The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

As you can see she's hogging up resources. If I open the search box it goes to twice that. If anyone knows how to make her calm down please let me know.

I'm afraid I don't consider .06% CPU usage and 88MB of memory to be "hogging" resources. How much RAM does the machine you are dealing with have?
______
Dennis

[BetterRed]

Blossom - type WinKey+S that should bring up Cortana, on the left there's a gears icon, click it and then turn of the things you don't want. I like its basic find functionality - but I've turned off all the glltz.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Blossom - type WinKey+S that should bring up Cortana, on the left there's a gears icon, click it and then turn of the things you don't want. I like its basic find functionality - but I've turned off all the glltz.

I did that already but thanks. I just found a whole mess of settings in the notebook. Turn all them off and usage drop 50% there's also more settings in settings app under privacy for background junk running.

What was happening she was saving my work and programs so when I restart everything would load that I hadn't closed that seem to be the culprit but I turned off everything else like news update. travel, sports....etc

I'm also having video driver issues with no fix in sight seeing my laptop is old. Samsung is no longer updating it.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

Spoke too soon she's back to using 90MB

Sent from my XT1528

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Spoke too soon she's back to using 90MB

I repeat my earlier question: how much RAM do you have in the machine?

I didn't see your earlier report as "hogging" resources.

If you have a a gigabyte of RAM, 90MB is a bit less than 10% of that. Two gigabytes drops the usage to under 5%. Three gigabytes makes it about 3%. Four gigabytes drops that to about 2%.

That is hardly hogging resources. What does Task Manager report as total CPU usage and total memory usage?

I think you are worrying about this far more than it deserves.
______
Dennis

[cromag]

Just a rant. Used Firefox earlier this evening with no issues, shut it down normally.

Tried to start it up 20 minutes ago and got a plain small window explaining there was a problem and Firefox is trying to restore my session -- I didn't record the exact wording.

Then a plain small window explaining it couldn't restore my session and was trying to recover my settings, etc. Which it succeeded at only partially. The appearance went back to the new install screen (no menu bar). It did save my bookmarks, but lost all add-ons -- I only have a few, but they have to be configured. Things like NoScript, which no longer "remembers" my trusted sites.

It's back to being usable, but it was a waste of time. I used to be a big fan of Firefox -- I'm now on the verge of dumping it.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I repeat my earlier question: how much RAM do you have in the machine?

I didn't see your earlier report as "hogging" resources.

If you have a a gigabyte of RAM, 90MB is a bit less than 10% of that. Two gigabytes drops the usage to under 5%. Three gigabytes makes it about 3%. Four gigabytes drops that to about 2%.

That is hardly hogging resources. What does Task Manager report as total CPU usage and total memory usage?

I think you are worrying about this far more than it deserves.
______
Dennis

Cortana is taking up more RAM than any other system or security program running. I consider that a hog. Now if I used it that would be okay but for something you don't use that is unacceptable. I have 6GB of ram but my game uses four then Excel open to keep track of progress plus my browser, fraps...etc It adds up. Before I had no slow down while she was disabled now it's choppy due to Cortana and the fan ramps to maximum high. It would be okay if she stop doing things in the background and sleep but she keeps adding processes under her. I'm still looking for a magic setting that makes her stop doing that and put her in stasis.


Oh I just read Cortana will be moving to the system tray/action center in the next build. So let's hope that makes her more optional and less resources.

Originally Posted by cromag

Just a rant. Used Firefox earlier this evening with no issues, shut it down normally.

Tried to start it up 20 minutes ago and got a plain small window explaining there was a problem and Firefox is trying to restore my session -- I didn't record the exact wording.

Then a plain small window explaining it couldn't restore my session and was trying to recover my settings, etc. Which it succeeded at only partially. The appearance went back to the new install screen (no menu bar). It did save my bookmarks, but lost all add-ons -- I only have a few, but they have to be configured. Things like NoScript, which no longer "remembers" my trusted sites.

It's back to being usable, but it was a waste of time. I used to be a big fan of Firefox -- I'm now on the verge of dumping it.

There was an update earlier to v58 I'd stay at v57 if you can. Quantum runs like crud before I wish I had never let it Update a few months ago. I had to disable my extensions because it was using 2GB of ram with only four tabs.

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I do recommend you spend the extra money to get Win10 Pro, not Home, as it provides more control over what Win10 can do. And you might want to install O&O Shutup, a freeware anti-spying tool from the makers of the O&O Defrag utility that will further control what Win10 phones home.
______
Dennis

Which settings are safe to turn off? I'm going through them. Have you had trouble with any particular setting? This looks like something I'd used. Thanks.

