Add-ons can add functionality to your browser. Firefox has a lot of great add-ons that work well and don’t slow Firefox to a crawl. But there are others which can adversely affect Firefox’s performance – some can not only cause Firefox to run slower but take a lot longer for it to start up.
Without any add-ons, Firefox starts up in the blink of an eye. And if you’re careful, and choose your add-ons wisely, you can add features to Firefox without much impact on its performance.
We found this very interesting list on Mozilla’s (the company who makes Firefox) Website. We thought you’d find this interesting – especially if you’re a Firefox fan. But even if you don’t use Firefox, this will make you aware that add-ons can affect your browser’s performance, whether you use Internet Explorer, Chrome or another browser. You should pick your add-ons with care. If you notice your browser isn’t performing as it once did, the first thing you should do isn’t change browsers, but to check your add-ons. You can disable them one-by-one until you find the culprit(s).
Here’s the information from the Mozilla Website on add-ons known to slow Firefox. The first number is the general slowdown average across all operating systems. Since so many of you are not using Windows 7, we’ve included the figures for Windows 7 as well:
“Slow Performing Add-ons
Add-ons provide many useful features and functions, but they can also cause Firefox to become slower. Some add-ons can even slow Firefox to a crawl and make it difficult to use for regular web browsing. If you think add-ons might be the reason Firefox is lethargic, check the list below for some of the biggest bottlenecks. And remember, for best performance you should disable add-ons that you no longer use regularly.
Add-ons with Slow Start-up
The following add-ons have a significant impact on how long it takes Firefox to start up.
#1 Firebug
79% slower
Windows 7 – 75% slower
#2 SimilarWeb – Find the Best Sites on the Internet
76% slower
Windows 7 – 227% slower
#3 FoxLingo – Translator / Dictionary
71% slower
Windows 7 – 71% slower
#4 FoxyTunes
68% slower
Windows 7 – 57% slower
#5 Personas Plus
67% slower
Windows 7 – 203% slower
#6 FoxClocks
46% slower
Windows 7 – 49% slower
#7 Video DownloadHelper
33% slower
Windows 7 – 34% slower
#8 FastestFox – Browse Faster
32% slower
Windows 7 – 39% slower
#9 Feedly
29% slower
Windows 7 – 29% slower…”
If you’re interested, you can read more at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/performance/#addon-11 .
A couple of weeks ago you provided us with some items that could be used (Ex. Alt + 1 Smiley face; Alt + 2 Black smiley face.) I copied the page and have been tring to use them when I’m using Outlook Express, but no luck. Have I missed something? I’ve even tried to see if it would work using Microsoft Word but no luck there either!!!
HELP HELP
Arnie
I really don’t have any idea what you’re referring to – I’m sorry.
hello , i did a complete delete on Fire Fox
, simply , because it was making my computer so slow, that it was awful !! .and now my computer runs great !! every thing runs zip , zip , should have this a long time ago, and saved my self lots of grief !! bye , stay happy and smooth computing !! ..
Firefox can’t slow a computer down because it doesn’t use that much of your resources – unless you have 25 or 30 tabs open at a time. It uses less resources than Internet Explorer 9 (tab by tab). And Firefox doesn’t have anything to do with zip files or program associations for zip files. All Windows versions since Windows XP have support for opening zipped (compressed files). So not sure why your computer runs faster now – or why your zip files were incorrectly associated – but we’re glad your computer runs “smoothly”. Sounds to me like you don’t have enough system RAM, though.
good morning , thank you for answering my
e-mail , about Fire Fox . yes, you are right, i am low on memory, which i am sure is the problem. and oh when i said zip ~~
i did not mean zip files, sorry , i just meant my computer was zipping along very nice !! ..love , love your news letter . its very helpful!!. we have to keep our computers happy !!. keep up the good work and have a wonderful day . Bye , Joyce
I have been a Foxfire,Mozilla user for a long and have enjoyed using their site to access the web. The only problems I have ever experinced were in the past when other sites were not yet compatible. I haven’t run into any which I can’t reach from Foxfire except recently I am getting a lot can’t find page messages. I usually end up having to unplug then reboot my router and everything else a couple of times to get things working again. When I go to some sites (mainly Facebook) the first page is a white screen with the choices for page I want to view across the top. The only connection which seems to work is my friends. Any suggestions on what I might need to fix or do? I ran my CA antivirus and Paratologic scans without finding any real problems with either one. I used a one time program Cloudeight had recommended once to fix some problems I had, it was great but I don’t have the link any longer and don’t remember the name of the program. The program advertised Best Buy used their program and charged to run it if you took your computer into them for repair.