Firefox uses ALOT of memory

Up to 700mb. When I have opened multiple tabs like 9-10 tabs and I keep opening and closing tabs for a while the memory usage of firefox goes up and up. I mean even if I have 1 tab open after closing 9-10, firefox.exe is still using 500-700mb and the only way to recover that memory is to restart firefox.

Is this a known issue that will be fixed in firefox 3 or how can i fix this problem?

 

I've noticed the same, although not quite that much memory usage. But it usually only gets real high after watching lots of videos on YouTube or something like that. I think maybe I read that FF 3 would fix, but can't recall for sure.

 

Same here. It's been this way forever. It seems ff does not free unused memory to the OS. If I have pages with lots of flash, java and other animated doodads open and keep FF running for days on end can gobbles a huge amount of memory (like you describe).

The many useful addons and quickness, and supposed security (mainly not supporting activex) still make it far worth it for me to use over IE. Restarting once in a long while isn't a big deal when you add a session manager which will restore all your open tabs and history from last time you closed FF (I use Tab Mix Plus).

And I also use Flashblock, which I think helps by cutting down flash ads.

 

i experience the same thing. its quite weird. looking forward to a fix.

 

Use IE7

Anyway, give FF3 a try.

 

in the address bar type about:config then in the search bar type cache and reduce the amount of disk cache and memory cache...this should help a bit

 

You could give Opera a try if the memory usage is really bugging you.

 

a good read in how to reduce memory usage in FF:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Reducing_memory_usage_(Firefox)
http://howto.helpero.com/howto/Reduce-Firefox-Memory-Usage_4.html

cheers ...

 

Are you sure it's not just 70MB? screenshot of taskmanager?(to take a screenshot press ''print screen'', open a MS Paint window, then edit, then paste, then save as, click JPEG. Upload it here)
FYI do you use FasterFox? You could clear the cache. Or try going into options & going to ''clear private data'' But, that'll delete all your passwords.
Try Firefox 3 Beta 2. (link) You can set a cache limit say to 10MBs?

 

Yeah, you could use Opera until FF3 comes out if you really need the memory.

 

Or try k-meleon.

 

Speaking of FF3, what is it due out?

 

I think it was February.

 

whats your firefox version? ive got 2.0+ and its working alright. even with 10-15 tabs. then again how many extensions do you have running? probably loaded with stuff

 

Yes, some extensions may cause memory leaking. Which ones do you have?

 

@alkaeda:
. personal suggestions.
. latest FF2.0.0.11
. u can UN.install FasterFox; once it is activated, u no longer need it to load each time
. replacing IETab with IEVIew since the later does not require so much memory
. if u can do something with Google outside the toolbar, then zap it. It is known to create big issues with FF memory handling (it should be sorted out in FF3). If not always checking for the latest update from Google.

cheers ...
.

 

I just now reviewed a bunch of youtube bookmarks while watching my taskmgr and couldn't get ff to take over 128,000k of ram. I don't remember ff ever being a ram hog like you all are seeing. I do review my taskmgr often to make sure no one new is there.

 

Early on I loaded my ff with a bunch of extensions and took most of them off after noticing how slow it got. You all have to get real if you're looking for ff to make pancakes.

 

thanks guys, qhn do you have a link to IEView? I cant find it

 

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/35

cheers ...

 

Firebug is really cool, but it slows down Firefox immensely. Remove it unless you use it all the time, or at least disable it.

Otherwise, memory usage problems come from all the shi.tty. AJAXified web sites like digg, facebook, gmail, lifehacker, etc... THEY are the problem, not firefox.

 

the thing that really gets on my nerves about firefox is that after you've built up history for about 3/4 months, it slows down immensely up to the point that it freezes upon startup and the problem is practically unfixable unless you create a new profile this happens on my computer at least

hopefully, all of this is fixed in firefox 3

 

Or maybe you could clear your history? Or at least expire it in a reasonable time frame?

FF3 will be using sqlite for data storage of history, which is an sql engine that will make this type of thing much faster.

 

FF2.0.0.11 should already improve this for u

cheers ...

 

I did all those tweaks a while back and they worked well - and the on_minimize one was always a backup. But for some reason now the on_minimuze does not work. I have recently seen it go up to 700mb memory usage!!

 

. verify the flag again
. try the extension instead of the tweak https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2110
. it is known NOT to work under Vista, should be fixed in FF3. So if u have Vista, put the value back to False for this flag (config.trim_on_minimize); or just remove it from ur config.

cheers ...