Posted on 11/21/2012 7:40:12 PM PST by One Name
Switched back to Mozilla Firefox before the election as IE was giving me fits. Everything was great for awhile but now FF fades every 20 keystrokes or so and I have to click to resume typing.
Old Dell computer on XP with DSL hookup
TChad’s (reply 18 above) suggestion is a good one.
Run FF in safe mode.
Also, kill all your other apps, in case one of them is interfering by stealing focus.
Thank you FRiend- that appears to have done it.
Don’t know what I did but that’s all it took. THANKS!
Usually that means that firefox memory usage has gone very high, probably due to a memory leak from one of your addons/plugins and you should restart firefox fairly frequently to get around this. You could try using something like Memory Restart to inform you when memory usage has gone too high and restart firefox. I’ve turned off the automatic restart option, and just use it to inform me of the memory usage.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/memory-restart/?src=userprofile
Good luck!
Thank you all so much for responding- TChad got it in post 18.
You all are great!
Got it solved for tonight but need to update this box soon. Thanks! God Bless!
“I don’t trust google. I use an anonymous search engine (ixquick).”
I hear you. But when I stripped everything out, even the oldies ran much better, loaded faster and smoother performance all around.
I run it at home too...maybe I’m a little less cautious than I ought to be...
You're welcome. Did you find the add-on that caused the problem?
What do you mean when you say that it “fades”?
Ah, you mean for some reason the app that is open somehow is no longer the active one? (on top)
yes, that is strange
Top bar fades from dark blue to light blue and goes out of text entry mode.
TChad solved it in post 18- thanks for checkin’!
No, but I went a lot of places in the last 2 weeks or so and don’t remember consciously agreeing to anything.
Thanks again for your rapid response. God Bless you and your family this Thanksgiving!
Ya it was like a tranny jumping out of gear (out of text-entry mode) whenever it wanted to. Problem solved, though- Thanks FRiend!
Get a MAC...
Got an I-phone a year and a half ago- got a foot in both worlds.
Good friend in the video-chopping industry (Rightchange.com)
left apple for good when it comes to puttin out the message...
Just be careful how you structure a sentence around the world “tranny”. lol.
You had to go there! LOL.
Trust me, the only gears I ever slipped in a tranny were purely metallic and not connected to my body!
lol
Several issues can make your computer run slow.
I have used this Dell Optiplex GX110 for years.
Factors affecting operational speed:
(1) CPU speed (this is 1000 Khz)
(2) Memory (this has 500 MB RAM, doubling it would help)
(3) Percentage of drive capacity used (this less than 50% full)
(4) Windows updating (turn off automatic updates, let it notify, but select updating when not using it for other tasks)
(5) Amount of unneeded Temporary Internet Files (keep purging these regularly)
(6) Malware (purge these files regularly with SpyBlaster, Spybot S&D, and Malware Bytes)
(7) Registry control (Run Easy Cleaner regularly)
(8) Disk fragmentation (Defragment regularly)
(9) Scanning by Antivirus (Limit this to off-use hours)
(10) Resident programs loaded at startup (minimize to acceptable level)
(11) Performance of graphics processor (get fast GPU card w/ enough RAM rather than onboard processor)
(12) Data transfer (ensure best quality of NIC card; esp if wireless, make sure card channel not the same as 2.4 GHz telephone channel)
(13) Open only one browser at a time, minimize other concurrently running applications)
(14) FF and Chrome (may be fast, but are not recommended for secure operation. IE always the most secure)
(15) OS (Ubuntu a good, much faster linkup than Windows, esp for older, slower computers. Runs FF and Chrome browsers; can have Windows and Linux on the same machine)
(16) If you have another user online with you, data rate will be divided between the, hence both slower.
(17) Hard disk RPM (old PATA 5400 RPM, esp in laptop is slower than 7200 RPM; SATA faster than PATA drives)
I use Chrome for Free Republic and other blogs that are not so sensitive to security. Although I have several computers online (desktop & laptops) I have been using this old computer for about 7 years, and it was second-hand and "slow" even then. It's slower, but rock-steady in performance under XP Pro. And Dell desktops have been very quiet in fan operation, less tiring for the regular operator.
Maintaining best speeds always involves regular file housekeeping of the system. Don't rely on "we'll do it for you" products that also slow you down if they are always resident and running. One of the biggest slowers are the antivirus programs, unfortunate but necessary.
Is your XP on your Dell a Dell-provided OEM version with Dell-provided hardware updates, or is it just a generic version? Dell's version might be a little better.
Actually, if you are maintaining it well, it should not be any slower now than it was when you bought it. The three biggest factors for a laptop are:
o More RAM
o Offload rarely or unneeded files to CD or DVD disks
o Replace hard drive with faster RPM/larger capacity drive
Ciao --
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