Update: I went ahead and gave it a try. After using this program my memory usage drop to 25% this is with only system and security apps running. Amazing! Cortana is no longer a concern as I have freed up other RAM by using that program. I'm realize I can add more RAM to this laptop. I've never upgraded it.

Update 2: I found a way to fix Cortana. I'm very happy now. Thanks for all the help everyone. Laptop is coming along nicely. Slowly getting everything install and learning a lot.

Sent from my XT1528

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Cortana is taking up more RAM than any other system or security program running. I consider that a hog.

We differ.

Now if I used it that would be okay but for something you don't use that is unacceptable. I have 6GB of ram but my game uses four then Excel open to keep track of progress plus my browser, fraps...etc It adds up.

What does total memory usage normally look like? And what game do you play?

If I'm doing something in the foreground that requires that much of the system, I tend to cut down on what else is in the background. Game? Sure. It's what you're doing at the moment. Excel to keep track? Okay. Browser and other stuff? Why are they even running?

(If I am playing that sort of game, I am unlikely to switch out of it to a browser. I'm concentrating on the game. The browser can always be invoked after I've stopped playing.)

Before I had no slow down while she was disabled now it's choppy due to Cortana and the fan ramps to maximum high. It would be okay if she stop doing things in the background and sleep but she keeps adding processes under her. I'm still looking for a magic setting that makes her stop doing that and put her in stasis.

I'm still having a hard time believing Cortana is the source of your problems.

Oh I just read Cortana will be moving to the system tray/action center in the next build. So let's hope that makes her more optional and less resources.

I don't know, but a tray app is a sensible place to put her.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

There was an update earlier to v58 I'd stay at v57 if you can. Quantum runs like crud before I wish I had never let it Update a few months ago.

Quantum runs wonderfully here. You need to understand what's going on.

Mozilla is trying to increase Firefox performance. The easiest way to boost performance is to throw more hardware at it, because hardware is cheap. Most current machines have the resources to support what Quantum is doing. (For that matter, I have a 32 bit version of Quantum installed under Ubuntu Linux, on an old Acer netbook with a 1.6ghz Atom CPU and 1.5GB RAM. It works, and performance is reasonable given what it's running on.)

The big push has been multi-process Firefox. Speed up performance by doing things in parallel, instead of sequentially on the main execution thread. Modern CPUs have multiple cores, and can execute more than one instruction at a time. I have a quad-core CPU, and on each clock tick, each of them can be executing an instruction.

The trick to running stuff in parallel is breaking out what must be done into tasks that can be run in parallel, so process B is't blocked because it has to wait for process A to complete before it can run. Mozilla is rewriting parts of its Gecko engine in a language it developed called Rust, which makes writing parallel code easier.

The biggest change in Quantum was the introduction of a new rendering process called Stylo. Stylo attempts to do things in parallel. If you look at Firefox in Task Manager manager, you'll see an assortment of processes under the top level. There will be a main process, a compositor process, four content container processes, and an extension process. The content containers are where tab content is stored.

The default setup for Quantum is four content containers, but you can change that. Go to Options/General. Scroll down to Use recommended performance settings and uncheck that box. A new line will appear called Content process limit. reducing that number will save RAM at a cost in performance. Increasing it may improve performance at a cost in RAM. Try dropping the Content process limit to 2 and restarting Quantum. See if it helps conserve RAM.

Yes, Firefox Quantum wants more RAM. but using more RAM is the easiest way to improve performance. This is not the first time an architectural in FF has boosted RAM requirements. Firefox deals with content as JavaScript objects. Changing web standards required making the JavaScript object larger to be able to support the changes. RAM requirments went up. Users were unhappy, but there really wasn't any other option.

I had to disable my extensions because it was using 2GB of ram with only four tabs.

Quantum here is using 1.3GB RAM with 22 tabs.

And I have 35 extensions enabled, and a lot more installed but disabled, as I test to see which ones are keepers. Extensions do not drive up memory usage here.

