Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Kali

(55,000 posts)
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 05:43 PM Jun 2020

Did Facebook just highjack my computer?

Desktop Windows 7 Firefox. I had five or six tabs open and for some reason was on Facebook which I have been avoiding lately. Everything kind of bogged down like it can does at times, but I couldn't shut any tabs I couldn't close the window I couldn't get to my email. Finally I managed to close a few tabs by clicking on the little dealey in the tray and Xing those out. Including and especially the Facebook one. So while it wasn't on a tab, the FB page was still there and I could even continue scrolling. But I couldn't shrink the window or switch tabs. I couldn't x the window out. I finally rebooted couldn't shut Firefox down had to force it. What the hell was that?

17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

ZZenith

(4,115 posts)
7. My advice might have sounded flippant but wasn't meant to be.
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 05:54 PM
Jun 2020

A lot of our internet weirdness vanished once my wife deleted her account.

If you have ever looked at your server logs and seen how often Facebook gets pinged back you’ll understand why.

mikeysnot

(4,756 posts)
2. Check to see if you computer can handle the upgrade to win 10.
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 05:48 PM
Jun 2020
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-specifications

You can upgrade to the free one if you meet the requirement.

Win 7 is dead get off it asap.

mikeysnot

(4,756 posts)
13. Check the link out, if you desktop
Wed Jul 1, 2020, 12:24 PM
Jul 2020

can handle the specs, I can send you the link to the free MS update.

I have to look for it again. Did all my systems this winter.

Kali

(55,000 posts)
6. you mean if it happens again?
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 05:53 PM
Jun 2020

all running programs? I think I have been in task manager before for some reason, and it was out of my comprehension

OAITW r.2.0

(24,255 posts)
8. Right click on the task bar and select Task Manager. Click on processes tag.
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 06:31 PM
Jun 2020

Click on CPU and/or Memory - this will sort the apps from hi/lo or lo/hi to see which apps are hogging the resources. Right now my Opera browser is feeding on 692MB of memory.

If I right click on the Opera app and select "End Task", this will shut down the app immediately.

Kali

(55,000 posts)
9. when I look
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 06:36 PM
Jun 2020

it is listing firefox 5 times. is that normal? right now I have one tab open and it has 5 listings

Foolacious

(497 posts)
10. That's normal for Firefox.
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 07:00 PM
Jun 2020

(I'm assuming you mean that you have one Firefox window open, with five tabs open within it.)

Not all browsers use memory, or are managed by Task Manager, the same way. Some browsers might only show a single instance in Task Manager no matter how many tabs you have open. In fact, I use Opera, and Task Manager shows one instance no matter how many tabs or separate Opera windows I have open.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
11. I once joined facebook.
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 07:07 PM
Jun 2020

It took me 45 minutes to discover what a mistake that was, so I deleted my account and never looked back.

LuckyLib

(6,817 posts)
15. I have an account, use it to see a few friends. Maybe twice per year.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 04:03 PM
Jul 2020

Do they make it easy to delete it? I'm not tech savvy, and hate getting trapped in internet hell.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
16. This was several years ago.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 04:33 PM
Jul 2020

I was able to delete my account quite easily as I recall. A few clicks, several "warning" screens, and it was done.

JDC

(10,110 posts)
12. TBH, this was the initial reason I refused to get a FB account
Tue Jun 30, 2020, 09:11 PM
Jun 2020

My kids had accounts and it basically worked itself into everything; becoming impossible to remove. I had to blow out the OS and put my foot down on "never again"

Good luck with you machine, I hope it cleans up.

LeftInTX

(25,038 posts)
17. A resource hog
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 08:08 PM
Jul 2020

Much, much worse for me is email.
I still have AOL..I just go to the their website and don't use their software.

If I leave the AOL site open, eventually my computer freezes up. I don't know if it is the AOL site or email itself.

I'm on Win 10 and use Firefox.

Latest Discussions»Help & Search»Computer Help and Support»Did Facebook just highjac...