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What is plugin-container.exe?

  • 146 replies
  • 243 have this problem
  • 732 views
  • Last reply by pickwicknt

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The extension plugin-container.exe wanted access to the internet. The file was located in my Mozzile folder, but I read somewhere that it is malware. Is this file supposed to be there, and is it normal for attempt to receive a connection? Is it safe?

This happened

Just once or twice

== After the most recent update just a few hours ago.

The extension plugin-container.exe wanted access to the internet. The file was located in my Mozzile folder, but I read somewhere that it is malware. Is this file supposed to be there, and is it normal for attempt to receive a connection? Is it safe? == This happened == Just once or twice == After the most recent update just a few hours ago.

Chosen solution

Go to the following link, click on "What's New in Firefox 3.6.4". The first 2 paragraphs is a brief explanation of what plugin-container.exe is designed to do. Right now, in Windows and Linux only, it isolates Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins from the main browser, so that if one of those plug-ins crashes, your whole browser does not crash. This was done due to the large number of crashes caused by plug-ins. Plans are to add more plug-ins in later updates to Firefox.

https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.6.4/releasenotes/

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All Replies (20)

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I heard this faint noise coming from my computer speakers. something called "Narrow Show" broadcasting a loop of something called "Holy Doughnut" through the plugin-container.exe app. I double checked and verified, it is definitely an issue with the latest Firefox 3.6.4 and that container app. You still say this isn't Malware? It's a HOLE and it's been exploited already, so please fix.

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It's called Flash, Christuber, and it's used in internet advertising. It's very annoying, but it's the same on every Flash enabled browser. If you want to block unwanted internet adverts, use an ad blocker. Adblock Plus is probably the best ad blocking extension you'll find for Firefox.

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@Morbus

The same happened when I started FF in safemode with all ad-ons disabled,It froze on google . com and other websites.

Then windows give me a message "Firefox has stoped responding" Sometimes it says it was Plugin Container tha caused it.

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This plugin-container.exe CPU usage is a JOKE..!!! PLEASE sort the problem out, as i've been using FF for many years and have NEVER come across such crap in an update!

Back to my previous version until this mess is brought under control..

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Does Gmail (Google Mail) use Flash, Silverlight or Quicktime? I have plugin-container.exe load when I check my emails.

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@ John This will happen if a firewall/antivirus/security suite is prevent Firefox from communicating with plugin-container. I don't know if that's your case, but please check if it is.

@ Pi$$ed With FF 3.6.4 Please read this post, which is where I originally addressed this issue. I hope it helps.

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plugin-container.exe is using 100Mb on RAM. I have firefox installed on my grandmother's computer. She only has 500mb of ram, and can't afford to have 1/5 of her RAM being eaten up by this. This will push her over the limit for sure. I'm not going to downgrade for security reasons, but I might have to switch to Chrome.

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Jonathan, Chrome is probably the heaviest browser around. Here's a benchmark for you.

Not the best example, that page is like a year old already, it is a comparison with 3.5RC which was released in June 2009. Chrome has received a lot of development in the last year, they're pushing stuff out at least twice as fast as Mozilla is, IMO. moderator comment - eh

100MB seems acceptable if you are seeing more than one tab that are heavy on flash. Don't forget that many internet adverts are also flash, and since they blink and move and whatnot, they will be heavier than simple text. If you want to block internet adverts, you can try using an ad blocker. Adblock Plus is probably the best ad blocking extension you'll find for Firefox.

If you simply don't want to have flash elements display, you can disable Shockwave Flash by going into Tools > Add-ons > Plugins. That is not really recommended, since you won't be able to see flash elements anymore. So you may want to consider using a selective flash blocker like Flashblock. It will display a placeholder on all flash elements, and you can click them to display the flash elements you want to see. You can also configure some websites to always display flash elements. This should drastically reduce the amount of RAM flash is using.

Also, I will remind you that those 100MB that are being used by plugin-container.exe, would have been used by Firefox in previous versions.

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Hmm Ok I did a system restore + Reinstall of FF + Update to windows and all seems to be well. Not sure what was going on guess we'll see if it keeps stable.

