CB Issues.

[dzboi992]

Before I start, I would like to note that I don't mean to bash on CometBird in any way. It has been my favorite browser alongside Google Chrome for at least three years now. Unfortunately and of late, I've been encountering several errors using CometBird.

1. Memory consumption increases over time. If Cometbird is left open for an hour or so, Task Manager displays Memory Usage as up to 1.4GB.
   
2. Occasionally, Cometbird will freeze upon start up. Task termination is required via Task Manager to close the program.
   
3. When clicking bookmarks in the Bookmarks Toolbar, the button will do absolutely nothing. Right-clicking and selecting "Open in New Tab" works, though. I've seen this issue addressed several times on the forum, but I just thought I'd put my 2 cents in. It has JUST happened to me again. It was working fine ten minutes ago and I have made absolutely no changes to the browser configuration, Add-on settings, etc. All of a sudden, the bookmark buttons just didn't work.
   

I am using Cometbird 4.0 along with the following extensions:

• Adblock Plus 1.3.6
  
• Browser UI Enhancement 2.11
  
• CometMarks Bookmarks Synchronizer 1.90
  
• Ctrl-Tab 0.21.1
  
• Download Statusbar 0.9.8
  
• Firebug 1.7.0
  
• Greasemonkey 0.9.3
  
• Missing e 1.1.3
  
• Software Update Checker 2.0
  
• Stylish 1.1.2
  
• BitComet Video Downloader 1.27.2 (disabled)
  

Help, please?

[The UnUsual Suspect]

I had a similar problem with firefox, it required me to kill the process in task manager in order to restart when memory consumption went that high. I then tried a clean install with none of the extensions (many were the same as you use), and the problem disappeared. I never did have time to track down the cause, but I suspect the memory leak was caused by one, or a combination of extensions.

If you want, you can try running cometbird in safe-mode, this won't load any of your extensions/themes, and see if the memory leak exists. You can also see if the problem is present in firefox, if so, it should be reported there.

[dzboi992]

I had a similar problem with firefox, it required me to kill the process in task manager in order to restart when memory consumption went that high. I then tried a clean install with none of the extensions (many were the same as you use), and the problem disappeared. I never did have time to track down the cause, but I suspect the memory leak was caused by one, or a combination of extensions.

If you want, you can try running cometbird in safe-mode, this won't load any of your extensions/themes, and see if the memory leak exists. You can also see if the problem is present in firefox, if so, it should be reported there.

Thanks for getting back so soon. (:

I've used Cometbird 3.6 for the longest time, up until about a week ago when it forced the 4.0 update on me. I used all the same add-ons/extensions before installing 4.0 and the 'memory leaks' never occurred. I'll test out Firefox 4.0 and see if anything's different. Will get back to this topic tomorrow. Again, thanks!

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Many users (myself included) haven't updated to 4.0. It had a lot of bad reviews when firefox introduced it, so between that and the time necessary to develop new extensions that are compatible, cometbird delayed release of 4.0.

Some people really like the new version, and some don't. We have put the previous version on the download page at cometbird.com, so your welcome to revert back. Also, having cometbird update automatically to new versions is an option. Your never forced to update, but if you have automatic updates enabled, then it will attempt to install them. With windows vista and Seven, you can decline the install after the reboot by denying it access to make changes, but it would be best to simply change the settings so it doesn't update without your consent.

[dzboi992]

Many users (myself included) haven't updated to 4.0. It had a lot of bad reviews when firefox introduced it, so between that and the time necessary to develop new extensions that are compatible, cometbird delayed release of 4.0.

Some people really like the new version, and some don't. We have put the previous version on the download page at cometbird.com, so your welcome to revert back. Also, having cometbird update automatically to new versions is an option. Your never forced to update, but if you have automatic updates enabled, then it will attempt to install them. With windows vista and Seven, you can decline the install after the reboot by denying it access to make changes, but it would be best to simply change the settings so it doesn't update without your consent.

I'm not too fond of v4.0 either, but the update was forced on me. Every time I try to revert to 3.6 using an old installer file I saved, it updates again, even though automatic updates is disabled.

Also, I note that occasionally, I get a "Cometbird Updates" window with almost no text on it. It leaves room for about 400x500px, but only says something along the lines of "something is preventing cometbird from updating". I don't remember the exact text, but it was something like that. Automatic Updates on my computer are set to "Download but ask before installing", just in case you were referring to that automatic updates, rather than the one built in to the browser.

I tested Firefox 4.0 without any extensions/add-ons. Left it on for an hour and memory stayed at a steady 77,000 KB on Facebook. Also noticed that it starts up much faster than Cometbird has been starting lately. (Firefox = 7 seconds, Cometbird = 30s to 1min) Will try with extensions on Firefox soon.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Try cometbird in safemode (no extensions). Some extensions do make startup time much longer.

Goto Tools>Options>Advanced>Update

Then under "Automatically check for updates to", uncheck "Cometbird".

