Is FireFox Killing Your Productivity?
When you are self employed, nothing is more important than being able to get what you need done, when you need to do it. Unfortunately, a lot of people are having problems these days with FireFox and that is causing a serious decline in productivity.
Are you suffering from Firefox blues? I’ve had a few people complain to me lately about this and while I’m no expert, I do know a couple of tricks that might be able tot help you get back on track. If anyone more experienced reads this, I welcome additional tips in the comments.
First of all, the most common issues being faced with Firefox right now are the following:
- Slow or stuttered scrolling
- Crashing, either at random or when a certain number of tabs are opened
- A very annoying message “Firefox is already running” when you try to restart it
- Very slow load times
If you are running into any of these issues there could be a problem, but it might NOT be Firefox.
1. New version glitches
Firefox prompts you to install the latest versions, but sometimes the latest isn’t the greatest. There have been quite a few issues with recent updates, so if you noticed that the problems started shortly after you installed a new version of Firefox, try uninstalling and reinstalling an older version.
2. Malware
Unfortunately, malware is rampant online and if you spend any time surfing the web, chances are you’re going to end up with a nasty virus or spyware. Sometimes these can cause errors in browsers. The best way to fix this is to keep an antivirus running on your computer, but these don’t always catch everything, so you should run scans every so often.
One program (free) that I have had quite a bit of success with is MalwareBytes. Kaspersky is another very powerful and free antivirus that has knocked off some very tough malware from my computer.
3. Faulty extensions
One of the nice things about Firefox is the number of add-ons or extensions that are available to enhance the browser. Unfortunately, not all of these are great. Some of them cause glitches in the browser because of bad coding, others aren’t designed for the most recent updates.
Here’s a handy list of problematic extensions. You can also go to Tools, Add-Ons in Firefox and then uninstall anything you feel might be causing a problem.
Hope this helps if you are having issues with Firefox. Again, if you are more experienced, please leave your tips below.
I *have* been having trouble with Firefox recently. I thought it was just me! Fortunately, I am a Mac user, and can switch over to Safari, which is still better than Internet Explorer. I hope Firefox gets their act together soon, though, since they have so many cool add-ons available. I’ll miss them if I have to switch to Safari for very long.
I had this exact issue this afternoon with Firefox, it just keeps crashing and stuttering, I thought it was because of the Dell laptop intervening with its “management” system – I often shout at it that it works for me and not vice versa!
Let me know if the shouting works, mortgage.
My Firefox always tells me it’s running when I try to restart. I have to wait a second before I can open the browser back up and then this doesn’t happen. My biggest pet peeve with Firefox is that it doesn’t allow me to cut and paste. I found a way around it by going up to Edit, Cut and then Edit, Paste, but I would rather just use my mouse and right click. Other than that, I really love Firefox. IE is horrible.
I had the same issue with restarting Firefox, but since reinstalling an older version (2.0, I believe) it hasn’t been an issue. The cut and paste function is a basic, though! I didn’t realize that doesn’t work (I usually just copy). Hopefully Firefox will listen to all the complaints and start testing browsers a bit better before sending them out.
I’ve had a few issues here and there with Firefox, but overall it is really growing on me. I love the extensions and how you can personalize it (IE is working on this too). I don’t know if it has made me less productive because many features about it truly help me. One thing I absolutely hate is when you save a file, and it won’t give you an option to save it in a certain folder. It just saves it to your desktop. Anyone know how to get around this?
Actually, there is an easy way to fix that problem, Jake. Go to Tools, Options and there is an option where you can set it to ask you where to save each time. Hope that helps! I’m pretty stuck on Firefox myself, but they just have had so many issues, it’s quite frustrating.
Genesis, you are a life-saver! thanks for showing me how to adjust that setting!
No problem! I know it drove me INSANE for so long.
Has anyone had problems with firefox being closed due to freezing, yet not turning off in the task manager?
Ive been extremely disappointed with firefox lately. I have some glitch that doesnt let me open the browser meaning im back in IE until I can get it fixed…for the past year its been my browser of choice but now im looking closely at Google Chrome as an alternative…
I’m having a problem with opening .pdf files in firefox. Actually, it’s closing .pdf files. They open just fine. When I close them firefox “freezes” up, and I have to close it using task manager. Any advice anybody?
@Equity, That seems to be a pretty common issue, and supposedly Firefox is working on it, so hopefully there will be a fix soon!
@Jake, can’t help you with the PDF thing, but perhaps another reader has some advice?
Funny that you mention this my husbands computer is still at the geek squad doctors. He was hit by some nasty virus from a website he downloaded material from. They mentioned that Kaspersky is a great service and would help him from getting other viruses. I wish I had the string or word that he received the virus but I do know it was enough to crash the whole computer. THanks for the update.
I personally use 2-3 antiviruses now, including Kaspersky, which is also good AFTER you have a virus. It wipes out just about everything nasty.