[Ask dotTechies] Have you been able to successfully update to Firefox 8?
November 12, 2011 45
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I love Firefox. I first tasted Firefox via Firefox 2 and have been a loyalist since then, even with many of my friends and family defecting to the competition such as Chrome. However, Firefox is really starting to piss me off. Whereas Firefox used to be the standard in Internet browser excellence, it has now become a bloated, poorly coded piece of crap. I hate to say this but I find Firefox crashing on me as much, if not more, than Internet Explorer; not to mention how it bleeds memory like RAM grows on trees. My most recent run-in with Firefox failure is updating to Firefox 8, the latest version of Firefox.
Earlier today I updated to Firefox 8 from Firefox 7.0.1 after being prompted by the auto-update feature. Initially all went well. I was able to update just fine and all addons worked (I did have to update a couple). Then a few hours of bliss the crashing started. Out of the blue Firefox 8 just crashed every damn time I opened it. I was baffled as to why this is happening seeing as I had not changed anything (no settings modified nor new addons added). I tried everything to get it to work: Restarting my computer, using a new profile, uninstalling/reinstalling, etc. The bloody thing just wouldn’t stop crashing. Eventually, after using Internet Explorer 9 for a bit (which was painful but at least it worked), I ended up down grading to Firefox 7.0.1, which works just fine (except when I try to clear browsing history — then it crashes, ugh).
I am not sure what is going on but I sent Mozilla bug reports so hopefully they can fix the issue. Whatever the case may be, I have almost had it with Firefox. Mozilla is lucky KeyScrambler Free is only available on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Flock otherwise I would have jumped ship to another browser a long time ago. Has anyone been able to successfully update to Firefox 8? Cast your vote in the poll below.
[poll id="21"]
I remember when Netscape was THE browser to have, in the days when a 56K modem was king. This is before they were pretty much bullied off the market. When Firefox came out they were a breath of fresh air. Stable, innovative an absolutely reliable browser that was flexible because of the add-ons. It took off because you could depend on it. Sad that they’ve gone from the industry leader to another follower isn’t it?
Now they are trying to regain their market share. They’re trying to put back in some of the stability they’ve let slide over the years, hallelujah for that. It’s good to know they are also trying to fix the memory leak problem they’ve had since day one and are finally working on unwanted Add-ons. Guess they realized Given a good alternative people will leave so they should listen to some of those complaints. Trouble is they are no longer innovating, they are following. Google’s Chrome is taking their market share so they are trying to look more like Chrome with it’s simplistic interface.
I much prefer the old interface which is why I stopped updating. Recently I was forced to update to version 4 because many of my add-ons no longer work. Apparently their updater is unable to recognize when an update will make an add-on stop working. That aside, you will never lead in the market by following. I think Firefoxes days are numbered unless they figure that out. That makes me sad really.
I got tired of the crashing also, using IE9 with great speed.
Ashraf,
I’ve been using Firefox 7.01, and I’m more satisfied than I was with Firefox 5 & 6. It’s still a memory hog but it’s a little bit better. I haven’t yet upgraded to Firefox 8, but when I will upgrade I’m not going to use the direct upgrade but the installer. I’m going to uninstall 7.01 and install v8.
I would be grateful to know from the users of Firefox 8, if it’s better than the previous version 7, and if it’s worthy to upgrade to v 8.
Cheers
Stick with Firefox version 2 like I am doing on my Windows 95. You folks wouldn’t be having all these problems if you would just stick with what has worked for years, my Packard Bell computer using Firefox 2 and Windows 95 !
Hay now!
SO past Firefox 8!
On the “Beta Channel”, we’re up to version 9, sunshine!
Have GREAT day, neighbors!
Gotta rebuild XP SP3 before I try FF8 (ConCrap ‘high-speed’ is too f…ing slow to re-register and re-update in the same day after a re-install)… Hopefully it’ll be less hoggish than FF7 and more like FF3.6 is on the Kubuntu side (30+ tabs open with no slow-down whereas FF7 on the Windoze side bogs down with more than 6 tabs)
I have upgraded to Firefox 8 on all 3 of my computers – a W7 cheap Acer laptop, a Vista Laptop, and an HP Desktop. I have had no problems, no crashes on any of them. I have been upgrading on a regular basis as the new versions come out and have never had a problem with any version. The only real problem I have when upgrading is some of the plug-ins I like don’t work for a while, but eventually, the plug-ins are upgraded and everything is fine.
@Riezo: Glad to hear you got it working. Wish I could say the same.
@hatman: To be honest, after Firefox 3 is when I started having all the issues. I am tempted to go back…
@Toast: I tried uninstalling/reinstalling. It didn’t help.
@Gabriel: 65 tabs? I don’t blame it for freezing on you. :-P
Yeah, it may be a JavaScript thing.
@chuck (detailer): I used Revo to uninstall. Didn’t use CCleaner after, though, didn’t think about that. Right now I don’t want to go through that whole process again so I will stick to FF7 until an updated FF8 is released.
Thanks for the tip.
@cwc72: I wish I could say the same. :-(
@jgriego: I have heard of Pale Moon but never used it myself. I avoid browser forks.
@amnesia: I do have Roboform installed. However, I a) disabled the toolbar when asked while upgrading and b) I tried a new Firefox profile (i.e. no addons) and it still wouldn’t work. Thanks though!
