Plot thickens! I have found that i can predict with 100% accuracy when FF will take a long time to come up. It's really very simple.......if the Task Manager shows that AvastSVC.exe is using the lions share (usually 99%) of the CPU, FF will take any where's from 4-6 mins to come up.
What we need to discover, is why AVAST is using the lions share of the CPU when it appears that nothing is going on in my PC? This morning, after booting up my PC and connecting to the internet, Task Manager showed AvastSVC.exe using 99% of the CPU even though no applications were running. I waited and waited, but AVAST did not abate. I finally had to restart my PC to clear up the problem.
The problem here is NOT TB, FF or it's add-ons, it's AVAST! I've checked all the AVAST settings and can't find anything that would explain this problem. I know it's not the virus update that slows it down as i'd already received a message that my virus definitions had been updated. I also know it's not a program update that's slowing it down as i have that option set to "ask" when update is ready to install. It's as if AVAST gets stuck and won't relinquish the CPU.
I have also noticed that it takes from 5 - 10 mins to print one sheet of paper on my HP printer. Interestingly, when this is happening, AvastSVC.exe is taking the lions share of the CPU. I believe this is all part of the problem.