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Firefox won't load pages unless mouse is moving or keyboard is pressed

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  • 16 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Keith172

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Hello,

I've seen this problem listed several times prior to this post, but none of the solutions have helped me.

I've been using Firefox for ages and the last 3 updates or so have been exhibiting this issue. When I attempt to load a website, Firefox will begin to take me to the page and then hang. The circle in the tab will stop moving and it will sit there until I move the mouse or press a button on the keyboard. As long as the mouse is continuously moving or keyboard buttons are pressed, the page will load fine. The same thing happens with YouTube. The video will start and then freeze unless the mouse/keyboard is moved. Firefox also exhibits this behavior when I try to download a file from a website. The download will start and then hang until I move the mouse or press a button, then it will continue for a few seconds and hang again until I repeat the mouse movement or keyboard button press.

So far, I've tried updating Firefox, Java and Flash; starting Firefox in Safe Mode; uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox: doing a complete uninstall and reinstall of Firefox with profile removal and creation. I've run the following ad and malware detection tools with no infections found: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, AdwCleaner, SuperAntispyware, Microsoft Safety Scanner, Windows Defender, Spybot Search & Destroy, Kasperky Free Security Scan and Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller.

The only thing that I've tried that "seemed" to work was starting Windows in Safe Mode with networking and running Firefox there. I was able to watch YouTube videos without freezing and websites appeared to load properly. Obviously, I can't run in Safe Mode all the time.

I've attached a screenshot of what it looks like when Firefox hangs on Google News. Notice that the images partly load, but a good number of them are either waiting or not loaded.

I hope someone can help me, since I really like Firefox and I'd hate to switch to Chrome or (shudder) IE.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello, I've seen this problem listed several times prior to this post, but none of the solutions have helped me. I've been using Firefox for ages and the last 3 updates or so have been exhibiting this issue. When I attempt to load a website, Firefox will begin to take me to the page and then hang. The circle in the tab will stop moving and it will sit there until I move the mouse or press a button on the keyboard. As long as the mouse is continuously moving or keyboard buttons are pressed, the page will load fine. The same thing happens with YouTube. The video will start and then freeze unless the mouse/keyboard is moved. Firefox also exhibits this behavior when I try to download a file from a website. The download will start and then hang until I move the mouse or press a button, then it will continue for a few seconds and hang again until I repeat the mouse movement or keyboard button press. So far, I've tried updating Firefox, Java and Flash; starting Firefox in Safe Mode; uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox: doing a complete uninstall and reinstall of Firefox with profile removal and creation. I've run the following ad and malware detection tools with no infections found: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, AdwCleaner, SuperAntispyware, Microsoft Safety Scanner, Windows Defender, Spybot Search & Destroy, Kasperky Free Security Scan and Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller. The only thing that I've tried that "seemed" to work was starting Windows in Safe Mode with networking and running Firefox there. I was able to watch YouTube videos without freezing and websites appeared to load properly. Obviously, I can't run in Safe Mode all the time. I've attached a screenshot of what it looks like when Firefox hangs on Google News. Notice that the images partly load, but a good number of them are either waiting or not loaded. I hope someone can help me, since I really like Firefox and I'd hate to switch to Chrome or (shudder) IE. Thanks in advance for your help!

Chosen solution

philipp - Ah ha! When I disabled all non-Microsoft services in msconfig and restarted the PC, Firefox behaved like it used to with no freezing! So now it's just a matter of figuring out which service(s) are causing the issue, right?

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Keith172 said

So now it's just a matter of figuring out which service(s) are causing the issue, right?

Correct. Start with your protection programs one by one.

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Alright, you are all going to think I'm nuts. I re-enabled all of my disabled non-Microsoft services in msconfig before I shut my PC down last night and turned it on when I got to the office this morning, as usual. All of the services that normally start are running. When I started up FireFox this morning, everything was back to normal and FireFox is NOT exhibiting the freezing issue right now.

I had previously received the FireFox 35.0.1 update back in late January (I believe) and the problem had remained. I haven't received or installed any Windows or Flash updates since last night, but the problem seems to have resolved itself, at least for now. I'll leave this issue open until I get a couple good days out of FireFox and will post any updates.

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Well, here's hoping.

It's possible that a corrupted file was overwritten. But no way to know.

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Alright all, it's been several days since I disabled and re-enabled the non-Microsoft services in msconfig and FireFox has been behaving normally ever since. I can't say for sure what exactly the problem was or if it's been permanently fixed, but it's working now.

I've marked this as solved and hopefully, if anyone is having a similar issue, the fix will be the same for them.

Thanks everyone for your help! It's much appreciated.

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