General Chat

I queried GR Help about the extremely slow loading speed of the new site. They said it was because I use IE6, and that I should go to IE7 (although of the dozens of sites that I regularly visit, only the new GR site is slow). I'm reluctant to go to IE7 because of the many reports of problems after it's installed. Firefox seems to be a better alternative as far as trouble-free installation is concerned. Does anybody here use Firefox? And if so, does the new GR site load at a normal speed, or very slow?

Herbert, I use IE6 and also Opera.... and if GR is on a go slow, then neither works properly... it does have slow periods quite frequently... like now, grrrrrrrrr!! All my other sites don't have a problem!

Love

Daff xxxxxx

Thanks for reply, Daff.

A few of us here in Australia who are on GR all happen to use IE6 and the same ISP so we weren't sure what part of the system to blame. (We see new GR as either very slow or extremely slow - old GR wasn't too bad, although definitely slower than most sites). Your experience with Opera suggests it's the GR server at fault, since Opera and IE6 work quite differently from each other. Looks like the server wasn't upgraded to handle the much higher amount of traffic from the new GR.

I'll give Firefox a go this weekend, but am not hopeful it'll be any better.

Thanks again,
Cheers

I have found that for GR you need to have everything just spot on if it is to work satisfactory, it does seem that bit more finicky than some other sites. So, make sure you do your housekeeping - a program such as CCleaner keeps your PC clean and tidy. If you do use such a program then make sure you protect the cookies for the sites you use regularly.

I use Firefox as a general rule as I prefer it and find it that bit faster with all sites, not just GR.

IE6 is now obsolete, and even IE7 is out of date. You should be looking at installing IE8 which works absolutely fine for me. IE7 did have problems when first introduced, but that is all in the past..

Just checking some times:--

With Firefox 3
New GR page taking about 2-3 seconds to load
Family tree of 3000 names taking 6-8 seconds to load

With IE 8 almost the same, perhaps 1 second slower

Hi Herbert,
I started with IE7 & had all sorts of problems with GR. I think this was probably due to all of the adverts that have to download before you can do anything.
I then added IE7Pro to it. This has an ad blocker & GR works a lot better. But is still slower than most other sites I visit.

Alternatively you can download Mozzilla Firefox & its ad blocker.
If you wish to continue using IE6. You can do so & just use Mozzilla for GR. When you download it. Don't set it as your home browser, just download it to your desk top. Then find & bookmark GR to it.

Regards,
Steve

Thanks again for all your responses.

Just timed cnn.com loaded 2 seconds, theglobeandmail.com (Toronto newspaper) 2 to 3 seconds, GR home page 18 seconds, GR tree with 1700 people 65 seconds, refresh this thread 11 seconds.

See what I mean about GR being slow?

So will now be very interested to see what latest Firefox does!

Forgot to mention - I use RegCure to keep the system tidy - does similar things to CCleaner, so my system isn't clogged up with rubbish.

I use Firefox with ad blocker, not timed it but it doesn't seem too bad.

do you think we all expect these things to be 'instant'? If you think about it what are a few seconds in a life time??

You're right, Ann, in the context of a lifetime.

But in the context of a session updating a family tree, it's frustrating to say the least. Make a new entry or edit an existing on the tree, then wait a full minute without being able to do anything but wait, before doing the next thing.

And it's only the new GR site that's like that - the previous one was a few seconds slow which didn't matter, but a minute for a web page?? - I don't think that's on!!

Wendy have you cleaned up your PC lately, or have you got a programme running in the background?

Hi Wendy & Herbert,
Have you done the usual tidy up tasks of, deleting browser history & temporary internet files.
Also you can delete cookies, but make sure that you've noted down all log in IDs & passwords. As this will also delete your auto log ins. These will be re-established when you log in to a site again.

Also after deleting files, to empty your re-cycle bin.

Steve.

One other,
If your PC/lappy is getting on. When was the last time you defragmented it?

This brings space re-created when you delete files. Back together as part of the available memory space & improve the performance of your computer.

Steve.

EDIT. Just noticed Wendys' post, her computer doesn't require defragging.

Wendy if you ran Ccleaner it probably emptied your recycle bin.

Ancestry has been very slow for me tonight.

It could be down to the server, the site, or the volume of people using it.

Steve
x

8 am Friday here in Australia - guess that makes it 11 pm Thursday in UK - so I've just booted up.

From all the helpful responses to my original post, certainly seems clear that it's GR where the problem lies. As with some others of you, I use a system cleaner (RegCure which is similar to CCleaner), defrag when an analysis of the HD recommends it, etc etc.

Made no changes of any kind to the way my computer is maintained or used, have seen no changes of any kind in the way web sites other than GR work, or in the way any applications work. But GR...!! When the new site came on line it was instant bad news.

I'm hoping Firefox will improve the situation, even if it's not a complete fix.

Whilst GR is not the fastest of sites, you should not be seeing timings you have quoted in loading pages.

Sometimes it is to do with the way that your ISP connects to the website and where you are located which is why someone in Cambridge is experiencing, problems, and someone in Oxford doesn't. Have you tried using alternative urls's for GR? GR Australia or GR New Zealand, for example?

Incidentally, as far as I am aware Regcure is not similar to CC. Regcure will attempt to fix problems with your registry, whilst CC cleans up you browser files, temp internet files and cookies, etc.

Many users don't clear their temp files and this can slow down internet access seriously. In some cases, especially if you are using an old browser, the amount of space allocated for internet files is insufficient and should be increased.

In fact when I was at work, the first thing that IT support did where a user complained about problems with internet access was clear the browser cache. Often the results were remarkable. GR, especially the tree which downloads quite a lot of data, does seem work quicker if you clear out regularly..

GR uses a lot of javascript, very fancy, but could be slowing load times.

I use Firefox, but do find there are scrolling issues, which are related to Firefox 3. It is because the background is fixed in GR, doesn't do it with all computers.

IE is a nightmare for me, as designing websites it is hard to make them work the same in all browsers, Browsers should be standards compliant, IE is microsoft compliant. IE8 is better, but I don't even try and fix the problems with IE6, far too out of date.

Rosalind

Just a quick one... I still use IE6 cos my Kaspersky throws a dicky fit every time IE8 tries to update... and I am not sure how to set Kaspersky to allow it.... I thought I'd allowed sommat safe a couple of times, but had let in nasties, lol!! So I do tend to freak out as well, when Kappy throws a fit!!

Love

Daff xxxx

I don't use Kaspersy personally but a bit of a Google and it seems you can temporarily turn off protection, such as when you are installing trusted updates, as follows.

"Disabling the protection from kaspersky can be made by changing its settings. All you have to do is just go to Settings - Protection and unchecked the box which shows Enable Protection."

Turn back on when finished updating.