Solved: Saving So Slowly

[SJackman]

When I try to save an image from the internet onto my C: drive it takes about 25 seconds for the computer to perform the save operation. It takes the first 15 seconds before the save window disappears, and then 10 more seconds before the computer becomes responsive again. I'm not talking about particularly large images and it doesn't matter whether I save to a directory with a lot of other data in it or I just save to the desktop. The slowdown in the save operation came on pretty suddenly but refuses to go away; I've been living with it for about a year. Any thoughts?

 

[Specsnow]

Hi there,

A few different things could be causing your problem. I'd recommend first that you try saving from a different browser, such as Firefox or Safari. If it works fine there, then it is an add-on for Internet Explorer that is slowing you down. If it still is slow, I'd then check your hard drive. Run a scandisk and a defrag from withing Windows and see if that solves the problem. Also, run a spyware/virus scan, because the slowness can also be caused by spyware.

Hope this helps.

 

[SJackman]

You were right, but the other way around. I've been using Firefox, but it turns out I don't have the problem if I use Internet Explorer. So I take it the problem is a Firefox add-on? I've installed about three of them that I got through the Firefox website. I like them and I use them. Any thoughts on how to figure out which one? Can they be uninstalled separately, or do I need to uninstall Firefox and start over? Thanks so much for the help!!

 

[SJackman]

In case anyone's interested, I was able to figure this out once I understood that it was a browser issue. Firefox keeps what it calls a download history, which keeps track of every single download you've ever made. After awhile it slows down the save function like crazy. If you go to the Tools menu and choose Downloads, you'll get the history window. There's a button at the bottom that you can click to clear the history. If the computer just hangs once the button is pushed, the history file needs to be cleared manually. The file name is downloads.rdf. See more info at this link:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_save_or_download_files

After that, if you decide, like I did, that there's no reason to ever have to go through this again, go to the Tools menu, select Options, then Privacy, then uncheck the box next to "Remember what I've downloaded." I hope this saves somebody from the headaches this problem gave me.