Firefox 3.5.5 'bogging' down.
 

I've just upgraded Firefox to 3.5.5 and I'm finding it very slow - as if the internet connection is restricted (yet IE8.0.6001.18828 works much faster) - both with Vista Home Premium - Intel DuoCPU T6500 @ 2.10 GHz & 4GB RAM on a laptop (new in August 2009).
Even things like cut and paste (within Firefox) seem to have significant latency (10 to 15 seconds) between instructing and execution.
(IE8 averages 2-3 seconds for this)

Any ideas?
Rebooting seems to ease the situation initially, but the treacle soon arrives.

Is there any way to wind-back Firefox to an earlier version (to see whether it really is the update that has caused the problem)?

I have no problems with it so I suggest you un-install it then re-download and install it again. (save your profiles first though)

I might well do that - though at the mo' I'm using IE8 . . .

Mines upgraded and I have no problems with it. If anything it's a little faster..I'd go with the reinstall as well...Good luck.

Agree with the re-install suggestion.

I got on fine with Firefox 3.5.5 and in fact found it a little faster in execution than IE8 (though slower than bonkers fast Google Chrome). I'm currently using Mozilla Namoroka 3.6 Alpha 1 (a version of the browser still under development) and find the same.

My only real "complaint" with both Firefox 3.5.5 and Namoroka 3.6 Alpha 1 is that they are much slower to initially start than both IE8 (which has the advantage I understand that parts of it are already running as a result of Explorer being part of the o/s) and Google Chrome. IE takes just over a second to start for the first time, Google Chrome not even the blink of an eye (it is instantaneous to all intents and purposes), but both Firefox 3.5.5 and Namoroka 3.6 Alpha 1 require just over six seconds.

The PC in question has a 2.4Ghz Intel Core Duo chip, 3GB RAM, XP MCE 2005, a separate HDD used only for o/s and apps, and is scrupulously maintained for performance.

Consistent and similar observations twixt Chrome and Firefox 3.5.5 on all three other (less powerful) computers in the household.

It's amazing how patience has been reduced to the nano second!!!;)

Just downloaded 3.5.5 on my old HP Pavilion 1430 (2.7GHz) XP, SP1 (yes, I hate changes) and all seems fine. Although the next screen prompted me to download the new version of Adobe. and little boxes (already clicked) to down load McAffee.

I declined on that.

Problems with Firefox, shut down Firefox, search for a file called 'extensions.rdf' and delete it. Re-start Firefox and all should work fine.

Cheers

A few things:

Have a look at your addons & extensions and disable or even delete any that aren't completley necessary.

Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining network.http.proxy.pipelining
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which will speed up page loading.

Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it recieves.

Worked for me

I had a similar problem, and finally pinned it down to AVG. I switched off 'Link Scanner' and 'Web shield' and now everything's back to normal.