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July 1, 2006 10:06 AM

NotFirefoxagainfilter: How do I stop from having to clear my cache every 5 minutes?

I have had issues with Firefox loading my Gmail ever since I created separate XP logins for me and my roommates (we share a computer in our extra room/office). I have created profiles in firefox, but the same problem keeps happening even with the new ones.

Other times, Firefox would stall on loading a page and won't let me load other pages unless I close the program and open it up again.

My roommate is a little slow on the uptake and because of this is convinced that IE is superior to Firefox. I need to make a believer out of her or she screws up my computer again (as she had a few times before)!

I have tried looking this issue up on Metafilter/Google but nothing exactly fits my problem, or maybe I'm not using the right keywords. Thanks again!

posted by i8ny3x to computers & internet (10 answers total)

describe the problem, why do you have to clear the cache? what version of Firefox do you use? what extensions?
posted by MzB at 10:21 AM on July 1, 2006

Oh right. Thanks.
It's version 1.5.0.4.

Well, when Gmail first started acting up and wouldn't load, I got an error message that said esentially that it's taking too long to load Gmail... it wasn't a connection error, I don't think, and clinking on that error a few times led me to a Firefox solution, which told me to clear the cache.

I don't use any extensions for Firefox other than the default ones.

Other times are unrelated to Gmail, when loading pages would stall and I have to close the browser and go to the page again, which works fine until the problem happens again.

Hope I'm being specific enough. Thanks.
posted by i8ny3x at 10:30 AM on July 1, 2006

Have you tried Tools/Options, Privacy section, Cache subtab, setting to 0? That's generally what I do with FF.

You already tried separate profiles? You might also try combining separate profiles with 0 cache if just the 0 cache alone doesn't help.

Firefox is not perfect, it does have bugs..... probably more than it should. It worries me that an application that has come into such prominence has so many outstanding issues.
posted by Malor at 11:10 AM on July 1, 2006

(but it's STILL better than IE, even with the problems.)
posted by Malor at 11:10 AM on July 1, 2006

I agree. I am going to try the 0 cache thing for the other profiles and see if that works. Thanks!
posted by i8ny3x at 1:16 PM on July 1, 2006

Firefox 2.0 alpha3 may be worth a shot as well. I've been making use of the pre-release builds of alpha4 and I've not had a crash or anything in months. And, back when I was using the alpha3-equivalent builds, I didn't have any problems either.
posted by Handcoding at 2:42 PM on July 1, 2006

In your URL box, type:
about:config

Then narrow your search down by entering in the filter box:
cache

See browser.check.cache.check_doc_frequency? Enter 0 or 1. That's solved many a problem for me, hopefully it will work for you.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:23 PM on July 1, 2006

Thanks civil_disobedient. What does 0 do and what does 1 do?
posted by i8ny3x at 7:31 PM on July 1, 2006

0 means the browser will check for a newer version of the page (and all external pages) every session. As long as your browser is open, it's considered one session.

1 means the browser will check for a newer version of the page every page load. This is what I set my browser up with, though it does circumvent some of the benefits of caching. If you've got a reasonably fast connection and system, you won't notice the difference.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:42 AM on July 2, 2006

CERT has officially recommended using an alternate browser. That's a fairly startling event, and your roommate should pay attention. You could also go into IE and set some rigid security standards, making IE even more annoying to use. And how could anybody not love tabbed browsing?
posted by theora55 at 2:37 PM on July 3, 2006