Firefox 6.0.2 using too much RAM

TD7BA · 26 Sep 2011

I have 2GB RAM on this computer – but I’m going to upgrade soon to 4GB. But this is beside the point. I have noticed Firefox is using much more memory than it used to. I have attached several photos to help you determine what the issue might be.

In one picture, you will notice that Firefox 6.0.2 is using up almost 900,000K in memory! Then in another picture you can see how much dropped after closing both Firefox & Sandboxie. Further to this, in a third photo, you will see a list of my Firefox extensions, which could also be another issue. I wouldn't mind knowing how much RAM each extension is using - however - I don't know whether this is even possible? I know it is possible with Chrome though. In the picture with the extensions I couldn't fit them all in - so the last two are WOT and Symantec IPS 3.1.

In addition to the above, before going to bed each night I will close my browser > clean the browser with CCleaner and turn the computer off. Thus - I'm dumping all the crap out of the browser often enough to keep it healthy.

Can anyone figure out what the problem might be, and what needs to be done to fix this? I know FF7.0 comes out this week and they say it should improve memory usage from around 20 - 50%, but the amount of RAM my browser using now means either my Firefox is corrupt (or my system), or its my extensions.

yowanvista · 26 Sep 2011

Your addons are probably to be blamed, run Firefox with Addons disabled and check the RAM usage

Firefox 6.0.2 using too much RAM-untitled.png

kronckew · 26 Sep 2011

are you getting any errors from the larger memory useage? any crashes, bsods? if so, you may have a problem & addons are a good place to start. disable them one at a time & see what happens. i'd check keyscrambler 1st, it caused problems for me & i no longer use it (my x64 firefox uses 268mb at the time of posting, but i'm on v7.)

if not don't worry about it. too many people base their memory worries on the old pre windows xp memory management which could create problems with resources. win7 doesn't.

win7 leaves memory allocated to apps alone until some other program needs it. deallocating it to inflate the so-called 'free' memory number is a fool's paradise. the pc just wastes time re-allocating it later.

it might look good, but unused memory is just that, unused, wasted. if you really want to save memory, physically take out a gig rather than upping it to 8. you can then look at the memory chips in your spares drawer secure in the knowledge it is indeed 'free'.

and, if you have any of those third party utilities 'guaranteed' to speed up your pc by 'freeing' up allocated memory, ditch it. they do not work in win7 and actually make matters worse.

TD7BA · 26 Sep 2011

Thanks everyone. In regards to Kronchew's question - it's causing Firefox to crash. I also got a BSOD about a month ago, but that was once off and I doubt it was related to Firefox. I tried restarting Firefox with add-ons disabled, but it still seems to use large amounts of RAM. But in the end, I've decided to remove the extension "Read it later" because it doesn't work with Sandboxie. I have also disabled eCleaner and can be enabled on a "as needed" basis. I also checked the add-ons, and I disabled "Google Update" - not sure what that is. I now have Firefox opened again and the RAM seems to be around 250 thousand K. It seems to be growing larger very quick and I have three tabs open.

SledgeDG · 26 Sep 2011

There is a tiny chance that your memory consumption is caused by a corrupt profile.
Simply create a new profile after this tut Managing profiles | How to | Firefox Help
If that doesn't improve things you can always go back to the old profile

-DG