How to reduce usage of memory on Firefox?
Sometimes Firefox does use large amount of memory. This may be due to large number of extensions, themes and plugins. It is recommended that you use the latest Firefox version as usage of memory is minimized and all issues observed in Firefox 2 are fixed in Firefox 3.
Check your themes and extensions: If you have installed a large number of themes and extensions on your Firefox then minimize the count. Just remove those add-ons that you don't require. You can always check by opening the browser in safe mode.
Check plugins: Firefox plugins also consume a lot of memory. That is why, you should check and update all your plugins to latest version. It is good to uninstall those plugins that you are not using
Simply Clear Download History: One should never increase the size of download history, otherwise it may cause extensive memory usage. As a result, Firefox slows down or freezes
1] Delete “downloads.rdf” file to remove the download history 2] You also, will have to change your browser history 3]Now open Firefox browser 4] From menu bar, you need to click on tools-> options 5]Click on privacy option. Now uncheck the checkbox “ Remember what I have downloaded
Restart Firefox periodically :In case, you are using Firefox browser for a long time then this can lead to increase in usage of memory
1]Restarting Firefox periodically can be a good option as it will help to maintain a constant usage of memory 2]Download and install the session manager extension, so that you don't loose your current text data, cookies and history.
Assigning memory cache on Firefox :Unfortunately, Firefox browser does not use memory cache and by default uses system memory. That is why, it is necessary to assign fixed memory cache for reducing memory usage. This can be done in the following manner:
1]Open Firefox browser 2]Type about:config in address bar 3]You need to type browser.cache.memory.enable in Filter field. 4] The value of above item must be set to true 5] Right click in Firefox window and then choose new->integer from pop-up window 6] Now type browser.cache.memory.capacity and then click on OK button. 7] You have to type a value here. This value completely depends on RAM of your computer. So if your pc has 512MB of RAM, then you need to enter “8192”. Enter “4096” if your computer has 256MB of RAM. If you have 128 MB of RAM then upgrading the RAM is the best option. Its not very costly to upgrade RAM
6] Release memory when the browser is minimized 1]Open Firefox browser 2] Type about:config in address bar 3]Right click in browser window and then choose new> Boolean from pop up 4] In pop-up box, you have to type config.trim_on_minimize. Click on OK button 5] Select the “true” option and then click on OK button. 6] Now restart Firefox
Another problem observed is that Firefox crashes suddenly without any prior warning. This may be due to the following reasons:
1] If you are using VLC Media player plugin and then view VMW media: VLC Media player has its own web browser plugin, hence it conflicts with WMP plugin resulting into a crash. Remove VLC plugin. You can do it using the add/remove programs option in control panel
Downloading files: Download history file can also force Firefox browser to crash. In order to fix this problem, you need to close Firefox and search for the file “downloads.rdf”. When you find this file, delete it from your pc hard disk. To get this file, you need to search for system and hidden files.
Update Firefox: It is good to obtain recent updates downloaded as bugs are fixed in recent version. You can always download latest version of Firefox from its official website.
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