# FF Slow Start Up



## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I recently tried FF 3.5 but didn't like it, since it wouldn't load most of my add-ons, so I reverted back to the previous version..

I've always found the FF browser annoyingly slow to load and the 3.5 version doesn't seem to be any better
I had almost reconciled myself to the fact that this wasn't going to get any better..and if I stayed with FF, I would just have to put up with it..

Then yesterday I came across a program called "Firefox Preloader"..
Some of you may already be familiar with it, but only having been with FF a short time, it was news to me..
So I downloaded it and immediately there was a significant improvement in the start up time of the browser..It really made my day!! :bigsmile:

If you haven't tried the program, here is the link..
http://www.techiecorner.com/48/speed-up-firefox-start-up-time-with-firefox-preloader/


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I haven't really ever noticed mine loading that slow. It only takes about 3-4 seconds.


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

> I haven't really ever noticed mine loading that slow. It only takes about 3-4 seconds.


Same here, but I read that Mozilla is rushing to get a 3.51 release completed since there have been quite a few bugs found including a speed problem in some computers....

brucek


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

There is a thread here http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...speed-up-firefox-page-loading.html#post168485 which I found works well -even more so when connected through my wireless connection.


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## Harpmaker (Oct 28, 2007)

It depends on what programs I had running before I launch FF 3.5. Sometimes it comes up in 6 seconds, sometimes 30 seconds. System is a 1.7 GHz Celeron with 1GB RAM.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Harpmaker said:


> It depends on what programs I had running before I launch FF 3.5. Sometimes it comes up in 6 seconds, sometimes 30 seconds. System is a 1.7 GHz Celeron with 1GB RAM.


That's the sort of time mine was taking, anything up to about 8 seconds...
That's with Satellite Broadband..
Now with the Preloader it takes about 3 seconds to start up.. every time..


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## Harpmaker (Oct 28, 2007)

Prof. said:


> That's the sort of time mine was taking, anything up to about 8 seconds...
> That's with Satellite Broadband..
> Now with the Preloader it takes about 3 seconds to start up.. every time..


If I understand how pre-loaders work, it starts so fast because most of it stays in memory all the time. A trick from TSR programs from the good old DOS days. My questions is, how much does that really differ from simply starting FF and leaving it run in the background?


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Harpmaker said:


> If I understand how pre-loaders work, it starts so fast because most of it stays in memory all the time. A trick from TSR programs from the good old DOS days. My questions is, how much does that really differ from simply starting FF and leaving it run in the background?


If FF is running in the background, then there's no improvement to be had..
It's when you have to re-boot..or switch off and then start up FF again later..That's when it gives you the faster start up time..

I download a lot of software tryout programs, which require re-booting after making any adjustments..
Sometimes I will re-boot up to 10 times in the course of a session, and have to reload FF each time..Hence the need for a faster startup time..


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## Harpmaker (Oct 28, 2007)

After reboot huh... I try not to have to do that very often. It takes my system better than 3 minutes to boot so I just let 'er run 24/7 unless the power goes out or I have to reboot for some reason. It actually isn't as wasteful of energy as you might think because I keep strange hours; besides, with a 3 minute boot time by the time the system would start from a cold boot I might forget what it was I wanted to use the PC for! Don't laugh you young whippersnappers... you'll get there too one of these years! :yes:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Harpmaker said:


> with a 3 minute boot time by the time the system would start from a cold boot I might forget what it was I wanted to use the PC for! Don't laugh you young whippersnappers... you'll get there too one of these years! :yes:


Hahaha...I know the feeling!..I even forget sometimes in the middle of a "Search"..what I'm searching for..:rofl:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Well I've just downloaded FF V.3.0.12 and what a vast improvement over V.3.0.11!!
The browser now loads as fast as the preloader did..and all my add-ons are accepted..:T
I think I'll stay with this version until FF improve add-on acceptance with 3.5..


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## xflapx (Jul 23, 2009)

A preloader loads part of firefox at start-up, so no matter how you look at it you are still waiting for firefox to load whether it be when you start windows or when you click on firefox. Not to mention it's an extra program that takes up system resources and clouds your registry. There are plenty of other ways to optimize your operating system to start, and load individual programs, more successfully. If you are looking for perceived performance improvements, then a preloader is perfectly fine, but it's more of a card trick than actual magic. If you are trying out a lot of programs, that can cause slow-downs in system performance too. Simply uninstalling rarely removes every change an installer creates with a new program, over time this excess can severely effect window's ability to access information quickly and efficiently. The best advice I can give is to partition a drive and run a test OS where you try out new programs before installing the ones you truly expect to use on your main OS.

I'd be glad to point anyone in the right direction when it comes to slow and sluggish system performance and specific problems, as well as dispel any claims that vista is half the monster it is made out to be. I have vista running on a pentium 3 ghz single core laptop with 1 gig of memory and shared video ram that not only runs vista with no problems, it manages to play 1080p matroska video files.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

xflapx said:


> If you are trying out a lot of programs, that can cause slow-downs in system performance too. Simply uninstalling rarely removes every change an installer creates with a new program, over time this excess can severely effect window's ability to access information quickly and efficiently.


Thanks for the info..

I'm aware of the problems that can be created when installing and uninstalling software programs..that's why I do a full service on the computer once a week..
I use anti-spyware, malware, ant-virus, defragmenter and registry cleaners to remove all the nasties some of these programs leave behind..seven in all..
My computer is very clean..:bigsmile: :T

After all these experiments with various software programs and changing a few things in the FF directory, my system is now working at peak performance..


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## 8086 (Aug 4, 2009)

The most probable reason for slow loading of Firefox is that you may have too many plugins installed. Go to the plug in manager and disable or uninstall your least used or least favorite plugins.


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