severe eBay problems

i am truly confused as to why eBay does not load like it used to. I sit and wait while ANY page loads, for up to five minutes at times. Surely this is not right. What could be making it behave like this? I would be grateful for any advice...thanks

 

Hiya Pete, I am using Mozilla Firefox (in fact I changed back to Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta 5 to try to see if that helped, but alas it doesn't)...and yes, eBay is the only site I am experiencing problems with. It takes a really long time to load up originally. When I am browsing, once connected, its still slow to load each page, but not as severe as initial connection. If I am wanting to leave feedback or open a link in my account, then forget it... in fact eight mins ago I wanted to leave feedback for a transaction, and the page is STILL loading... refreshing takes me back to the last page viewed... its totally bizarre!! Thanks for your help...

 

thanks, Pete...I am sure I will get the hang of how BBS works...

 

Hi Pippy

1. Cleanup: Get ATF-Cleaner http://majorgeeks.com/ATF_Cleaner_d4949.html

Install and run select all "but" passwords, run Main, Firefox and Opera if you have it.

2. Un-install any suspicious addon or plugins. You can always reinstall them. If you did an upgrade some older plugins/addins are not compatible with the newer program. After removing them close and restart Firefox.

3. Download Portable Opera http://www.opera-usb.com/operausben.htm
Top Download button.

This program is small and totally stand alone, installs no reg or other windows DLL's etc.

Will not interfere with any other browser even when run at the same time. When and if you want to get rid of it no un-install just delete if from the HD.

Portable Opera will give you browser to fall back on in these situations and give us additional insight if it runs OK, and FireFox still don't.

Get back with results.

Mike

 

I am using Firefox3.0beta5, and it behaves as it should. It is the fastest thing around, including Opera. I don't use eBay, so I don't know if you have to be logged in or what. But, I tried my way around, and pages came up instantly.
Using Firefox 2.x and then 3.x with the same profile is dangerous at best, and if you have problem in your profile, where your personal data is, in first place, it will carry on the problem. Only using separate profiles is possible to draw any conclusion. In other words, unless you use a radically different program, as Mike suggested, it is not possible to draw conclusions.
I would start with the easiest "fix ", i.e. delete your Cache, using Tools|Options|Privacy| Private Data, etc.
In second place start Firefox in Safe Mode (in WinXP: Start|All Programs| Mozilla Firefox|Firefox (Safe Mode). That will disable all themes and add-ons.
Limit Tabs. I use a maximum of four. It takes about 70 MB (do Cntrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Task Manager, and find firefox.exe in the processes tab. Look at the CPU and Mem Usage columns.
I would start thinking about anything else, only if basic upkeeping is followed.
But, even creating a separate profile for beta5 would be enough.
At this point, I am not confident that everything has been done to ensure optimal performance.

 

+sigh+ Hey Mike... I downloaded the ATF cleaner without a hitch...thanks for that. Opera..well that was a different story... so many winzip files to sift through I am not sure which one I need to use... and the font sizing issue in eBay is still prevalent, only now the size issue is only on a couple of pages... and sooooo small a poor little old granny like me needs her glasses to read the page now! Oh deary me, how much fun is technology!

 

Mike you are a genius!!! I reloaded the Opera download and presto! eBay loads so fast I am dizzy with it... every single page is AOK and leaving feedback is a snap! The font size issue is non existent, the pages load as they should. OMG i am so grateful... I shall be using Opera from now on for everything to do with eBay, because Firefox works for any other site except that one... thank you so so much, you are truly a genius! +hug+

 

Pippyliz, perhaps your not aware that on a web page or in e-mail, holding the CTRL key down and Pressing the PLUS (+) key makes the text larger and Pressing the MINUS (-) key make the text smaller.

This is no fix for what is wrong but, it might get you by until the problem is resolved.

Hummnnnnnnnnnnnnn I now see we were posting messages at the same time. Boy was I confused for a minute. I now see the problems is solved.

My 2 cents anyway
Ray

 

Hey Ray... your two cents, with inflation, the consumer price index and the cost of fish in Tunisia makes it almost priceless! And I knew about the ctrl thing, its annoying when I have to do it on every single page though! I own an eBay store, so that's why it was such a pain in the proverbial... Opera is so darn good, I am using that for eBay... I am stoked by it!

 

Now that you can use Opera you might consider backing up your bookmarks/favorites etc.

Then totally uninstall FireFox reboot then download FF 3 as Westside suggested and do a clean install.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Install the new Firefox only after a full uninstall of the old FF.

As a Professional Systems Analyst and Network Administrator I have to be familiar with all browsers so I have IE FF Opera and Apple Safari installed and I switch around in using them just to stay current.

But in your case running an EBay store you need a reserve because something could very well happen to this Opera.

When I or one of my clients has a problem with a browser I will do the same in all the other browsers. If the issue is in only 1 browser then we can still get the job done.

If the same issue is in all browsers then 99% of the time it is the Web site.

Fix the FF!

There is also a portable FF just like the portable Opera you just downloaded.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
Altho this will run totally stand alone and not interfere with any other browser even if run at the same time I still reccomend you uninstall your problem FF

Mike

 

Pippyliz,

I agree with Mike, in that you do need to "fix" Firefox. I am running 2.0.0.14, and eBay loads in a flash, so there is either something corrupt, or perhaps you haven't done routine maintenance, such as Westside suggests, Cache, Download History, Browsing History, etc.

Have you tried creating a new test Profile to see if eBay loads with the pristine Profile? If not I would also give that a go.

I would also be very interested in what happens if you start Firefox without Extensions/Add-ons, or in Safe Mode.

 

Having just about every browser known, and some unknown, I can state that with programs like Firefox which is made up of two components, i.e. the program, and the profile, where the personal data is located, there are 99 chances out of 100, that the profile is at fault. In fact, having been at this for long time, I don't recall when there was a bad program installation.
Firefox3.0 is still in beta, although quite good.
So, it may suffice to create a new profile , and use it with the existing installation. The link is for the more complicated Netscape/Mozilla, so it is a snap to create a new profile for Firefox.
I would do this first. Then, if everything works well, selected files could be copied and pasted from the old to the new profile.
The profile manager will come up after the new profile is created, and the new profile with a unique name must be selected.
Profilenames do not matter, but they must be different from what is given. I remember that over 10 yrs. ago I had problems with my NS4.x. My newly created names had unimaginative names like default1....7. default7 was the magic one, and I have not had any further problems.

In addition, a simple search named Firefox & eBay compatibility problems bring up quite a few hits.
Take a look at this news story, as an example . I, personally, like Ramona don't have any problem with eBay, but as I am not a user, I may be missing something important. And, this one for a toolbar