Which extensions were you running that you disabled? "Legacy" extensions that ran under earlier versions no longer work. Current extensions must be entirely JavaScript, and written using the Web Extensions API. Nothing I run has shown a significant increase in memory requirements, and the Extension process is currently taking all of 11.5MB with 35 loaded. In the context of total memory requirements for FF, that's nothing.
______
Dennis

[Blossom]

Cortana is a known memory leak I had it confirmed more then likely due to my system being outdated but my friend sent me a way to fix it or a work around as I would call it. Others have been having problems with it. There's no way to fix it due to outdated drivers. You can't install non Samsung drivers Samsung has it blocked. Samsung doesn't care anymore about their laptops. Support is pretty non existent and drivers are being removed or totally wrong versions available. They do not even have the right drivers anymore. I'm trying to get my hands on latest settings program 3.2 I found 3.0 which works okay but features are missing. They have 2.2.1 on their update tool which doesn't installed on Windows 10.

The game is Sims 2 it's super tweaked. It's not made for newer systems but works well if you tweaked it. Excel is to keep track of each family and their goals, their demographics... I have an extensive spreadsheet for each neighborhood. It also contains info for each career, hobby, relationships, aspirations. It's a must while playing. I play in a window. The browser is for things you forget or need to put in the game and you'll always be adding more. A new hair mesh, new clothes, furniture or anything you need you go shopping. Fraps is for pictures you take tons of them because you basically want to keep track of all the things your Simmies do like birthdays, weddings, special events, or just a funny glitch.

I have been playing since 2005. I create for the game as well, mostly recolors a few mesh edits to match Maxis things. I have Sims 3 but I've never got into it, same with Sims 4 I have but lost interest in it. EA is clueless about Sims. Maxis knew how to make an amazing game. Sims 2 is just so customizable you never lose interests because there a gazillion things you can do.

My main rant is my graphics driver is outdated from 2015 and Samsung has no plan to release the 2016 driver.

Once someone figures out a way to export passwords I'll be downgrading my Firefox. All my extensions are legacy and do not work. The new ones take up too much ram and really do not do what I need. I really need my xkit back.

Sent from my XT1528

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Once someone figures out a way to export passwords I'll be downgrading my Firefox.

Downgrading your Firefox will not be simple. You will need to create a new profile and recreate your old setup. There were profile changes in Firefox 56 that broke some legacy extensions, and Firefox 57 finished off the rest. If you just install an older version of Firefox and try to use it with your current profile, you will not be happy because your legacy extensions will not work.

I installed Firefox ESR, based on FF 55.2, to give myself headroom to use legacy extensions because I knew they would no longer work in Firefox 57, But I was already using Firefox 56 when I decided to do that, and found out the hard way about profile breakage. I had to create a new profile to use with ESR and recreate my old setup.

All my extensions are legacy and do not work.

Tell me what legacy extensions you ran? I may be able to recommend replacements. I had about forty in the earlier version of Firefox. There are enough extensions now in the Web Extensions format to replace the majority of what I had run and let me run Firefox Quantum as my production browser. One big gap is passwords, and the API that will let you deal with passwords is in development and security review at Mozilla.

Meanwhile, Nirsoft has a freeware utility than can read your current Firefox passwords and dump them to a file. You won't be able to import that file into an older Firefox version, but you'll at least have them to add. See http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/web_browser_password.html.

The new ones take up too much ram and really do not do what I need. I really need my xkit back.

That has not been my experience. Which new format extensions did you try, and how did you know what RAM they used?
______
Dennis

[Blossom]

You're not kidding. I tried to install a portable version but after going in circles over and hour I gave up. It kept updating no matter what settings I tried.

I finally found a portable version of 53 ESR and that worked. I use FEBE so all I had to do was copy a backup from last year into 53. So now I have 53 and 58. I prefer 53. It runs like a dream. I really do not like Quantum but will keep it so Edge doesn't get made default.

I use process explorer to monitor hogs. It helps track down leaks. It showed the extensions I was using causing the huge jump. The main culprit was Ad Block Plus switched to Ublock Origin and that helped.

I downgraded my graphics driver because the new driver windows keeps installing is not authorized for my laptop. Now that was fun. Windows and I went a few rounds but I won. Every time I uninstalled my graphics driver windows reinstall it before I could install a new one. Every time. I was finally able to uninstall, run the hide updates troubleshooter and stop the viscous cycle.

Sent from my XT1528

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

You're not kidding. I tried to install a portable version but after going in circles over and hour I gave up. It kept updating no matter what settings I tried.

I finally found a portable version of 53 ESR and that worked. I use FEBE so all I had to do was copy a backup from last year into 53. So now I have 53 and 58. I prefer 53. It runs like a dream. I really do not like Quantum but will keep it so Edge doesn't get made default.

