Thinking about switching from FF to IE7
 

My home FF is getting real bad. I'm getting a daily crash; and the second time it crashes I need to reboot my entire machine. I use IE7 for work, and find it as easy to use as FF without the bugs.

I'm very disappointed. :(

Which version of FF are you using? I use 1.5.0.10 on my main machine and the other machines in the house us 2.x all without problems.

I think you've got something else going on on your home machine.

FF 2.0 is very stable, and most people are having not problems at all.

If a widely used browser is causing a machine to crash daily, the problem is the computer, not the browser. Something elsewhere is your problem. Possibly even hardware, though most likely it's the operating system or something else installed on your machine conflicting with it.

Try these two things;

1. Restart your computer and hold down the shift key all through the process of loading the operating system. This will cause the PC not to load all those programs that are set to run automatically every time the computer starts. Then put FF through its paces. If the problem goes away, it's one of those autostart programs, perhaps one in your startup folder, that's causing the problem.

2. Uninstall FireFox and reinstall from the latest version on the web.

Regardless, if step 2 doesn't fix the problem, it's virtually certain that FF is not the root of the problem.

Hope that helps.

Are you using any FF extensions?

SmilingBoy.

I'm using FF 2.0.6 (IIRC) I use several extensions including ForecastFox, ColorTabs, Image Zoom and a few others.

I have IE7 installed for Mrs. Redbeard, and it's working fine.

IE works fine on my home computer. FF does the daily crash though. There are certain sites that will only work with IE also.

I installed FF a long time ago but click "yes" to the updates whenever prompted. Is it better to just uninstall my "updated" old version and install the fresh new version?

A clean install is almost always the best scenario, so that's probably a good idea.

2.0.0.2 is the current GA. You're not using a beta version are you?

Assuming not, delete and re-install is the best alternative. My FF is pretty stable, crashes once a week or so. IE7 is a big leap forward, though, and if you can't solve the FF problem you wouldn't lose as much functionality as in the FF1.x/IE6 difference.

Agree with AC110 -

I find FF2.0.X VERY stable.

I've kept it running for days with no probs, and you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming to IE...

(which, of course, some sites do...and ok, I don't really kick or scream...:p )


Curious for those who have FF crashing regularly - Is it always on the same site? Or same types of pages (eg. ASPs)?

Always the same sites:

cbs.sportsline.com
rivals.com (asp site, but I get other .asp sites fine too)

I'm just going to upgrade so I can view those sites in peace!

I've had issues with IE7.... FF has never failed me.

I like Firefox, but it crashes -- a lot -- on me. I keep it updated.
I also use Opera, which has its own issues.
IE continues to be the most stable browser for me, although I have all sorts of problems with IE7 on one computer (it runs perfectly everywhere else). If I could only have one, I'd pick IE.

Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling?

My guess is that the problem is with one or more of your extensions. I would remove them all, then start adding them back one at a time after using FF for a bit without the problems you are experiencing, to try to isolate which of them are causing problems.

But if you are happy with IE7, then, by all means, use it. It's really just a matter of personal preference, and at least with FF, you have a choice, and that, in itself, probably helps motivate uSoft to make IE better.

-David

Make sure you have the latest version of Forecastfox. When I installed Firefox 2.0 something was sucking up all the memory and crashing. Narrowed it down to the forecast extension and the problems stopped when I disabled it.

Installed Forecastfox version 0.9.5.2 a couple weeks ago and have had no trouble since. Glad it was fixed - was clueless about the weather for a while!