Annoying Safari problem...

I updated Safari yesterday to (what I assume is) the latest version (4.1.2), in the vain hope of solving an annoying problem - but it didn't.

What still happens is this: I can usually open Safari without too much of a wait and then after navigating a couple of pages, it hangs.

Simply quitting doesn't help. I have to disconnect my modem and then re-start.

After the re-start Safari doesn't open (the progress bar loads half way), so what I have to do is quit the browser and then re-open. This usually works, and is annoying in itself, but since it has started hanging in mid-navigation (in the past couple of days), has prompted my question.

For the record I'm using a Mac Mini Power PC with 1Gb RAM.

I've not installed anything untoward and a thorough scan with Norton hasn't shown any viruses. I've tried cleaning the cache, history and suchlike and even reset Safari several times.

Any ideas?

I would remove the anti virus program and see if that did not speed things up they are usually more problematic than anything.

Thanks for the tip, but my problems have been a fairly recent phenomenon and I'm sure hasn't anything to do with Norton which I've had for several years.

welsh_flag said:

I've not installed anything untoward and a thorough scan with Norton hasn't shown any viruses. I've tried cleaning the cache, history and suchlike and even reset Safari several times.

Click to expand...

Of course Norton hasn't found a virus. There are none for Macs.

Cleaning the cache and history really are subsets of resetting Safari.

Since that hasn't helped, you could try moving the plist file out onto your Desktop so it will make a default plist.

If that doesn't help, you should try logging in under a different user account.

I think Mac viruses are very rare rather than non-existent - worth checking Norton because it is a recent phenomenon, which suggests something that either I've done or a third-party program has done.

I'll try the plist suggestion, but can you please explain what a plist is and where it can be found?

Thanks

Mac Viruses aren't rare, they are non existent.
Basically, .plst files are property files used to store information for your apps.
The Safari .plst will be found in user/library/preferences and will be com.apple.safari.plst

Thanks for the info regarding the plist. I'll give it a try......

Later: No luck. If anything it's worse - so I've put the original plist back into prefs.

welsh_flag said:

Thanks for the info regarding the plist. I'll give it a try......

Later: No luck. If anything it's worse - so I've put the original plist back into prefs.

Click to expand...

Ok, smart move. It resets all the preferences you've changed back to the defaults. So you are back to where you started.

toMACsh said:

you could try moving the plist file out onto your Desktop so it will make a default plist.

If that doesn't help, you should try logging in under a different user account.

Click to expand...

Two questions occur to me that might help narrow things down a bit.

1. Are you experiencing problems/slowdowns with any other programs besides Safari?
2. Eons ago when I was running Norton I think it had an option to temporarily disable the software without removing it. That might be worth a try. I had an issue a time or two where Norton would suddenly stop playing nice with some applications. It usually occurred after an update of some sort (System software, Norton, or third-party application). I know you updated Safari after the problem started but it's worth investigating. It could be that the "newer" version of Safari does not update the component contributing to the problem.

Hi Slydude,

Yes, I am experiencing the same problems with Firefox which suggests it's not strictly a Safari problem?

Certainly no problems using other programs offline eg, photoshop, illustrator, etc.

Just seems to be an online problem - earlier this morning I was able to navigate to two pages before it hung. Just now I've been navigating between sites (using Safari) and pages for a good 20 minutes (30 odd pages), so it's not even a consistent fault!

I'll uninstall Norton now and see if that helps....

UPDATE: I hope I'm not tempting providence but I've been whizzing around various sites and pages without any problems. And pages seem to be loading quicker (would quicker page loading make sense after uninstalling Norton?).

Incidentally (and apropos nothing more than idle curiosity) why is there no feature to keep "private browsing' on permanently? I would have thought such a feature would make sense particularly as I sometimes forget to make sure it's on when sending sensitive information and suchlike.

Thanks

EVEN LATER UPDATE:

Things seem to be running far more smoothly now (he said with fingers crossed!), and faster. So thanks to you all for your helpful suggestions and ideas.

Be Well.......