Firefox hogging the CPU

E

esbo

New Member
OK so I run firefox (3.6.2) and do some stuff, it's OK at first but then I notice it is at 100% CPU after a while when I am not doing anything in particular.
Normally I would close tabs and the CPU would drop down, but now it stays at 100%, or basically all the CPU it can grab.
Now if I restart FF with all the same tabs open again the CPU will be prett low,
say about 15%.

It seems something graps the CPU after a while and won't let go without a restart.
Obviously its annoying.

Any idea?

I have read some stuf about plugings but I havae not found a solution.

Also I tried to run 'java consle' from the tools menu and when I click it basicaly nothing happens.
I am not too sure what I expect to happen, but certainly something should? Surely?

Any help appreciated. :good:
 
Hi esbo,

Have you scanned for malware? Run Malwarebyte's Antimalware in safe mode, remove anything it finds.

You may also want to download and install Piriform CCleaner to analyze and fix issues w/ your registry.

You can disable unneeded processes from starting up by doing the following:
Go to Start-->Run-->type in 'msconfig' and hit <enter>

In the Startup tab, uncheck everything that you do not need running in the background at startup and click "Apply." Then, in the Services tab, check Hide All Microsoft Services, uncheck everything that you do not need running in the background at startup and click "Apply." Restart the computer.

Be forewarned that you may need certain programs to run at startup, especially display drivers, etc. If you do not feel comfortable removing startup entries on your own, please do the following:

Download and run the executable for TrendMicro HijackThis!. Press the button labeled "Open the Misc Tools Section". Then check both the check boxes next to the "Generate StartupList Log" button and click the button. Click the button to generate the list, save it and upload it as an attachment to your next post, and I or some other forum member will advise you on what to disable.

If Malwarebyte's does find some nasties, after you've removed them, run TrendMicro HijackThis! in safe mode and post your scan log here and we'll see if there's anything else that needs to be looked at.

You could also defragment your hard drive(s) and see if that helps your performance.

After you've done all of the above, please uninstall Firefox (Start-->Control Panel-->Add
and Remove Programs), run CCleaner to remove registry entries and then download and install the latest version of Firefox.

Then post back with the results.

Good Luck! :D
 
Last edited:
deanj20 said:
Hi esbo,

Have you scanned for malware? Run Malwarebyte's Antimalware in safe mode, remove anything it finds.

You may also want to download and install Piriform CCleaner to analyze and fix issues w/ your registry.

You can disable unneeded processes from starting up by doing the following:
Go to Start-->Run-->type in 'msconfig' and hit <enter>

In the Startup tab, uncheck everything that you do not need running in the background at startup and click "Apply." Then, in the Services tab, check Hide All Microsoft Services, uncheck everything that you do not need running in the background at startup and click "Apply." Restart the computer.

Be forewarned that you may need certain programs to run at startup, especially display drivers, etc. If you do not feel comfortable removing startup entries on your own, please do the following:

Download and run the executable for TrendMicro HijackThis!. Press the button labeled "Open the Misc Tools Section". Then check both the check boxes next to the "Generate StartupList Log" button and click the button. Click the button to generate the list, save it and upload it as an attachment to your next post, and I or some other forum member will advise you on what to disable.

If Malwarebyte's does find some nasties, after you've removed them, run TrendMicro HijackThis! in safe mode and post your scan log here and we'll see if there's anything else that needs to be looked at.

You could also defragment your hard drive(s) and see if that helps your performance.

After you've done all of the above, please uninstall Firefox (Start-->Control Panel-->Add
and Remove Programs), run CCleaner to remove registry entries and then download and install the latest version of Firefox.

Then post back with the results.

Good Luck! :D
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for that.
I tried just the service in MSCONFIG as I am familir with the other startup items. I just left anti virus and firewall stuff operational.
It does seem to be better as it has been up for a while now and has not hit 100% CPU and I have 12 tabs open. The CPU is coming back down at the moment.
Not sure if it is cured yet, as I have though I had cured it before only for it to return.

