Firefox or Win Vista issues?

[bluffcityguy]

While doing my daily rounds of various hobby boards using Firefox (v. 3.6.2), I had what appeared to be a Windows Explorer lockup (the Firefox window froze, the Windows taskbar froze, and ctrl-alt-delete didn't work to bring up the screen from which I could lock computer/switch users/call Task Manager). At the time this happened, a CPU monitor I always run (part of the Win Vista sidebar) was showing about a 45-50% CPU load (about 50-55% RAM in use) and that continued. I waited about 3 minutes for things to get to normal on their own; they didn't so I had to clear the problem by powering down the computer.

This happened three times at two different boards (including ECCIE) in the space of about 30-40 minutes.

I think Firefox just recently pushed an update of the browser to my computer, and that might be the issue (AFAIR it's the only thing that's changed recently). Anyone else aware of problems like this with the latest version of Firefox (or have a clue what else the problem might be)? Lately, I have noticed (on both work and home machines) that the last several versions of Firefox have been CPU hogs which has had a tendency to slow my machine down. I'm wondering if it's time to move to a new default browser.

Thanks!

Cheers,

bcg

[yardape]

3.6.2 has bugs. I'm sticking w/ 3.6 til Moz fixes it.

[Guest030911]

get rid of Vista, too. It sucked ass. go to Win 7.

[charlestudor2005]

Originally Posted by bluffcityguy

I think Firefox just recently pushed an update of the browser to my computer, and that might be the issue (AFAIR it's the only thing that's changed recently). Anyone else aware of problems like this with the latest version of Firefox (or have a clue what else the problem might be)? Lately, I have noticed (on both work and home machines) that the last several versions of Firefox have been CPU hogs which has had a tendency to slow my machine down. I'm wondering if it's time to move to a new default browser.

Thanks!

Cheers,

bcg

bcg--I've noticed slower-than-normal problems lately, but haven't installed the 3.6.2 version yet. I've chalked it up to being on a hotel network. I love FF but want the speed to remain.

Originally Posted by cpi3000

get rid of Vista, too. It sucked ass. go to Win 7.

Solution: get a Mac. I got my first Mac a little over a year ago. At that time, my PC crashed 4x a day or more. Spent more time shutting it down and restarting it than I was able to spend surfing. Not one crash on the Mac since I got it over a year ago.

[bluffcityguy]

Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

Solution: get a Mac. I got my first Mac a little over a year ago. At that time, my PC crashed 4x a day or more. Spent more time shutting it down and restarting it than I was able to spend surfing. Not one crash on the Mac since I got it over a year ago.

As "Lauren"* said in the ads about a year ago, "I'm not cool enough to have a Mac" (read: "my parsimonious employer doesn't pay me enough to get a Mac")

The problems I'm talking about are on my work machine. That machine was purchased by my employer, and my employer decides what machine I get. A Mac was simply not an option there (they've sold out to Redmond, big time). Win 7 is an option, but I have a longstanding belief that anyone who moves to a new Microsoft operating system before the release of Service Pack 2 for it deserves any and all problems s/he has. I'm hearing enough good about Win 7 to be seriously tempted to try it, but then I keep thinking about my "Service Pack 2" rule...

Thanks for any/all input; I'm weighing my options.

Cheers,

bcg

* I know, I know, "Lauren" was an actress, not a real computer user (much less a geek girl) but damn...

[Guest021824]

I have left windows. I got a network and and got my first Mac book pro 17' about a year ago. Since then I brought a Mac desktop and still have one windows system (7) on my network. No problems with apple at all. Move away from Microsoft and you won't have any computer problems....lol

[Sarcastro]

I'm having similar issues with lockups. I've tried Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera and the lockups continue, with the only solution being to re-boot the system. I'm running a 64-bit self-built system with Vista. All the service packs and plug-ins are up to date.

Oddly, Google Chat and the Gmail snippets continue to function even as it appears that I've lost internet connectivity. Weird. I've pretty much resigned myself to living with the hiccups.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Vista is garbage....

[Tex9401]

Have you check for spyware and rootkits? They can used up system resources and CPU usages. I had to reimage a couple of my machines. Once you have your machine setup and software loaded. I get ghost image maded. If have any problems, then I back up my data, and reload image and machine is going on in 10 minutes.