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Firefox very slow in 10.6.5

After updating to 10.6.5 Firefox (latest version) is very slow for everything, typing, mouse clicks, everything. Safari is its old speedy self.

I verified disk and used combo updater to install 10.6.5, then cleared caches (including font caches), repaired permissions, re-verified disks, etc., reset PRAM and have restarted a few times.

I have restarted Firefox in safe mode -- no joy.

Any suggestions?

Mac Pro 8-core, 4GB RAM, MacBook Pro, Mini Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Nov 11, 2010 2:58 PM

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18 replies

Nov 11, 2010 8:25 PM in response to vlad2277

Thanks. Strange. Everything but Firefox is fairly speedy. If you haven't already, you could try these:
If you need to, free up more hard drive space.Repair permissions, restart.
Reboot in safe mode, then reinstall combo updater.
Reboot, repair permissions.
Reset PRAM.
Restart again.
Rebuild Spotlight index (it might take some time).

The more you restart, OS will rebuild its caches and things will speed up

Nov 12, 2010 5:36 PM in response to tchelotchelo

I ended up removing Firefox and all its add-ons. Things seem to be better.

I suspect an outdated preference pane, add-on, extension, so I cleaned out as many old ones as I could find. It does not happen often with an incremental update like 10.6.4 to 10.6.5, but it does occasionally happen.

I recommend making sure all software, even extensions, add-ons and preference panes are the latest version, repair or replace any damaged fonts then repair permissions, reboot in safe mode, reinstall 10.6.5 combo as described in other replies.

Nov 13, 2010 9:29 PM in response to Joe_wht

I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems; however, there are plenty of Mac owners who have applied this update without any problems whatsoever - including myself. So, there is nothing wrong with this update - instead, there is some problem with your system, configuration, and/or third party software. I always follow certain precautions before and after installing any updates. For instance, some add-ons, plugins, or other third party software may cause problems because it hasn't been updated to be compatible with the newer version of the OS.

At this point, I'd suggest reading up on and booting into Safe Mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/21245.html

If things seem to be better after that, discard the rest of the suggestions; if not, follow these:

1. Download the combo updater from the Apple site.
2. Repair permissions in Disk Utility.
3. Verify disk in Disk Utility.
4. If you have Disk Warrior, run it from an external.
5. Make sure you have a fresh backup (bootable or Time Machine).
6. Disconnect all peripherals except keyboard and mouse.
7. If desired (but not absolutely necessary) boot into Safe Mode.
8. Run the update installer; Mac will restart when done.
9. Repair permissions.

Nov 14, 2010 4:11 AM in response to babowa

Thanks, Barbara. I would underscore the importance of updating to the latest version of all software before running the updater, especially remembering Internet plug-ins, browser add-ons and third party preference panes or start-up items. It is also helpful to repair, replace or delete any corrupted fonts.

System update time is also a good time to delete any applications or utilities no longer used, including any extensions or preference panes, etc., associated with them.

And I use a system update as a reminder to create as much free space as possible on the startup drive by archiving elsewhere or deleting old or unneeded files and projects, especially from the Mail Downloads folder.

Nov 14, 2010 6:10 AM in response to drdocument

~/Library/Caches/Firefox (and the three that Safari uses?).

Clone your system and see how it runs.
Use Disk Warrior on your system drive(s).
Found a couple things that Disk Utility did not.

3.6.12 (and the 4.0b8) are fine, so I would strongly suggest you go down the SuperDuper + Disk Warrior route.

4GB should be enough but only enough for a Mac Pro too.

Or just do a quick install and update on a test drive (great to have multiple internal drives and FW800) as some have found that they had background process that was eating up and writing to system.log.

Firefox very slow in 10.6.5

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