Lag on Acrostics

[Vladimir]

Just to ensure clarity: It isn't turning off McAfee as a whole that solves the problem. It's just McAfee WebAdvisor. Two McAfee-related apps appear when I open the extensions: McAfee Web Boost and McAfee WebAdvisor. Turning off McAfee Web Boost doesn't eliminate the lag, but turning off McAfee WebAdvisor does. I don't know if I made that clear.

I opened the Task Manager and took a look. The only thing that jumped out at me was Spotify, which was pre-loaded on this machine though I never use it. I uninstalled it. It made no difference.

I'm not asking for more help. You've been helpful enough. I'm just sharing the info in case more users complain about the problem.

[admin]

Right now that's my best guess - some bit of software on your desktop may have a memory leak from a recent update. If you CTRL+ALT+DEL you can load your Task Manager and sort all currently active processes by Memory and CPU usage. If any of those are dark orange or red that may point the way toward a cause. If it were purely a McAfee or Chrome issue, then it would likely affect your laptop as well - which it isn't - so I'm not 100% sold on McAfee being the root cause, even though shutting it down does fix the problem.

[Vladimir]

Well, I appreciate the help and the time you've taken to brainstorm about this, especially since it seems like only a small handful of players are experiencing the issue. It blows my mind, though, that whatever update occurred affected my desktop but not my laptop . . .

. . . So one more question if you have the time/inclination to indulge it: Is the implication that this issue probably is originating with something I have installed on my desktop that is not installed on my laptop?

[admin]

The timing would suggest some sort of recent change - either in McAfee itself, or in Chrome. Or perhaps some third bit of software that's on your desktop, but not your laptop. All it would take for something like this would be some software update anywhere on your desktop that creates a large enough memory leak that other memory-heavy tasks like McAfee could start lagging as a result.

[Vladimir]

Are the hardware specs markedly different between the two computers? If your laptop has a solid-state drive (likely) and your desktop has an old-style HDD, for example, or a big difference in memory capacity, I could see a potential performance difference if McAfee is scanning every Javascript element on a page every time it loads (the gameplay page for most of our puzzles tends to be Javascript heavy).

The desktop, which is experiencing the lag, is less than a year old and it's really fast. And I was having ZERO problem on Acrostics and Canvas--or, for that matter, any other site or function-- until about two weeks ago. Which was the exact same time that tucsonjimmy1 and the original poster started having their problems, too. (Could it be that McAfee made a tweak to WebAdvisor that is not playing well with some computers?)

The laptop, which is not experiencing the lag, is at least six years old. It can't even connect at 5G. 2G is my best option on it. That's one of the reasons I don't use it very much.

So this whole thing seems counterintuitive to me.

[admin]

Are the hardware specs markedly different between the two computers? If your laptop has a solid-state drive (likely) and your desktop has an old-style HDD, for example, or a big difference in memory capacity, I could see a potential performance difference if McAfee is scanning every Javascript element on a page every time it loads (the gameplay page for most of our puzzles tends to be Javascript heavy).

[Vladimir]

Thanks for your help. I'd be interested in hearing from the other two players who were experiencing the lag in Chrome to see whether McAfee WebAdvisor seems to be the problem on their computers, too.

I'm ignorant enough of tech issues that I feel a "spookiness" with computers. Computers A and B are both made by the same manufacturers, they're both using McAfee WebAdvisor, they're both accessing the exact same site using the exact same version of the exact same browser, but seemingly out of the blue Computer A starts manifesting an incompatibility while Computer B just keeps on chugging as usual. You start looking for a "special setting"; I start looking for a ghost--especially if nobody ends up able to find that "special setting." Just kidding. Sort of. Hahaha.

Thanks again.

[admin]

Well, at least we're making progress now!

Oddly enough, I also have McAfee WebAdvisor installed on Chrome - and have no lag - but if turning that off fixes the problem then that seems to be the culprit. Perhaps there's a special setting that isn't configured on your laptop, or maybe it needs to be updated? Of course you could also uninstall it completely if you're not actively using it - McAfee has been made largely obsolete by many of Windows 10's internal security features.

[Vladimir]

That's the problem. The problematic application is McAfee WebAdvisor. I'll confess my thick-headedness: I had tried turning off apps earlier after finding the suggestion online, but it didn't work. Now I realize the reason it didn't work was that I was turning the apps off then going back to an old window to test it instead of opening a new window.

Thing is: on my laptop, which gets no lag, McAfee WebAdvisor is turned on. Why would this just start happening on my desktop but not my laptop?
And why is it happening only on a few sites on my desktop?

Is it possible to explain that to a thick-headed layman? I'll believe you if you say it's not.

[admin]

Hmmm, same exact version I'm running.

Is it possible you have a Chrome plugin/extension installed that might be causing a memory leak or compatibility issue? If you go to this url: chrome://extensions/

... you can temporarily turn off Chrome extensions one-by-one using the blue toggle icon at the bottom right of each extension. If you're willing to try, I'd be interested to know if turning any (or all) of them off helps in any way.

[Vladimir]

Thanks Vladimir - can you send me the exact version of Chrome you're using? This can be found via the "3 dots" button at the top far right, then Help, then About Chrome. I want to make sure we're using the exact same version.

Version 94.0.4606.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)

I checked the Chrome version on my laptop, which isn't lagging in Acrostics, and it gives me the same thing: Version 94.0.4606.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[admin]

Thanks Vladimir - can you send me the exact version of Chrome you're using? This can be found via the "3 dots" button at the top far right, then Help, then About Chrome. I want to make sure we're using the exact same version.

[Vladimir]

Thanks Vladimir - I've upgraded your account to ad-free for one week, can you let me know if things are still lagging for you on Chrome with no advertisements?

Thank you, Admin, but there's still a lag.

HOWEVER, I've discovered another lag occurring in Chrome but not in Edge, in a different context. It's in Canvas, a learning management system used by the college I work for. At present, only these two sites are lagging for me on Chrome. I'll bring this up with the school's tech department tomorrow and see if they have any insight. If they do, I'll pass what they tell me along to you.

[admin]

Thanks Vladimir - I've upgraded your account to ad-free for one week, can you let me know if things are still lagging for you on Chrome with no advertisements?

[Vladimir]

I suggest that users with the problem clear their cache and the puzzlebaron cookies. I've never had the problem and it doesn't seem to be widespread.

I cleared everything I could clear and still got the lag. So I said, what the heck, now I'm baffled, and I uninstalled/reinstalled chrome. And I still get the lag. Only in chrome. And only in Acrostics; I can play crosswords, etc., without a lag. I'll just play in another browser for now.

update: fired up my old laptop and played in chrome. No lag. I've scanned for viruses on this desktop and came up with nothing though I doubted a virus was the problem because I'm not having trouble on other sites. Plus, the original poster and tucsonjimmy1 report the same exact issue. I'm stumped.

ADMIN: Regarding the vertical ad on the right, I started play with a Shutterstock ad and got the lag. I started a new puzzle, this time with a Discover ad, and still got the lag.