Safari 3.1.1. only slow loading web pages; Firefox ok

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Hi,
I am a recent Mac switcher. I use Firefox and now Safari as browsers. Firefox is fine, loads pages in an instant, as before in XP. But Safari takes 6 - 10 seconds at least, sometimes longer to load the SAME page. The address bar starts partially highlighted in blue, I wait, and wait a bit more, and then it opens the page. If I click page forward or back, it still takes about 3 seconds, not instantaneous.

As I said, Firefox is fast, so it is not my connection (cable modem; wireless). I did clear the cache as I red in another forum.

Any suggestions? I would be grateful. Thanks.
 
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We have a brand spankin' new Imac with all updates in place and we noticed the exact same thing. I only use FF on both the Imac and my Macbook. FF is lightning fast, no problems at all.

I still have Safari installed should FF act up though.
 
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nauset24
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confirmation

Always good to know that there is someone else out there with a similar issue (I have a new MBP, too). I wonder why others haven't commented on this though. It must be a Safari issue. I have been using Safari (and Firefox) as part of my try everything MAC, and have liked it except for this issue. But I think I will go back to FF exclusively if no one has a solution.
Thanks for letting me know.
 
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I've joined up just because of this thread. Our Macbook was lightning when we first got it about 4 weeks ago. Now though, it will jam and take up to a minute to load a page, pausing at points then jumping in progress for each page.

I've tried clearing cache, resetting safari, using disk utility to reset permissions and seek for faults to the disk. Nothing has worked yet. Even this page took ages!
 
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This is very strange. I find the opposite to be true. FF is fast, but Safari runs circles around it on my machine. I like them both but Safari ... so far ... has the edge here.
 
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Help need from someone who knows! re: Safari

I've joined up just because of this thread. Our Macbook was lightning when we first got it about 4 weeks ago. Now though, it will jam and take up to a minute to load a page, pausing at points then jumping in progress for each page.

I've tried clearing cache, resetting safari, using disk utility to reset permissions and seek for faults to the disk. Nothing has worked yet. Even this page took ages!


That's interesting, because I don't recall that I had this problem when I first got this MBP about 3 weeks ago either. It was only after a week or two. And clearing the cache didn't help. So I wonder what's up. Have you tried Firefox? I would be curious to know if you have/don't have problems with it.
 
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That's interesting, because I don't recall that I had this problem when I first got this MBP about 3 weeks ago either. It was only after a week or two. And clearing the cache didn't help. So I wonder what's up. Have you tried Firefox? I would be curious to know if you have/don't have problems with it.

No haven't tried Firefox, would ideally like to fix Safari rather than switch, but if it cures it then I'll swop because it's starting to make my eyes twitch as insanity looms.

Where do I get FF?
 
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This is very strange. I find the opposite to be true. FF is fast, but Safari runs circles around it on my machine. I like them both but Safari ... so far ... has the edge here.

I have to agree with JohnTheMacGeek---Safari totally runs way faster than FireFox for me. Have you tried resetting Safari to see if that does any good for you?
 
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I've always been a webkit nightly fan, since I've tried FF beta 3 minefield nightly, it's faster than both Safari and Webkit. This worked for me with Safari
If you go to ~/Library/Safari you'll see a folder called Icons which caches all of the site favicons. After extensive use, the icon cache can get very large. Simply delete the contents of the Icons folder and the Safari slowdown will be gone.

To prevent it from happening again in the future, make the Icons folder read only. You'll no longer see any Favicons in the bookmark window or menu, but it's a small price to pay for the speedup.
 
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I've always been a webkit nightly fan, since I've tried FF beta 3 minefield nightly, it's faster than both Safari and Webkit. This worked for me with Safari
If you go to ~/Library/Safari you'll see a folder called Icons which caches all of the site favicons. After extensive use, the icon cache can get very large. Simply delete the contents of the Icons folder and the Safari slowdown will be gone.

To prevent it from happening again in the future, make the Icons folder read only. You'll no longer see any Favicons in the bookmark window or menu, but it's a small price to pay for the speedup.
I don't know if this will work for me since I have only had my computer about 3 weeks and wouldn't think there would be much in there. But, I am trying to follow you directions. WHen I go to Library, then to the Safari folder, I don't see anything called icons. I have files (not folders) called: Bookmarks, Downloads, FOrm Values History, History Index, Last Session and WebpageIcons.

What am I missing here on your instructions?
 
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I've had the problem lately that Safari will actually fail to find pages as if the server was down (or the name wasn't resolving), while Firefox has no problems. Not much of a problem since I use Firefox primarily, but thought it was odd Safari was having issues. Seems like I'm not the only one.
 
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nauset24
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I've always been a webkit nightly fan, since I've tried FF beta 3 minefield nightly, it's faster than both Safari and Webkit. This worked for me with Safari
If you go to ~/Library/Safari you'll see a folder called Icons which caches all of the site favicons. After extensive use, the icon cache can get very large. Simply delete the contents of the Icons folder and the Safari slowdown will be gone.

To prevent it from happening again in the future, make the Icons folder read only. You'll no longer see any Favicons in the bookmark window or menu, but it's a small price to pay for the speedup.


Well, I couldn't see any Library Safari folder, so I used the reset Safari option suggested by "youthpastor" (thanks). You can check what items you want to clear, so you don't have to lose your passwords if you don't want. It does seem to help, but I would like to try the other suggestion if I can. Are you using Leopard? Just wondering why I don't see that folder. I THINK I am looking in the right place. But I am new to Mac, so maybe not.
 
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I have now switched to Firefox and although not as fast as Safari initially was, it does seem better than Safari currently is!

I have reset Safari several times but didn't know how to do the squiggly- Library thing (sorry, new to Macs).
 
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nauset24
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further instructions?

I have reset Safari several times but didn't know how to do the squiggly- Library thing (sorry, new to Macs).


I couldn't get the squiggly Library thing either (love your description). lol I am a new macophile, too. Maybe it is a secret that you only learn after you've been part of the the "club" for a while.

Anyone have some instructions that would work for us newbies?
 

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