And for the people that read this and want to try it,make a back up of your bookmarks.

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@ Morbus.. I have read and tried EVERYTHING in your post but the problem is NOT with ANY add-on, but rather with FF 3.6.4

So i've just reinstalled 3.6.3 because 3.6.4 is NOT usable in a satisfactory manor with this joke of a "plugin-container.exe"

I will stick with this version until there is a "usable" version of 3.6.4 that doesn't eat up 75% of my CPU on a constant basis..

This is a BIG step in the WRONG direction for FireFox IMHO..

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I disabled the add-ons "Adobe DLM(powered by getPlus(R)) Restarted browser, and "plugin-container" was no longer in the task manager.text

THIS

Not good FF

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@Morbus, So what does plugin-container.exe have to do with Flash? It was acting as a sink for some hack/exploit, with an active connection to a site I wasn't even viewing in my browser and I was not even using Flash at the time, so how do you connect those dots? When I heard the audio coming through my speakers I started killing processes to see which was the culprit... and it was plugin-container.exe. The hijacked audio stopped as soon as I killed this process. I don't recall seeing this program prior to FF 3.6.4. I definitely would have noticed this pig. Firefox performs badly these days and things aren't getting better. Too many businesses selling out to advertisers and Malware.

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1. Why does firefox.exe take up 30%-50% more resources in this 3.6.4 release?

2. I think there should be a way to "disable" the plugin-container.exe feature under tools / Options.

3. plugin-container.exe loads when I load my Gmail. Does that mean Gmail uses flash, silverlight or quicktime?

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Today 14:33 PST = NOT ME..!! Get a life man, and stop copying names and trying to confuse people who are trying to get a SERIOUS FLAW fixed..

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@ John I'm very happy that you fixed your problem. If you want to know about backing up your Firefox information, see this support article.

@ Pi$$ed With FF 3.6.4 If Firefox 3.6.4 works ok without Flash but it doesn't work ok with Flash, then it's a problem with Flash. Please contact Adobe for support.

Also, the plugin container is just started if you are seeing a page with either Flash, Silverlight or Quicktime. If there are no loaded pages with those plugins, there will be no plugin container running.

@ Christuber That kind of problems happens to me sometimes too, but it's due to Flash not killing itself properly. Sometimes, with versions prior to Firefox 3.6.4, I would close Firefox while viewing a YouTube video, and I'd get sound for a while yet. It's a problem with Flash itself. The plugin container is not meant to fix flash: it's just meant to keep Flash, and other plugins, from crashing Firefox as often as they did.

@ Curious It's possible that you have a problem with one or more of the plugins you have installed. Please read this post and see if it helps you fix this problem, or at least find the cause of this behavior.

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Morbus: Is there a way you could contact the development team so they add a way to disable plugin-container.exe under tools/Options?

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Curious1. There is a way to disable it. It is not recommended however, since, as with versions 3.6.3 and bellow, Firefox will crash whenever Flash or other plugins crash. This solution may also cause problems with future updates to Firefox. The optimal solution is to contact Adobe for support, or whoever it is that develops the plugin you're having problems with. Of course, it may be preferable to disable plugin-container.exe and risk having Flash crash Firefox than not being able to use Firefox at all, with plugin-container.exe enabled. See this post to know how to do it.

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Well my main issue would be with Gmail (google mail). I didn't know Gmail used Flash (or quicktime/ silverlight for that matter) plugin-container.exe loads as soon as I check my email inbox.

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I don't know if Gmail uses flash (if the container loads, it's because it does), you need to ask Google about that, or inspect the page's code yourself.

Of course, disallowing the plugin container from loading won't stop Flash in Gmail, it will just make it load inside Firefox, instead of alongside it.

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I've just updates FF and have the plugin-container - and frankly i have not experience ANY of the above formentioned problems... and i'm using a NETBOOK for heavens sake!!! a net book with 1GB of RAM! and it doesn't crash when using FF or watching flash content or viewing pages using silverlight... yes is it uses a fair bit of CPU power... but it hasnt crashed on me yet!

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