and my 50cents....
Identical browser setups on all --- Palemoon and Waterfox
(i allways UNcheck -- check to see if this is my default browser)
on my 3 systems --- the slowest to load is my highest spec machine!!!!! about 5-10 secs, Palemoon
(waterfox is less than 5 on all)
my old 2007 Acer 4gb, mid range hp 8gb, newest 32gb --- all with SSD's
RAM, a page file.
- - - Updated - - -
Passwords (if someone uses the browser for passwords, I wouldn't) are stored in a file called key4.db in the profile. It's a SQLite database file and is encrypted, but can be cracked. Decrypting Browser Credentials For Fun (But Not Profit)
So, in absence of Bitwarden or Keepass and relying on the browser for password storage, someone could XSS your browser and your precious passwords... And there are a number of other possible vulnerabilities as well...
Hi F22,
Okay - why do you say that? The pc is 15 years old - practically steam-powered with on-board Intel graphics (no separate graphics card)!
Unlikely, I feel, as several scans using programs such as CCleaner haven't found anything (and yes, I know that not finding anything is not the same as nothing actually being there!)For a basic quick check, use safe mode for Firefox. To do this, press and hold the shift key while double clicking the Firefox icon.
There could be other things. Malware, Adware, PUPs, crap you have installed, etc.
Do you have any thoughts about the alternatives I posted in post 9 (this thread)?If you're a Chrome fan, check out UnGoogled Chromium. I use that for a plain vanilla Chrome browser (I use several browsers). Once you add add-ons the game is up in terms of Google privacy. On the other hand, add-ons now-a-days are made with Webextension code which is a massive privacy/security risk.
Hi Torchwood,
is PaleMoon running on a Win7 machine? If so, what is the version number please?
Several sites have mentioned it and you've also recommended it.
Never come across Waterfox. Checking that out now.
Cheers,
Zaph
This is caching at work and modern operating systems do it extensively.
When an application starts it must load the applications executable files, DLL's, and other supporting files. Windows doesn't load everything initially, just as it is needed. This can be quite time consuming, particularly with a conventional disk. But once data is in memory the memory manager will try to keep it there for as long as possible, consistent with other requirements. This is caching. With data in memory already there is no need to go to the disk to load it and much time is saved. The more memory you have the more data can be cached and the longer it can be kept in memory. The memory used for cache is considered as available and can be used by other applications as needed.
Because I gave my parents an old Dell Optiplex 780 and it uses a dual core CPU and runs the latest Firefox without issue. In fact, it's running Firefox in something called Sandboxie to boot.
If you don't believe me I'm willing to do a full on video of it. I kid you not, there is no slow down or anything, and that's probably because I maintain my hardware and my family's hardware extraordinarily well. When you click on the Sandboxie icon in the taskbar of their computer to launch Firefox I suppose it takes maybe 2 seconds if that to load. Again, I'm willing to do a video of it if you don't believe me. LOL
I'm wanting to migrate my parent's to one of those mini PCs which would be faster, but not really needed. I just want them to have a more modern tech and a lower consumption of power and to minimize parts that can go out versus the beefier hardware like the 780. I already have to probably replace the CPU fan as it was making noise. And to those that are reading this, Dell has a lot of their fans wired different... so just know that...
Having said that, go back and read what I said again, all of it...
Yes, but I'm not in the mood to write a book right now. I do use Pale Moon as my everyday driver, but this browser is NOT for everyone. I also use no less than four other browsers for various stuff as well... Sometimes I'll download the latest portable Firefox or Chrome for use with a website and then delete it with File Shredder Tool just because. My computer uses FDE anyway.Do you have any thoughts about the alternatives I posted in post 9 (this thread)?
Hi F22Because I gave my parents an old Dell Optiplex 780 and it uses a dual core CPU and runs the latest Firefox without issue. In fact, it's running Firefox in something called Sandboxie to boot.
If you don't believe me I'm willing to do a full on video of it. I kid you not, there is no slow down or anything, and that's probably because I maintain my hardware and my family's hardware extraordinarily well. When you click on the Sandboxie icon in the taskbar of their computer to launch Firefox I suppose it takes maybe 2 seconds if that to load. Again, I'm willing to do a video of it if you don't believe me. LOL
You using a SSD as the boot disk??
Seems awful fast for a physical disk (just interested)
Zaph
Yep, I live in the 21st century... And it's a SSD however, not NVMe. I don't even use NVMe in my desktop. One day I might though. But getting that to work in Windows 7 might be like trying to pull teeth from a pregnant badger... Plan on going with a stripped down Windows 11 one day.
My only use for platters at this point in time is because the enterprise grade Hitachi's I buy are cheaper in a price per MB versus flash media. I own four 2TB Hitachi enterprise grade platters for encrypted disk clones, data backups, etc.
Having said that, if you're still using a platter for the main drive your answer was quite obvious as to why Firefox et al took 20 seconds to load. On the other hand, I can ALSO launch Firefox portable on my platter in no time at all as well. I could probably do the same in a one core instance of a VMware virtual machine.
Again, I'll do video if you think I'm lying or something. I'll need time though. I always post the truth and the facts with a little bit of educated opinion. I have no dog in some show and I certainly don't get paid for wasting my time here trying to help people with their tech issues...
FF and my chrome derivatives launch in not time at all and I have a platter drive. However I have alot more horsepower and 8 gb of ram.
Last edited by townsbg; 29 Mar 2022 at 00:24.
It could very well be his CPU since he's mentioned in other threads it's only 2 GHz. But I kinda doubt that would be an issue either. I have to try portable Firefox in a one core instance of VMware and see what happens. It may just be the architecture of his CPU...
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