Firefox 3.0.11 . DNS? "Looking"...

[Why Syzygy]

While my monitor was out, one of my erroneous clicks landed on the install button for the Firefox update. I procrastinated all the way through 3.0.10 and now have 3.0.11.

When I tried Open DNS awhile ago, it bothered me that the browser did a lot of "looking for ..." even while at DU, which is RIGHT THERE! I switched back to TW DNS, I guess the network cache eliminates a lot of that redundancy because that wasn't an issue prior to changing the DNS. But since this last update, Firefox is back to "looking for ... " ALL the freaking time. I've actually had to shut down Firefox altogether a few times. As soon as it is restarted, it suddenly can find just the right page.

What's up with this? Is it DNS related? What can I try? Is it Firefox? TimeWarner?

[ChromeFoundry]

1. A few questions...

Was you client network stacks DNS Servers set to the two OpenDNS servers, or are you setting the client DNS servers to your broadband router address and your router is setup as a DNS Forwarder? If second option, your router may be caching the results and modifying the TTL property of your queries (I believe some NetGear routers had this problem).

If running Vista, you can probably remove the IPV6 support on your network adapter.

When this happens, try closing all Firefox windows...then open up Task Manager and see if it actually still running. I notice when my FF get screwy, there is usually a corrupt instance still running without a visible window. If you do find it.. right-click and kill the process.

[Why Syzygy]

2. That happens all the time ...

I have to use Task Manager to shut down Firefox. That started a few updates ago. Very rarely does is shut down without that step. Is there a way to fix that?

I believe it fits your second option above. My IP address is 192.168... which I'm pretty sure is the IP for my modem. It functions as the router. I have a wireless adapter locally. I only realized that recently when I was having a connection issue (it was area wide and not my local).

XP SP3.

[Why Syzygy]

3. I think I got it fixed.

There was an update for an add-on waiting to install. It tried Sunday, but all cable was down for awhile that day, so FF couldn't connect. I had not gone back to finish the update. Installing it seems to have resolved the issue. (It's a tool bar add-on.)

[Why Syzygy]

4. No. That wasn't it.

It's definitely Firefox related because it works perfectly for a short while after a fresh start.
I'm going to reinstall 3.0.9.

[charlie]

5. Try another browser

Run FF and IE-Opera-Safari-whatever concurrently and see if they behave identically. I think it's more likely the problem is with TW. Their wobbly DNS servers are the reason I moved to OpenDNS. A failed DNS lookup can live in your cache for a few minutes, so even if the server trouble is intermittent, it can effectively be continous at your end.

"...but all cable was down for awhile that day..."

Yep, that's Time Warner alright. El Crappo.

[Why Syzygy]

6. Sheesh ..

I ended up screwing the pooch. :freak:

I wish I had thought of trying another browser. When I reinstalled FF, everything got screwed to hell.
I've spent the last five hours formatting and installing! No choice. I tried to Restore.
Chk Dsk is the devil. I bypassed it once, but it wouldn't even start in safe mode.
The restore disk indicated I had the entire hard drive free!
The past seven years just vanished.

At least I've got a bright new shiny system. Not tweaked yet. I've been using IE8 while Windows updates.
I've sent about 20 error reports. Yes. I will report everyone. :wtf:
Everytime I'm on a discussion page here at DU, IE8 status bar has "1 item remainng". Bogus.
I really hesitate to go back to Firefox. It has become a lot of trouble.
The digital quality is much better in IE8 than FF. Easier to read.
Was thinking of posting a few polls in here for Browser/Firewall/AV.
Since I'm starting over ...

Guess it's as good a time as any to reinvent myself.

[charlie]

7. No!

That bites. A clean new install is always nice, but not so nice when you're forced into it. And setting up, installing your favorite bits, and tweaking is like unpacking furniture. The drudgery kills the buzz.

Not to mention losing your stuff. Ack.

I'm sorry it didn't turn out better.

[Why Syzygy]

9. Thanks.

Any other day I would be devastated. My reaction today was just "meh" (after the dirty words).
The most time consuming project will be to rebuild the game I've been working on since last August.

"Windows Messenger" doesn't show up in any of my program lists. Have they embedded that into IE now, do you know?
oh doy . It's a Windows Component.

[charlie]

12. I couldn't tell you

I haven't updated IE past version 6, since I don't use it. I'm a little surprised at WM being missing, though. Up until XP SP2 at least, WM was one of those intrusive programs that was hard to kill if you didn't want it. It took a registry edit to keep it from loading at boot.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. It sucks that you had to reinstall

If you want to move away from Firefox (I think it's starting to get some feature creep that we're used to seeing with Microsoft products), I would suggest Google Chrome. I've been running it part time without any real problems. It's a pretty minimalistic experience, but once I understood how everything worked, it's been great. I haven't seen a problem with the main sites I visit (like DU), so it's been a breeze to learn and use.

Just my .02 sheckles.

[Why Syzygy]

10. Good to know.

This site >
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/929/1/
gives :thumbsup: to Safari for speed.

More >
http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/browsers_for_windows.php3

What I need most, in addition to speed, are spell check and search functions.
Firefox has indeed gotten a lot of creep. And they issue an update every other day it seems!

I actually like IE8 quite a bit. It just has a good deal of 'features' I don't want and there seems to be no way around.

(I figured this was reply was from you and took you off ignore to read. If I stay out of your group maybe I can leave it that way?)

[Why Syzygy]

11. That first link isn't working ..

Maybe the cached page will:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:TChIvcBpbIgJ:www.legitreviews.com/article/929/1/+browsers+for+windows+legit+reviews&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

[EvolveOrConvolve]

13. LOL - I wondered

Most of us are more than one thing. Those "other" groups and forums always get more heated, both in OP's and responses. After some good chats with several people who I'd previously been involved with in one or more of the regular flame wars, I decided that ignoring people was more of MY loss than theirs, so I stopped using it altogether.

:toast:

[Why Syzygy]

14. Sure.

For the first four and half years I was at DU, I never used Ignore. I was here for an exchange of ideas, and that can't happen without hearing other ideas. In January I became more active in the forums at large rather than a few friendly groups. For weeks I only had one person, someone who flamed me for absolutely no reason, on the list. I could see from other threads that other DUers were defending themselves against this poster as well. I wasn't missing anything but spite. That felt so good, I soon enough added a second. I never saw that particular member express anything other than contrariness. Again, no loss. Last week, however, after expressing an OPINION and facing the wrath of a few for the audacity of having one, I flipped a switch and decided to go with a zero tolerance policy for rude behavior. After one partiuclar thread :ahem: I swept a whole net full into the ignore bin. My DU experience is much the more pleasant for the decision.

There was once a member who posted in this group for a very particular program issue. Someone responded to him several times, with no acknowledgement from the OP. Finally I asked him if anything **** had suggested helped. He said he had *that member* on ignore. I passed along the information that he was missing some of the most valuable advice available if that was the case. Now that is beyond my comprehension. To "ignore" someone who is trying to help you?

Anyways . :toast: