Firefox v1.5 bain or boon

Have downloaded v1.5 but hesitated before installing, currently have v1.0.7 and had a quick look on their site about preserving bookmarks, etc. I noted numerous negative threads about v1.5 but even worse some exceptionally cynical responses to sincerely concerned individuals (lost thier bookmarks, found v1.5 not functioning as well as older version,etc.).

Anyone used v1.5 and if so what are your opinions (I have exported my bookmarks to desktop and IE, saved as html for later import). I will wait for some feedback before any action WRT to update.

 

im currently using 1.5...i like it...i havent had any problems w/ it...its a good program and i havent had any issues w/ importing bookmarks...i have it on both my desktops, my laptop, and my usb drive... good program...^_^

 

I'm also a user of 1.5 and had no problems with bookmarks or performance!

 

I haven't experienced any problems with 1.5. If you uninstall the old version first, everything should be okay.

 

If you back up your Firefox profile before you install 1.5, there'll be no risk. If you have problems, you'll be able to go back to 1.0.7 and have everything like it was by restoring your old profile. 1.5 changes the profile structure relating to extensions, so if you try to go back using the profile that was used with 1.5, it won't work right. That is, if you use any extensions or installed theme, if you have a plain-vanilla install you won't have any problems going back.

For profile backup instructions, see: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup

Also, if you're using an installed theme, I would suggest you switch to the default theme before you install the update. Updating any extensions would also be a good idea.

 

Thanks for the advice have backed up my Profile relative to above post and installed v1.5, everything seems fine. The only dillemma I have experienced so far was my older version of spoofstick was not compatabile but a post on the Mozilla site suggested going to the developers site and sourcing the latest version and well this has worked.

So thanks again all and this site once again has helped to alleviate any anxiety.

 

You're welcome, happy I could help. I should add that the best practice is to regularly make backups of your Firefox profile, even when you're not re-installing the browser ( but it's especially important then). I automate backing up with the Bookmark Backup extension: http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=13

Despite the name, it backs up other profile data, as well as bookmarks. Starting with Firefox 1.5, it can even back up extensions and themes. Just type extensions in the Other Files field (themes are now stored in the same folder).

 

Cheers just downloaded the ext and will use it from now on. Happy w the new v1.5 and maybe the negative comments about this version were from intial trial prototypes, less experienced users or a combination of factors. But all is good.

 

People having problems with FF 1.5 is because they failed to follow the instructions.

Always uninstall the old version of FF, backup your profile and bookmarks prior to uninstalling. Then install FF 1.5.

No problems. Works like a charm every time.

 

It would be nice if that were true, but it's a bit of an overstatement. Doing that greatly reduces the chances of trouble, but nothing in this world is ever 100%. Sometimes things go wrong, even when you do everything right. Just not very often.

Another good idea is to give your computer a round of general maintenance. Clean out temp files, run a registry cleaner, run chkdsk, and defrag, if you haven't perfomed those tasks in a while.

 

I tried FF 1.5 and all it did was eat up my RAM. I applied the 'fix' where you specify the max amount of memory, but that didn't work either. Man, after 2 or 3 hours it would be using over half of my 1GB memory. I also installed FasterFox with no improvement. Until they fix the memory leak, I'm not touching it again. It's too bad as I liked it.

 

As I type I am using the new version and the Windows Task Manager is at 50kb and EVEREST shows I am using 7% of ram (5+2). I would seriously consider downloading the latest version again and reinstalling. I am luvin this new FF, extra extensions, etc and the only prob I am experiencing so far is a rare glitche in the loading of pgs. And yes betwn my girl and me we would be using FF for a few hour sessions. Maybe the seed you downloaded got corrupted or you have other background processes running, e.g. just had PestPatrol do its memcheck, keyloggers, etc and mem spiked 70-80% (35-40) but straight back down to ~7%. It could be something else causing the prob. One real shit is touching PDF doc's with FF that always gives huge ram usage.

 

I never had a problem at all updateing firefox. I just load right over the other one and have no problems. Only i think it loads pages a little slower than ie but i think thats cause of security which is one. Two the computer only puts out 600MhZ so its slow. 3. Im on old wireless b with lynksis on 64bit encryption which is the slowest connection in the house where the rest are either wireless g or wired right in and the wried one is the fastest. So i think those are the causes of slow loading of pages. But overall im happy with firefox. Using that and spysweeper with weekly ad-aware scans i have absolutely no spyware show on them so firefox has been worth the loading wait.
-the new tech guy

 

There is no "the memory leak", there are various things that cause memory leaks for some users. FasterFox is not a cure for memory leaks, if anything it might make them worse.

A workaround is to restore the "trim on minimize" feature that releases memory if you minimize the browser window for a couple seconds. This was a feature of earlier versions that was deleted from 1.5 since the memory leaks were supposedly fixed (hah!), and releasing the memory would defeat the new "lightning fast backward and forward browsing" feature that had been added.

To do this, enter about:config in the address bar to open the Configuration Console. Right-click anywhere on the page, select New/Boolean, type in config.trim_on_minimize, click ok, set to true, and restart Firefox. When memory use gets too high, you'll be able to reduce it to initial levels by minimizing briefly.

To try and fix your memory leak problem, make sure plugins like Flash and Java are updated to the latest versions (uninstall older versions of Java). Try disabling extensions one at a time to see if it makes a difference. These have been sources of many memory leaks, though by no means all of them. Worth checking out, anyway.

 

Dispelling the myth!!!!!! For any interested a good factual overview of the security and integrity of FF. Dont shoot the messenger Langa hasn't steered me wrong to date.

 

Here's the link:

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-04-18.htm

 

I I have on prob with FF 1.5 it HAS to be good , and simple. AND I have had no probs *yet*

Jack

 

About the "memory leak" I haven't ever experienced any leak. So, I have 8 tabs open right now, it is a measly 86 Megs, this is at 3 hours. No issues.

But, I'm also using build: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a1) Gecko/20060201 Firefox/1.6a1 ID:2006020105


Even when I was using the official 1.5 build, I have never seen issue, where some individuals are getting.

 

I have "memory leaks" and as of now (3 hours open, 5 tabs, numerous extensions) it's using 237 MB of my memory. I still love Firefox though, I'm sure they'll fix it soon. They have too, it's all about trying to gain market share and this has to be their priority.

 

Big question. What extensions. What sites?

This is the common question. Vanilla firefox and most websites have no issues. When one adds multiple extenions that are truly tested with the newer version of firefox, one may come to problems.

Perhaps there are a few sites that cause massive issues with firefox.

If you see a problem, then report, err I should say troubleshoot, which one causes the problems then report them to http://www.bugzilla.org/

Also, with multiple extensions...there are certain problems...but, typically, this isn't the problem of firefox, but the individuals who develop extensions for firefox....

Yes, yes, I'm a fan boy of phoenix......

 

Well latest 1.5.0.1 mention "Fixes for several memory leaks." in release notes so... Those who have tried real bad extension leaks like from old Adblock know these are less critical for most and generally FF gets better and better. One of the reasons I use the new Adblock 0.6 is it seems to release memory better than old one - or annoy FF less.

If you read changelog of many extensions you also see "Fixed memory leak in this and that" - and then users might discover certain incompatibilities between extension X and Z which will trigger more evil. Update site makes you believe anything goes and more is better. User only have to click install, not allways the case. They could at least have some guide on extension use, good practice or simular. Not so many read Knowledge base articles at Mozillazine http://kb.mozillazine.org/Reducing_memory_usage_(Firefox)

Here are some entries I have in user.js file - with 1gb ram:

user_pref("config.trim_on_minimize", true);
user_pref("network.prefetch-next", false);
user_pref("browser.cache.memory.capacity", 32768);
user_pref("browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers", 4);

Numbers are half of default with 1gb. I have also disabled "undo" feature in Tabmix, didnt use it enough. If you dont limit defaults ram-use will be high, 65mb ram-cache for 1gb is default!

One thing I dont understand is how come ram-cache max is overruled when content is picture or video - does go back to my limit, eventually, but still strange. I should test with clean profile I guess. One of the big problems with old Adblock was just this, ram-cache would keep on growing - would never release memory. Check with "about:cache" or https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=1881&application=firefox

 

Just suffered my first leak and sys temps headed towards 65C w ~mem%85. Doing some more research on this and will post info.

 

Have had the latest version of firefox on my old windows 2k machine with 60MhZ on 512 mb of ram and have had no problems with it yet. Right now this is the only tab i have open and im usin 25megs of ram.
-the new tech guy

 

FF still has rendering problems with code and pictures. Memory leaks are still present. Some standard implementation isnt complete or substituted with alternatives and the documentation can be better (msdn library for example). It conforms to standards better than IE at the moment, but depending on your target audience, IE still holds around 75-90% of the user base, so making pages render properly in FF might not be all that important.

