Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).

• Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

You can also check for problems with the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files in the Firefox profile folder that store session data.

Delete the sessionstore.js file and possible sessionstore-##.js files with a number and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox profile folder.

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Multiple_profile_files_created

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).

I deleted the application and reinstalled and the issue came back. I tried safe mode, turning off hardware acceleration and deleting the sessionstore files but after some time the staggering happens.

Do you keep a lot of tabs open? Firefox saves your open windows and tabs very frequently -- as often as every 15 seconds. For some users, this seems to create a drag on performance. You could try extending the interval to every 60 seconds and see whether that helps. This thread has the steps: Last update made my Firefox stop working for a second every minute.

Yes, the dragging starts happening once I get over a certain amount of tabs. After I reduced my tabs open to two, everything was working normal. But I'm always able to keep a lot of tabs open and the application would work, what could have happened?

Hi j032, I'm not sure what changed. Some users have reported that Firefox 24 used a lot more memory when a lot of tabs were open (e.g., over 100). If you starting having this issue in Firefox 24, maybe it is related to overall memory usage?

Having more than a certain number of tabs causes it to drag more gradually. I've tried the solutions above. The memory usage doesn't go above 30% even with all applications open. Is there anything else I can try or would reinstalling Windows solve it?

I wouldn't go all the way to reinstalling Windows unless there are global symptoms.

If you typically have a lot of tabs using Flash, could you try disabling the Flash Player plugin's protected mode. See this support article from Adobe under the heading "Last Resort": Adobe Forums: How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?

after update 25 its running very slow and pause every damn second it also uses a lot more memory 228 mb i only have 8 tabs open and i can hardly see any video.