Mozilla has already published the Firefox ESR update schedule. It is not intended to be a permanent solution. It's purely to allow organizations running Firefox to properly plan and prepare for upgrades. As I recall, come the release of Firefox 60, that will become the new ESR version, and you will be back where you are now if ESR updates.

I use process explorer to monitor hogs. It helps track down leaks. It showed the extensions I was using causing the huge jump. The main culprit was Ad Block Plus switched to Ublock Origin and that helped.

I use Process Explorer here, and I'd love to know what you were looking at. See the attached screenshot of the Firefox Quantum processes displayed in PE. Tell me which you think represents extensions?

Chrome makes that simpler - everything in Chrome is a separate OS process - the browser itself, each open tab, each installed extension - and it's easy to see what is taking what RAM. Chrome provides fine grained control at the expense of system overhead. Processes are relatively expensive, as they must be created, maintained, and terminated by the OS. It's why programs that must have multiple things going on normally use threads instead of process, but threads have limitations that make them unsuitable for this.

Quantum uses a different model that I explained earlier. It uses less system overhead, and a goal of Mozilla going forward will be increasing the granularity of content containers to provide better control over usage by open tabs. But meanwhile, one complaint about Quantum under Windows is that it doesn't provide the additional information to let things like PE clearly identify just what those various sub-processes are.

Agreed about the superiority of uBlock Origin to ABP. I never ran ABP. I'm not that fanatical about blocking ads, and didn't care for the overhead involved in using it.
______
Dennis

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Blossom

You're not kidding. I tried to install a portable version but after going in circles over and hour I gave up. It kept updating no matter what settings I tried.

I finally found a portable version of 53 ESR and that worked. I use FEBE so all I had to do was copy a backup from last year into 53. So now I have 53 and 58. I prefer 53. It runs like a dream. I really do not like Quantum but will keep it so Edge doesn't get made default.

I use process explorer to monitor hogs. It helps track down leaks. It showed the extensions I was using causing the huge jump. The main culprit was Ad Block Plus switched to Ublock Origin and that helped.

I downgraded my graphics driver because the new driver windows keeps installing is not authorized for my laptop. Now that was fun. Windows and I went a few rounds but I won. Every time I uninstalled my graphics driver windows reinstall it before I could install a new one. Every time. I was finally able to uninstall, run the hide updates troubleshooter and stop the viscous cycle.

Sent from my XT1528

I switched to Ublock for the same reasons about a year ago, if not two.

I haven't updated Firefox since 54.01, which was when I discovered that the guy who wrote the OmniSidebar extension and a couple of others gave up after trying to redo his extensions with the new API.

Firefox is still my default browser. The only things that use Edge are MS tools such as Weather, Cortana etc, which is fine by me. I've never liked the concept of a single default browser into which applications can stuff their URL's; for example the calibre server. IMO every application that needs access to an HTTP client (web browser) should have a user accessible setting as to which one it is required to use, it would of course default to the system browser default.

If and when Firefox 54.01 no longer works, I will try to switch to Edge before looking at anything else. Twenty years ago browsers were of some interest, but today I'm prepared to use the one that comes with the OS, same with AV scanners, HIPS detectors, firewalls, even file system managers.

Last August I gave up on my 10+ year old home-brew system. For a 2-3 years it had been having intermittent chronic 'video card' problems -- BSODs, start up wedging, etc. Pretty sure the problem was in the motherboard PCi-E slot or beyond, because I could install a 'recalcitrant' video card in another computer and it would run fine for weeks; I also lost a couple of memory modules over same period.

I decided I couldn't be bothered building any more computers. One of our big banks has been deploying Dell Workstations for mission-critical LOB usage for a few years; their Chief Technology Officer (who once reported to me) waxes lyrical about them. So I got one of those, cost considerably more than a regular off-the-shelf system, but I didn't have to compromise too much on the build components.

Very pleased with it, main negative was the local delivery service, which took almost as long to get it the 7 km from Sydney Airport to my place as it took Dell to build it and ship it from KL to Sydney - 6600 km. Getting rid of the Dell bloat was easy enough, I can put it back for warranty claim purposes.

Its a bit light on doco, but what isn't these days. When I bought my new phone a few weeks ago, the young woman who helped me select it was puzzled by my query, "Where's the doco?" Her colleague looked across and explained was 'doco' was, she then said, "Don't worry there are plenty of videos on Youtube?" Being very grateful that, at my request, she was setting it up for me, including sorting out the sim card, the telco, and my google account I kept schtum and smiled.

BR