If anything Opera is the best at the moment (did they ever fix the padding at the top?), but I dont think the issues with FF are that drastic to go around switching browsers or anything like that. If you are worried about the memory leak just close FF completely and reopen it.

If youd like you can test the memory issue by opening 20-30 tabs(in windows, or 5 or 6 in linux) and then closing them all except the browser itself while watching the memory usage. After closing all of the tabs, you can expect around a 20% (5-10% in linux)reduction in memory usage, even though there are no tabs/webpages open.

An example would be if FF opened used around 16MB, opening 30 pages or so over an hour (lets use tabs for clarity) might put you around 70-90MB in windows xp. Closing all those tabs, would still leave you with 45-60MB of memory used, even though theres is only one page being displayed (no page i guess if you close all the tabs). So that leaves us at the same place we were when we opened FF, but using approximately 30MB more of memory. This is only a rudimentary example, obviously browsing more/having more tabs would increase the lost amount of memory.

Here is page I slapped up real quick to show...
http://www.pzaul.com/firefox/

Cheers

 

Does Opera utilise memory more efficiently as I'm thinking of trying it. This newest FF is crashing a bit whereas the last version seemed better.

 

Yes but those leaks you mention are not the ones giving 500mb use in a flash. And you dont get to starting level, if ever possible!, since ram-cache and now also some back/forward page cache is active. Click "about:cache" to see. Perhaps you use TabMix - then you might have Undo cache on top. Also sometimes Firefox takes a long time to reclaim memory - Ive seen it go throw away many mb of ram, but not until I thought it had puked (until latest Adblock Plus that could easily have been an "Adblock leak") Can take minutes. This could be because of my extensions - very hard to diagnose with them.

If minimize dont set memory at a minimum there is a problem. FF can go from 150mb to 20mb very fast, not like it cant limit itself or get rid of storage.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.cache.memory.capacity so even with just 512mb FF will sit on 22mb after a little browsing.

There is now a tool to check for memory leaks on "Trunk builds" - good extension makers use it and you will see less on newer Firefox versions. But not so easy to find and show with screenshot. Sometimes obvious as you can test with "wrong" Adblock and the handful of other extensions known to cause this. 500-700mb use is possible.

If you mean Firefox does not render some pages which are optimized and coded with IE in mind you are right. Very annoying but Firefox is not IE and there can be only 1 standard or standard term dont make sense.

 

You can quickly determine if a memory leak is caused by an extension by running the browser in Firefox Safe Mode, which disables all extensions and installed themes: Safe Mode - MozillaZine Knowledge Base http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_Mode

If there's no memory leak in Safe Mode, you can figure it's an extension (I've never heard of a theme causing a memory leak). Figuring out which extension is at fault, though, is a matter of trial and error.

To release memory you can enable the trim on minimize pref I mentioned earlier in this thread. It's even easier now than it was, the pref was put back in the 1.5.0.1 update, so all you have to do is set it to true and you can release memory by minimizing.

 

Sigh. Great advice but alas, FF updated itself when I wasn't looking. I foolishly had set options to 'install updates automatically' and it obediently did so, and now the functionality is impaired. On some sites the "GO" doesn't work when I enter a search term, on Yahoo! mail the Reply and Delete don't respond, I can't grab-and-drag boomarks into the sidebar, etc.

My fault. I didn't uninstall the prior version. I didn't have a backup of my profile. In fact, I'm clueless as to where to find my profile since there are several of them on my PC (Win98SE) and I have no idea which one I should backup.

Now I'm stuck with a fairly non-functioning FF and don't really know where to go from here.

 

Right now this is the only tab i have open in firefox and am using 25mb of memory. Is that a leak or is it just the program?
-the new tech guy

 

The program I reckon, because I am showing the same load.

 

Try Mozillazine's Standard Diagnostic: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_(Firefox)

 

Oh ok i thought so scine i am now on my other pc and have the same specs on it too. I was reading all of that stuff and it had me worried lol.
-the new tech guy

 

Here's something interesting. Claims by the head engineer of the leak being a 'feature' http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29707 and his blog is here http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/archives/009749.html This is bullfeathers