Alternately, if you allowed update to install, when you restart cometbird, windows Vista/Seven will prompt you for permission to allow cometbird to make changes to your computer. Deny and it won't apply the update.

[dzboi992]

Try cometbird in safemode (no extensions). Some extensions do make startup time much longer.

Goto Tools>Options>Advanced>Update

Then under "Automatically check for updates to", uncheck "Cometbird".

Alternately, if you allowed update to install, when you restart cometbird, windows Vista/Seven will prompt you for permission to allow cometbird to make changes to your computer. Deny and it won't apply the update.

Are you referring to the entire computer being in Safe Mode, then starting Cometbird, or is there another Safe Mode I don't know about and can't find?

I'm using Windows XP, by the way.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Look at your start menu and find cometbird folder, inside it there are two shortcuts, one is "cometbird" the other is "cometbird (safemode)".

It will load cometbird with all extensions and theme's disabled.

Unfortunately on windows xp, once install is done, it's too late to deny it. Perhaps you might have to disconnect from the internet, install the old version and disable looking for updates, then connect to the internet.

[dzboi992]

Look at your start menu and find cometbird folder, inside it there are two shortcuts, one is "cometbird" the other is "cometbird (safemode)".

It will load cometbird with all extensions and theme's disabled.

Unfortunately on windows xp, once install is done, it's too late to deny it. Perhaps you might have to disconnect from the internet, install the old version and disable looking for updates, then connect to the internet.

Oddest thing is, there's no Cometbird folder in Start > Programs.

Tried Start > Run.. > %appdata% > CometNetwork > Cometbird and still found nothing.

[kluelos]

Cometbird can be started in its safe mode the same way, because it IS Firefox.

This is really research you could/should have done for yourself. The CB installer creates a safe-mode shortcut, so someone had to have deleted it.

Click "Start", then "RUN", and then entering the following in the text field: firefox -safe-mode

the press enter/click OK.

[dzboi992]

Cometbird can be started in its safe mode the same way, because it IS Firefox.

This is really research you could/should have done for yourself. The CB installer creates a safe-mode shortcut, so someone had to have deleted it.

Click "Start", then "RUN", and then entering the following in the text field: firefox -safe-mode

the press enter/click OK.

I know Cometbird is based off the Firefox source code. I know it should have created a Program Folder in the Start menu. The thing is, it just isn't there. To add onto all the oddness, there's no Firefox Program Folder in the Start menu either, only a Firefox program executable.

I just checked C:/Program Files/Cometbird, and there was no safe-mode executable of any kind.

"Start > Run > cometbird -safe-mode" started an instance of Cometbird naturally, with all extensions still running.

"Start > Run > firefox -safe-mode" starts Firefox in safe mode with initial Safe Mode dialogue and options.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Something must have corrupted your startmenu items, you might want to remove it completely and reinstall, but if you want to start cometbird in safemode, go to Start>run, then enter

CometBird.exe -safe-mode

Hit Enter and you will get the safemode dialog window.

ps. safemode isn't an executable, it's a commandline switch on the cometbird.exe executable. If that doesn't work, then your installation is corrupt, uninstall, delete program files\cometbird folder and reinstall.

[greywizard]

Just out of curiosity, where IS your CometBird copy installed?

[dzboi992]

Something must have corrupted your startmenu items, you might want to remove it completely and reinstall, but if you want to start cometbird in safemode, go to Start>run, then enter

Hit Enter and you will get the safemode dialog window.

ps. safemode isn't an executable, it's a commandline switch on the cometbird.exe executable. If that doesn't work, then your installation is corrupt, uninstall, delete program files\cometbird folder and reinstall.

I think the installation is corrupt. CometBird started naturally with the line "CometBird.exe -safe-mode" in Run... Will reinstall tomorrow. Sleep time for now..

Just out of curiosity, where IS your CometBird copy installed?

C:/Program Files/CometBird?

[dzboi992]

After several uninstalls and reinstalls of both CometBird 3.6 and 4.0, I found that CometBird 4.0 simply does not have a Start Menu Folder, nor does it come with a safe-mode feature, even when run manually with "Run..". Regardless, I installed CometBird 3.6 and ran it in safe-mode. It was impossible to check for the "open bookmark in new tab" (OBINT) feature, as the Browser UI Enhancement was disabled due to safe-mode. I restarted CometBird with extensions disabled then enabled them. The OBINT feature still didn't work. I uninstalled 3.6 and reinstalled 4.0, which I'm using now. OBINT still doesn't work.

Also, while I had 3.6 in safe-mode, memory consumption was still exceeding 400MB with no high-activity sites open. I didn't keep it up longer than 15-30 minutes to let it reach 1GB and so forth.

I'm running Windows XP, Service Pack 3. Ran CCleaner and cleared the memory dumps in the computer as well. Still running hard. Any more ideas about what the problem could be?

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Lets see what the rest of the staff think about this, and I'll see if I can get the developers to look at it too.

Why it would be using so much ram in safe-mode is very strange.