Windows 7: Firefox takes very long to start

I am running Firefox 6.0.2 and when I run it for the first time after switching on or a reboot it take very long to start, over 30 seconds. Why is this? Can it be fixed?

Standard diagnostic - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

do you use a lot of extensions and xmarks etc,
mine take a little time to start but i dont think its as long as 30 seconds and i have quite a few extensions ,including xmarks which have to sync with the xmarks server.
it could be a problem with your extensions.
if you start it with extensions disabled does it improve the speed , if so then re-enable one extension at a time until you find the culprit, it may just need updating.

Uhm... extensions? What do you mean?

add- ons ,

sorry extensions is chrome speak

Firstly update to version 7
This problem can occur when you have a large web cache, try clearing it

BigSeb,

First, as mentioned, update your Firefox to the very latest version.

Second, download, install and run the Cleaner portion of CCleaner. Link is in my sig.

I was plagued with this problem on my XP older computer. I tried most of the above remedies and the best time I ever got was about 17 seconds on a cold boot. I was told that the reason IE loads faster is because it is partially loaded in the OS on boot up but FF doesn't have that benefit. I now have a new computer and immediately installed FF when I got it. In the beginning with all my add-ons installed, FF loaded in 4 to 6 seconds on a cold boot. After 5 months it is now creeping up to about10 seconds. I periodically delete the cache and don't let it go higher than 100Mb. As a off the top of my head possible remedy, maybe you could try saving your bookmarks and uninstalling FF, then re-installing it. A new install will probably have a nice loading time.
My Chrome still loads in 4 seconds, so they must have a secret.

Firstly thanks to everyone that replied. I haven't tried all your tips yet, only some of them (unfortunately so far to no avail).

Judging by the number of replies is it safe to assume that FF gets bloated over time? Perhaps it would be worthwhile to switch a different one. Thoughts?

by other one ,do you mean update ff or another browser, apart from a few freezing issues in some ff versions (including ff 7.0.1) i have used firefox since i began computing and love it ,no other browser compares in my opinion.