Slow Firefox 15? Try disabling Adblock Plus (Adblock Lite)

[iladelf]

Just a heads up. Since going to Firefox 15, I've noticed horribly slow performance from FF, almost like a bloatware/malware infection. Once I disabled Adblock Lite 1.4.3, the problem disappeared. I am not using Adblock Plus any more due to their selective "allowance" of some ads, therefore my use of ABL (or previous use of).

For the record, I don't mind ads; I realize they are necessary for revenue to keep websites operating. That said, since they are such an easy conduit for infection, I have previously disabled them. Until now.

I like FF too much to switch to Chrome, mainly because of the Delicious sidebar. No version of it for Chrome that I know of. Good I am using Sandboxie with FF, I reckon!

 

[xF1x0r]

Restricting the ability of pages to run scripts via NoScript does wonders for performance, let alone security. I realize it's not for everyone, but it works great for me.

Running NoScript has been very educational and a real eye-opener, it's just flat amazing how many scripts some sites run..

 

[James_S]

I am not using Adblock Plus any more due to their selective "allowance" of some ads, therefore my use of ABL (or previous use of).

For the record, I don't mind ads; I realize they are necessary for revenue to keep websites operating.

I don't quite follow you there. You recognize the necessity of ads to keep websites free but don't like that Adblock Plus allows non-intrusive ads?

+1 for No Script

 

[iladelf]

I don't quite follow you there. You recognize the necessity of ads to keep websites free but don't like that Adblock Plus allows non-intrusive ads?

+1 for No Script

Look, I didn't post this as an argument to whether or not you should or should not use an ad blocker. Merely stating the facts as I've seen it in dealing with FF15 and Adblock Lite, in my case.

My reasoning for not liking ABP as much anymore is that IF you are going to block, block everything. Not just what someone else deems as "appropriate" or not. For myself and my customers, it's the protection factor. Drive-by infections, IMO, would have more chance of getting through ABP than ABL, in theory, because of the selective "unblocking" of "legitimate" ads. I block for protection only.

 

[grayfoxcomputing]

I agree with both groups here - Ad Block slowed down FF and Chrome for me. Disabling it adding lots of speed back to both.

I too love NoScript and have been using it for years.

 

[nlinecomputers]

For what it is worth you can tell Adblock to block all ads. It's just not set by default.

I've not noticed any slowdowns on my setup. Do you have a URL that I can test with as an example?

 

[iladelf]

For what it is worth you can tell Adblock to block all ads. It's just not set by default.

I've not noticed any slowdowns on my setup. Do you have a URL that I can test with as an example?

True on the Adblock and its default settings. Regarding URLs, pretty much a general slowdown. Although the site below was coming in at 10+ seconds to load with ABL on:

http://www.freewaregenius.com/

I've also experimented with NoScript. However, for my customers, they'd never be able to "manage" using NoScript, with all of its different bells and whistles. A little more complex than the average user can handle, I believe.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Not seeing it here. Perhaps you are blaming adblock for a dns issue? Or perhaps in combination with other adons is the problem? For example I don't use noscript.

 

[iladelf]

I've tested the DNS theory previously, trying several different ones (4.2.2.1-5, OpenDNS, GoogleDNS, etc.) and that hasn't made a difference at all. What did make a diff was disabling ABL. Again, YMMV.