Also when I exited MSconfig I got some error that I was not the administerator (which I nver got before!!) and so I could not make changes.
Apperently the changes are made when you get this message, but I need to fix that too.
It's only recently that happended and the only thing I can think of causing it was a java console add-on I installed (but it does not appear on the add on list!!).


It wiil try the other stuff but scans take ages.
It is back at 100% now aftre I used a site which had steaming video on it, it went up to 100% and statyed there even when I close the tab.
 
I have the latest version of firefox, I would actually like to run an older version, ie one which worked ;)

Anywhere I can get older versions?
 
deanj20 said:
I've seen viruses that do that. Have you installed and run an antivirus program in safe mode? I recommend AVG free: http://free.avg.com/us-en/download.prd-afg
Click to expand...


I have AVG standard installed.
I have not ran it in safe mode, it will take ages to run 6+ hours I expect as I have piles of small files, maybe I can skip them.

I suspect some java pluging I tried and also this site:-
http://khlara.info/
It's a proxy which I was runnig however when I ran it from IE as opposed to firefox it detected a virus and blocked it, however that was after the event of the CPU problems.
 
Anyway I am back on FF 3.5 now, I will see if that makes a difference, if it cure it then that will indicate 3.6 is the problem.
 
The problem seems to be there with 3.5 too however this is interesting
"Firefox 3.5 is the first browser to support open video formats, allowing movies to become part of today’s dynamic web pages without requiring a plug-in. Go ahead – give it a try"

I willl try a pre 3.5 version if I can get one.
 
Well I am on 3.0 and it it does not seem to stick so far but I have not been using it for long.
Maybe the same people wrote the software as did the software for the accelerators on Toyotas?
I will see how I get on with 3.0 for a while.
 
Ran the malware but it didn't find anything (quick scan) apart from windows firewall and AV disabled.
I tend to think it is bloated or buggy software myself, but hard to narrow it down if it's java or a plugging player.
 
I have decide to switch to Chrome for a while, this should be a good move for two reasons:-

a) It's not Firefox!! So I should be able to narrow down where the problems lies.

b) Chrome runs in seperate processors, so if the if the problem persists I should be able to kill off the offending processors and that should help identify the root of the problem.

Seems a sensible approach I think, but a bit of a pain with passwords and favourites not being on Chrome.
 
Interesting, I opened a few windows in Chrome and got the CPU high, but it has not stuck at 100% yet.
Anyway I noted how much CPU each window was using and then I decided to kill off one of the Chrome processes (the one with highest CPU) and see which window crashed.
I was rather surprised when none did however, the two windows playing video stopped saying shockwave had crashed, so it seems Shockwave is handled by one Chrome process!!
 
Well I have been experimenting and I have 5 Chrome windows open displaying content, one with 3 tabs open, and one firefox window open displaying *nothing* and it uses from up to 84% CPU, although it does drop to 40% sometimes.
Hence I am ditching Firefox for Chrome untill they sort it out or I find out that problem is!!
 
Thanks I will have a look at those thing mentioned by PoolPaul but I have also been looking a Chrome more, however I guess if I had as many extensions with that as with Firefox I would be back to square one. If Chrome had a google like tool bar I think I would just switch now - lol.
One of the most useful feature is to be able to click on the words you googled on and search the *current* page, there are zillions of extensions which allow a search in a new window but none of them search the current window. Why?
 
MyCattMaxx said:
I'm at 17% with 32 tabs open with 3.6
Plus streaming Zappa Radio.
Click to expand...

Yea but are you running a Semperon 3000?
It depends what is in the tabs, it's the video/graphics which does the damage, I doubt music takes much of a toll on a PC.
Time I got that X2 processor I promised myself!
It's higher resolution graphics which gobble up the CPU cycles.

Nice Avatar by the way - lol.
 
^ That

I'm running a 2.8GHz northwood Pentium 4 right now, and when I stop doing things, Firefox's cpu usage drops to zero. Unless you're streaming something or browsing a Flash site, it shouldn't be doing anything.
 
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^^yep, yep. What he said. If it's not running 0% when idle, then you got other issues. Please see my OP, follow all the instructions in order, and I'll bet your problems will be solved. ;)
 
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