@Falco: I have made about:config changes (I believe two) but that was prior to FF8 update. It very well could be those changes but I am sure many dotTechies made the same changes (I posted about them) and they would be experiencing the same issues as me if it were that. Thanks though!
@Jim_in_Erie_CO: Yeah, I get that sometimes too. I really wish FF would go back to FF3 quality.
@groovey: Don’t you just hate those companies that refuse to catch up to the curve?
@IndoMK: Hehe, one of those people who itch to update eh? Me too. xD
@Gabriel: Thanks for the info!
@BLACKBIRD: Hmmm… I may check out Pale Moon.
@BLACKBIRD: No problem, don’t worry about it.
@leland: I don’t have too many addons installed but all the ones I did activate for FF8 claimed to be compatible. Good tip on Add-on Compatibility Reporter, I may have to write an article on that one.
@Grantwhy: I have no doubt FF8 is better than the previous versions — I just can’t get the damn thing to work!
@Carl: Yep, addons are what are keeping me to FF, too.
@Bela: Ouch. It’s that bad, huh?
@Jeanjean: That’s odd. What exactly was the issue? I never have color rendering problems.
@Dianne: I also only have a few plugins. Why won’t this **** thing work. :-(
@chuck(detailer): Good tip! This may be another article worthy tip. Thanks!
@Seamus McSeamus: Another +1 for Pale Moon. I really do need to check it out.
@Joe_B_Wan: You are welcome! Glad to be of help. :-)
@david roper: Cool, glad my e-mails are still worth something.
Say weren’t you a Roboform user? Why go LastPass now?
@Darcy: It is sad Firefox is now a follower rather than a leader. To clarify, however, Chrome isn’t taking FF’s market share. FF’s market share has been stagnant for a while, either going up or down. Chrome is taking IE’s market share.
@oldtimer: IE9 crashes less for you? For me it is worse than FF.
@Albi: From what I hear FF8 > FF7. Although obviously I can’t say for sure since it won’t work for me!
@Edith Tomson: Hehe…
@Jon Steedley: Isn’t v10 out?
@Dr TsZap: ConCrap?
@Rockster: Hmmm, it seems most people aren’t having issues. I may just be part of the unlucky few.
However I still have Firefox installed on my computer and updated to latest version 8 without problems, I don’t use it as my default browser anymore : I’m using “THE” alternative to it, “Waterfox” (64 bits !) , even much better than “Pale Moon” which I tried first … ;-)
My secondary browser remains the excellent “SRWare Iron”, which I installed to replace the problematic and intrusive “Google Chrome” …
And, again, never had the slightest problem with it ! :-)
@Ashraf
At once, blue and brown colors disappeared and presentation of items was reduced to its simplest form on your site and some others (Raymond,…).
The only possible reason was that at that time I opened IE and Firefox simultaneously (but I do not really see the relation).
Best regards.
@Gabriel and @Ashraf:
Probably the javascript. But, curiously…
Java also had an update at the same time (I monitor my system with Secunia PSI and update accordingly; and, yes, I realize that Java and Javascript have about as much in common as ham and hamburger). However, going to the java site kept causing Firefox to instantly crash and disappear from my AMD64X2 XP SP3 system. I removed all Java remnants (there were several former versions), visited java.com again – without it crashing – and was then able to install its latest…
Aside from some processor and memory issues that I believe may be tied to the Reddit Enhancement Suite add-on (I run several other add-ons and plug-ins as well), all has since been trouble free for me…
No problems here, upgraded to FF8 on several computers and not a sign of a crash. Does seem a little perkier than FF7.
If you’ve continually upgraded since FF3 onwards, well worth doing a clean install of FF (or create a new profile) to get rid of accumulated left overs. Most crashing is caused by add-ons and people expecting too much imho – just because you can open 50+ tabs and run dozens of add-ons doesn’t mean you should; trying the same thing in Chrome will cause just as many issues and high RAM usage.
I just upgraded from Firefox 7 to Firefox 8 a couple of days ago. All 87 of my addons work beautifully, with no noticeable slowdown.
@Ben: For some reason I’m not able to edit my previous comment, so I’ll add something in a reply. I just opened 100+ tabs, and Firefox is still as fast as ever. Try doing that with Chrome and you’ll literally go crazy:)
@Ben:
100 tabs? I don’t think I have that many pages bookmarked!
@Seamus McSeamus:</b
Usually 40+ tabs is a normal session for me, but yesterday I was checking my 100's of rss feeds, and opening the articles in new tabs. That explains the high number:)
well….i can update…but sometimes my firefox crashes without me knowing why
CMIIW, some site is not working well with newest firefox (it’s just my intuition hehehe)
@Seamus McSeamus:
Same experience… Waterfox x64 is my main browser now and works perfectly (flash etc have 64-bit versions out now and the download page has these links).
I also installed the standard Firefox 8 with absolutely no problems. I only switched to Waterfox due to the 64-bit native install.
Nearly all extensions work fine in either one, although a number of themes do not. I can’t address personas, I’ve never used them (I find them mostly a distraction and still use the basic themes for the toolbar customization).
keyscrambler support is also my main problem. but recently i found that it can work in palemoon too. simply by renaming palemoon launcher (palemoon.exe) into firefox.exe. works like a charm! bye-bye firefox! bye-bye crash! now enjoying 2 days browsing without crash..
I’m now on Ver 9.0.1; not use when I went from ver. 8!