Firefox Memory Leaks?

[esskay]

Appreciate any tips from folks.

Running Firefox 3.6.13 on Win XP on my Laptop (Dell E4200 with 2GB RAM)

After starting up Firefox uses about 200-ish MB of memory. Plugin-container process is at ~30MB. I usually have 3 windows with 2-5 tabs in each.

By the end of the day, Firefox gets up to maybe 500MB of memory usage and becomes incredibly sluggish. Plugin-container hits maybe 50MB.

Any help? Thanks!

[brianinca]

Shucks, I don't bother to restart firefox until it balloons past 1GB, looking at about 850 MB right now. All your windows are re-entrant so you're not dividing the load, I assume you're just making it easier to manage the tabs. Kill the process and let FF restore your previous session.

I run FlashBlock, I find flash to cause undue CPU utilization besides all the other issues it causes. If you're seeing sluggish behavior from high CPU load, this extension alone might resolve it.

Still better than IE8. Might try Opera 11, too.

Edit to add: My plugin container is at 14MB, more finger pointing at flash just from that difference.

Regards,
Brian in CA

[kablooie]

what/where is the plugin container?

[JDay]

The memory leaks are a well known issue with FireFox 3, I have heard that they are not present in FireFox 4 beta.

[freonr22]

The memory leaks are a well known issue with FireFox 3, I have heard that they are not present in FireFox 4 beta.

THANK YOU! did not know they had a beta!! just downloaded it, and like it much. My firefox has been crashing very frequently in the 4 days. this is most excellent adblock plus has a working version for it as well!!

[esskay]

Thanks guys, I don't really want to disable Flash...

Sounds like Firefox 4 might be the answer...

to Kablooie, explanation of plug in container here:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/704242

[choprzrul]

Opera 11.0

[Databyter]

Appreciate any tips from folks.

Running Firefox 3.6.13 on Win XP on my Laptop (Dell E4200 with 2GB RAM)

After starting up Firefox uses about 200-ish MB of memory. Plugin-container process is at ~30MB. I usually have 3 windows with 2-5 tabs in each.

By the end of the day, Firefox gets up to maybe 500MB of memory usage and becomes incredibly sluggish. Plugin-container hits maybe 50MB.

Any help? Thanks!

It's not the browser, it's all the adware and malware and unecesary startup programs and popups and etc etc that use it.

Use your firewall, turn off all the unecesary features you don't use in every application you install, use ad and popup blockers, and a decent antivirus.

I suspect that it's not your browser, but some 3rd party apps or malware that are piggy backing on it.

[esskay]

It's not the browser, it's all the adware and malware and unecesary startup programs and popups and etc etc that use it.

Use your firewall, turn off all the unecesary features you don't use in every application you install, use ad and popup blockers, and a decent antivirus.

I suspect that it's not your browser, but some 3rd party apps or malware that are piggy backing on it.

I'm running Kaspersky, shouldn't have adware or malware, did a full scan not too long ago. Will re-check settings.

[brianinca]

Lookup Flashblock, it's selective use of Flash rather than your browser launching every Flash app without your say-so. Opera defaults to this behavior, which is a compelling feature vs IE8 and FF3.

Regards,
Brian in CA

[Merc1138]

It's not the browser, it's all the adware and malware and unecesary startup programs and popups and etc etc that use it.

Use your firewall, turn off all the unecesary features you don't use in every application you install, use ad and popup blockers, and a decent antivirus.

I suspect that it's not your browser, but some 3rd party apps or malware that are piggy backing on it.

No, it's the browser. Firefox 2 and 3 are notorious resource hogs that if left open long enough will eventually use up a few hundred MB of ram. This isn't something that happens in a few minutes, it's an issue that is problematic for people who leave their computers on 24/7 with the browser open. The development team has admitted to the problems.

If you actually turn your computer off, it's not something you'd notice in normal operation.

[esskay]

No, it's the browser. Firefox 2 and 3 are notorious resource hogs that if left open long enough will eventually use up a few hundred MB of ram. This isn't something that happens in a few minutes, it's an issue that is problematic for people who leave their computers on 24/7 with the browser open. The development team has admitted to the problems.

If you actually turn your computer off, it's not something you'd notice in normal operation.

This is my ultraportable laptop, so I have it in and out of standby/hibernation a lot, I wonder if that has any effect (beyond just the equivalent amount of cumulative run time). I usually only shut down/restart when the computer starts getting really sluggish, when I have updates, or just proactively for a fresh slate.

[Merc1138]

This is my ultraportable laptop, so I have it in and out of standby/hibernation a lot, I wonder if that has any effect (beyond just the equivalent amount of cumulative run time). I usually only shut down/restart when the computer starts getting really sluggish, when I have updates, or just proactively for a fresh slate.

No, putting it in standby doesn't do anything additionally with the problems firefox has, but as you noted the cumulative runtime is the problem. It happens to me on my laptop as well, since I always just put the thing in standby leaving firefox open. My desktop PCs that stay on usually end up with firefox closed for whatever reason(I don't leave it open all the time while playing a game or watching a video). Just restarting firefox every now and then(couple of days) is enough to take care of it. Also, firefox 3 isn't quite as bad as firefox 2 was with this problem but I haven't messed with the firefox 4 beta myself yet to see how it holds up over time.

I have noticed in 3, that if you use more tabs and less windows, that it doesn't happen anywhere near as quick. I don't know why that is, but it's just what I've noticed.

[Cbr1000Rider]

I thought everyone had moved to chrome already

[Databyter]

No, it's the browser. Firefox 2 and 3 are notorious resource hogs that if left open long enough will eventually use up a few hundred MB of ram. This isn't something that happens in a few minutes, it's an issue that is problematic for people who leave their computers on 24/7 with the browser open. The development team has admitted to the problems.

If you actually turn your computer off, it's not something you'd notice in normal operation.

In my case it isn't memory with Firefox, but overall stability, probablyonly because I have memory to spare. I would estimate that for a 3 hour surfing session it will crash at least once, maybe several times.

I'm not sure why, other than it just isn't perfected yet I suppose.

I'm getting tired of all the polite apologies the software gives me, "oops we messed up your browsing again sorry, do you want to try it again?".