Extensions vs Performance

Will simply "disabling" extensions in Firefox (XP) help to improve browser performance, or do those extensions actually have to be uninstalled in order for that to happen?

 

Just disabling them should do it...

 

It should be easy enough to find out if disabling reduces the memory footprint and/or speeds up loading and browsing.

What performance issue are you having?

 

Why install then in the first place......
They must serve a purpose and can you browse without them.....?

 

Actually, it's not a big deal! They perform just fine -- it's just about the FF load time, which is fairly slow (probably an average of 30-35 sec.). It's just a little annoying, that's all.

I probably use about 10 extensions, but I'm sure the overall load time is exacerbated by the fact that I also use Sandboxie. It's my understanding that Sandboxie loads/re-creates all of this stuff each time it starts.

All of the extensions I have, I installed for a reason, so I'd like to keep most of them. Do I absolutely need them -- no. So, I guess it's just a matter of choosing between speed vs function .

 

30-35 seconds is pretty crazy.. It must be either the Sandboxie factor, or else you have an older slower machine. I doubt the extensions cause much of a delay....

 

Probably a combination of both.

 

Sandboxie adds about 3 seconds during cold starts, run Firefox out of the sandbox to confirm that Sandboxie is not causing your problem. Some antiviruses cause a delay when opening or deleting the sandbox. If SBIE is related to why the browser takes over 30 seconds to open, that might be it.

Bo

 

Cold start of browser will be slower. What are computer specs? Enough RAM? This utility may help, but I haven't tried it myself: https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/free-utility-really-does-speed-firefox.htm

Some Wilders discussion about SpeedyFox: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=335481&highlight=SpeedyFox
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=291645&highlight=SpeedyFox
To measure resource usage of add-ons you can use this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/about-addons-memory/
Could your AV or other security software be causing the slow loading?

edit: Added info.

 

I currently use 23 - 3 disabled - extensions and load time from cold is around 6 seconds. Subsequent loads are around 2 seconds.

Your problems may be the combination of extensions you have - some don't play nice with each other. Realtime AV, hardware acceleration etc.

If you start fx in safemode, how long does it take - you can type about:healthreport in the address bar for startup information.

 

It depends on the extensions. Some increase performance, at least for me. Pages most definitely load more quickly for me with NoScript, RequestPolicy, and ABP. All those elements being blocked that would otherwise have to load on a page.

But if we're talking a bunch of junk extensions, like weather widgets and stuff like that, yeah, that can certainly accumulate some drag. But my browser is undoubtedly more responsive with my 6 extensions than it is without them.

And while it may boot 1-2 seconds slower in Sandboxie, it seems a hair snappier after that when I actually start browsing with it as opposed to without it.

SBIE used to add more like 3 seconds to my boot times, but now there's barely any noticeable difference at all. Don't know if that's due to an update to SBIE, FF, or a combination of both. Or maybe from trimming some extensions too. Or e) all of the above.