Ever since I upgraded to Firefox 1.5, I’ve been getting some unresponsive script warnings on sites that employ heavy Javascript like Gmail or Bloglines. Curious about it, I dug around and managed to find out how to fix the problem.
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To fix it, you’ll need to access the hidden configuration page in Firefox. Just type about:config in the address bar and you’ll get a page full of hidden configurations which you can tweak till your heart’s delight.
In the ‘Filter’ box, type dom.max_script_run_time. This will narrow the options till only the dom.max_script_run_time option remains. Right-click it and choose Modify. A box pops up. Change the number to something bigger like 20. This is the maximum time a script can run before Firefox considers it ‘unresponsive’.
If you can’t find the string in the about:config page, create it by right-clicking anywhere and then choose New—> Integer and enter dom.max_script_run_time. When prompted for the value, use 20.
So far I’ve not had anymore unresponsive script warnings, so I guessed that fixed that problem! However some extensions may also cause similar problems. Hope this helps.
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January 10th, 2006 at 11:05 am
Thank yoou for the best fix I’ve found for this problem. Very well explained.
January 13th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
I’ve had the same problem, but even when sites don’t have any javaScript running. It usually occurs when the browser is left for a little while.
Might be a mac problem amd hopefully this fix will sort it
January 14th, 2006 at 6:02 am
mijlee, actually Firefox has a problem with how it handles memory. it slowly eats up more and more memory till it becomes unresponsive. i think that’s what you’re experiencing. the simplest way is to restart Firefox every once in a while. the session saver extension may come in handy here.
January 17th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Thank you, this is a really useful tip. That ‘unresponsive’ warning is so disagreeable…
January 30th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
this made me feel smart!
very few things online make me feel smart. Thanks so much.
February 1st, 2006 at 10:35 am
Using Firefox, had Unresponsive Script popping up when on Yahoo site. Your suggestion seems to solve the problem. Many thanks. I just wonder why Firefox memory-use increases from say 26K to over 120K while having open several web sites. To release the RAM I use Free RAM XP Pro, a fee to download, and it does the job releasing memory before the system crushes.
December 10th, 2007 at 12:59 am
See this link https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=405375 for a description of the bug for Firefox. Note that this works fine in Internet Explorer.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Thanks. It worked.
January 15th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Thanks - this worked.
January 20th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Brilliant! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
January 29th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I have this error message come up every single time after I use my printer an then try to load AOL mail. I have to quit Firefox and restart. If I am doing something other than viewing my mail, the entire Firefox application just slows down to a crawl, even typing is slooooooooooow and I have to restart.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:43 am
My firefox browser opens and then closes really fast. I have tried restoring, deleting firefox and reinstalling. If you can help thanks in advance, Debbie
March 21st, 2008 at 8:17 pm
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March 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 am
Thank you!! This has been driving me buggy for months!
March 26th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Thanks a lot!
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:31 am
Yea! Thanks a million!
April 11th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
thanks,
just when i was going insane, you saved me!
April 11th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
oops,
it didn’t stop!
ff behaved well for a while, but now the problem is back! what so you suggest i should do?
April 14th, 2008 at 5:07 am
I used your ideas to fix it, but i’m still getting an unresponsive script on one website.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:23 am
thank you so much! this was really annoying me, but hopefully it will stop now! And your directions were very clear and precise, thanks again!
May 11th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Thank your share, I have solved the bug with the post. ^^
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 pm
very well explained, grazie!
June 13th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Very helpful .. thank you ..
June 14th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
sadly, this fix did not work for me.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Have the opposite problem. YouTube put a script on my computer that completely shut it down for over an hour; my Firefox was inoperable. I had to force quit it. This happens a lot, when my computer is hijacked by various sites who try to force information on me. I have no choice but to wait until their script or whatever it is stops loading. I want something that gives me control and allows ME to stop scripts! Firefox’s unresponsive script warning only stops some scripts, not all of them!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
this is a different probly id like help with, i cant seem to find anything anywhere but my firefox does not load any pages, it says failted to connect like if my internet were down but i can use internet explorer and everyting else that uses internet, any help please?