anyone else is experiencing similar issues with the same extensions. A little bit of history first: I had removed the Skype extension a few weeks before upgrading. After upgrading I removed Forecastbar Enhanced and the .NET Framework Assistant (v1.0) extension (per the guidelines at: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article08-600 and http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ms-dotnet-firefox.html). I am left with the following extensions, some of which I have disabled to see if I can stop FF grabbing all the cycles on one of my CPU cores:

Ant Toolbar 1.3 (Disabled by FF as incompatible with 3.5)
British English Dictionary 1.19 (Enabled)
Cooliris 1.11 (Enabled)
Copernic Desktop Search - Home Connector 1.0.0.30 (Disabled. This is the most recent 'disable' I have done, and my CPU over usage issue may have gone away as a result)
DownThemAll 1.1.4 (Enabled)
Forecastfox 0.9.10.1 (Enabled)
Hyperwords 5.5.4 (Disabled)
Tab Mix Plus 0.3.7.4pre.090516 (Enabled)
Weave 0.4.0 (Disabled)
WOT 20090414 (Enabled)
Xmarks 3.1.1 (Enabled)

I am running on Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit), 4Gb RAM, Intel Pentium Dual E2180 @ 2GHz.

Do others having the same issues have similar extension lists?

I believe that disabling an extension may not stop it misbehaving, but I do want my extensions...

[Alice]

Firefox not exiting properly may be due to Cooliris or other extensions. Try updating or temporarily disabling all extensions. For other causes, read:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_hangs#Hang_at_exit

Firefox 3.5 not starting or taking a very long time to start may be a separate issue.
See:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser_will_not_start_up#Firefox_3.5_delayed_startup

[MHeidinger]

I have not installed most of the Add-Ons you have, but I have experienced the same problem. The problem was gone once I disabled the Copernic Desktop Search Home connector so you can assume this one is causing the problem.
I have already escalated this to Copernic support but not received any reply yet. I will post further information here once I have got reply from Copernic.

[hazizo]

I've got none of the mentioned addons, yet i still experience the same symptoms you are describing

[natgild]

I am having the same CPU issues that started when I upgraded to firefox 3.5.

Of the adons above, I have

WOT
Copernic Desktop Search
Xmarks

I disabled WOT first and it "seems" to have solved the problem for me.

[reft]

Well, since disabling the Copernic add-on, I have not had the excessive CPU usage problem. Memory usage seems erratic, however. When I just closed down FF the memory it was using was at 180,896 K. Restarting and loading the exact same pages, the usage is hovering at between 102,764 K and 114180 K.

[reft]

For people who are using Comodo firewall, there may be an answer to this problem at: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1338785&p=6892805#p6892805 .

[natgild]

Oops, disabling WOT did not stop my excessive CPU use.

[MHeidinger]

try copernic ... i a rather sure this will help

[reft]

Disabling the Corpernic add-on seemed to stop the excessive CPU usage for me. Memory usage still seems high (and increases over time), though.

[rcharif]

After I upgraded to 3.5 (on WinXP Pro), I would see CPU usage jump to 50% and stay there after FF had been running for a while. Also, memory usage steadily crept up (e.g. 89,000 K -> 109,000 K in 15 minutes of no activity with a single simple tab open). Quitting left the firefox.exe process running, which had to be killed via Task Manager. Clued in by some posts above I started playing with turning add-ons off and on. Culprit turned out to be Copernic Home Connector (which I have no recollection of ever explicitly installing). Cooliris was not a problem. Now-- does anyone know how to Uninstall (not just Disable) Copernic?

[Alice]

Now-- does anyone know how to Uninstall (not just Disable) Copernic?

If "Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions" lets you disable, but not uninstall, then it may be one of the extensions that some programs install via the Windows Registry. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_add-ons#Windows_Registry_extension

[LIMPET235]

You should be able to remove it via the Control Panel > Add & Remove.......
Check with Copernic?

[Gracie44]

Can uninstall Copernic itself via Add/Remove, but not the Copernic FF add-on.

[Guest]

Can uninstall Copernic itself via Add/Remove, but not the Copernic FF add-on.

Hmm. What happens if you go into Copernic options and uncheck the option to index Firefox content? Does that uninstall the extension or allow you to do so?