Firefox trick, fixes freezing.....

[froglips]

I'm coming to you as a normal user, not speaking from the site Staff.

If you have ever noticed that Firefox seems to freeze, then resume there is a possible fix.

The problem is caused by a benefit. The Restore Session.

If you have 5 pages open, Firefox is saving all the info from these pages. Should your browser crash, all those opened pages could be restored.

The problem? Its checking and saving session information every 10 seconds.

On our site, if you ever noticed the smilie icons stop or the scrolling marquee across the top of the page stops, then continues, this is why.

The fix . File -> Open Location -> enter this as a URL "about:config"

Now you will see a long list of things.

At the top of the page, look for a text box named "Filter", type this in it "browser.sessionstore"

You have two options.

You can disable the Restore Session completely.
-"browser.sessionstore.enabled" - you can double click on this line to change it from true to False.

A different option is to increase the frequency from 10 seconds to something higher.
- "browser.sessionstore.interval" - double click on the line, a box will open up with the value. 10000 is the default, many recommend 3000000 or more.

I was blown away by the results.

Now, CAUTION, WARNING, DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!!

You are monkeying with browser settings. This can break your browser. Also, if you have a browser crash and the Session Restore didn't save your pages, you are out of luck.

So, please make your own decision as to if this is something you want to try.

Thanks!
Jim

[Trent Mason]

That's really cool Jim. When I typed in "about:config" it said "be careful! This may void your warranty!" I laughed and thought, "what warranty? What is this, a car?" Can you show me how to get my warranty back on my car?

I didn't mess with any of the settings, but that is still a cool page to check out. I didn't even know it existed.

[SteveColes]

Very interesting, in my mac version of FF 3.5.2, browser.sessionstore.enabled does not exist

[froglips]

First, I found a doc "Session Restore - MozillaZine Knowledge Base" http://kb.mozillazine.org/Session_Restore

Do you have the browser.sessionstore.interval option? I see more pages recommend making that a bigger number over totally disabling it.

You may also try adding it through the about:config page. If I right click, I can add a New boolian entry. Maybe the Mac powers that be want to keep this enabled for you happiness

Jim

Originally Posted by SteveColes

Very interesting, in my mac version of FF 3.5.2, browser.sessionstore.enabled does not exist

[PeteM]

Originally Posted by SteveColes

Very interesting, in my mac version of FF 3.5.2, browser.sessionstore.enabled does not exist

On the Mac it's "browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash" and "browser.sessionstore.interval"

Just scroll on down and you'll find them

pete

[Howard Acheson]

>>> I was blown away by the results.

In what way? Does it just cause the saving function to occur less frequently? In my case, the scrolling only stops for an instant every 10 seconds. Of course, the interruption to my typing is more due to my poor typing skills than the "restore" function.

Just trying to see if I should make the change.

[froglips]

I am a speedy typer, not to brag or anything. So 10 second freezing gets annoying.

One of the main reasons "they" suggest this, is it helps with streaming videos (such as youtube).

Jim

[Trent Mason]

Jim,

I just made the change you're talking about. I increased it to 3000000. When I opened up FF it was roughly the same speed, but now I have 4 windows open and it is incredible how fast it is. Thanks for the tip.