Firefox Javascript and 100% CPU spiking

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I’ve been having problems for a couple of months with Firefox (currently running Firefox 3.6.8 on Windows XP Home SP3). On certain sites with a Javascript window (for example, almost any page of a NY Times article, there’s always a little picture that can be viewed enlarged, for example here with the photo of Lance Armstrong in this article) nothing happens and Firefox gets very sluggish — no window pops up, nothing happens except for a sudden slowdown. A check of task manager shows CPU usage spiking to 100% and the only way to stop it all is by restarting. I was running the No Script add-on and turned it off, but nothing changed. I’ve tried shutting down Java and Javascript and my latest Java update always causes an error message upon startup with a warning that it requires Firefox 3 or later, which is what I already have. It seems to be a huge mess.

I tried switching over to Chrome but am having trouble opening pages with it. I have no idea if this is connected with my Firefox and Java or Javascript problems or not. What I would like to do is continue with Firefox. After reading this very instructive thread, I’ve downloaded Revouninstaller to take out all traces of Firefox and start over but have not yet done so.

My questions are: what should I do? I’m guessing my profile is corrupt. Should I delete Firefox and restart? I don’t have Firefox especially tweaked and only really need my bookmarks and saved passwords. When I installed Chrome, I imported both of these. Can I re-import my bookmarks and saved passwords back from Chrome to a new Firefox installation (I’m guessing yes)? Does anyone know why I’m having so many problems with Javascript (or is it Java that is posing so many problems)? Is No Script to be blamed?

Many thanks in advance.

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You can check your Java version here ……Verify Java Version

Current Java version is Version 6 Update 21.

The error message seems that there may have been remnants of a previous Version of Firefox.

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You can check your Java version here ……Verify Java Version

Current Java version is Version 6 Update 21.

Generally speaking, Java is unrelated to JavaScript. Staying up-to-date is desirable, but in this case, not critical: that NYTimes pop-up does not use the Java plugin.

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After reading this very instructive thread, I’ve downloaded Revouninstaller to take out all traces of Firefox and start over but have not yet done so.

Make triply sure to back up your bookmarks before using a third party uninstaller.

My questions are: what should I do? I’m guessing my profile is corrupt. Should I delete Firefox and restart? I don’t have Firefox especially tweaked and only really need my bookmarks and saved passwords.

First, you can export your Firefox bookmarks from the Organizer dialog (Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks). Grab both the JSON and HTML formats for best results. Or, if your Chrome bookmarks are more up-to-date, perhaps you can export those to the standard Netscape HTML format.

Second, try creating a new “clean” Firefox profile side-by-side with your existing profile: Creating a new Firefox profile on Windows @ MozillaZine Knowledge Base. It will look “factory fresh” except that it will pick up the plugins installed on your machine.

If that profile works, then it could be one of your extensions, or a bad setting, or a corrupted file. Since a pop-up is involved, I would scrutinize any add-ons related to security or advertising, or that purport to block popups. If the cure isn’t obvious, you can move your bookmarks and (selectively) your other settings to the new profile: Transferring data to a new profile – Firefox @ MozillaZine Knowledge Base.

Any luck?

== Edit ==

In NoScript, if you have allowed the nytimes.com domain, the popup should display with no problem.

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Many thanks for the advice. I backed up my bookmarks and created a new profile and the same problem continues to exist: some pop up windows don’t open. BUT the CPU spike seems to have disappeared and I can close and reopen Firefox now, which I couldn’t do before. Nonetheless, the error message still appears upon restarting and if I don’t get rid of it quick enough all of Windows hangs (this was already a problem). Another oddity: I had installed the FEBE add-on to at least backup my bookmarks and saved passwords and now when I open my old default profile, FEBE doesn’t show up in my tools menu as before and I have to manually start it in the add-ons window. Very odd.

Do you recommend simply wiping out Firefox and starting over? I only have a few add-ons: IE View, FEBE and No Script (which is disabled at the moment).

Many thanks.

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Problem solved by doing a full uninstall with the help of Revouninstaller. Reinstalled Firefox and was able to import saved bookmarks and passwords and everything is working fine now. Many thanks for the advice and help.

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