Google Chrome issues
- by Ben Hooper
I'm an avid user of Chrome and would defend it to the death but there is no denying that it has issues, and I've been experiencing a lot of them recently.
Issues
Stuck tabs
Issue: Around 60% of the time (higher when the system has just started), when Chrome is launched, some or all of the pinned tabs and startup pages will get stuck in the counter-clockwise-rotating "contacting server" mode and never snap out of it.
Fix: Quit and launch Chrome until they load properly (this really isn't good, as quitting and launching Chrome can and has cleared all pinned tabs).
Extra Information:
If you stop the loading and re-enter the URL then the page will load perfectly.
The amount of pinned tabs or startup pages seems to be irrelevant, but I could be wrong.
"Downloaded/out of"
Issue: Each item in the download bar has a downloaded status section, formatted as "downloaded/out of". Sometimes Chrome doesn't display the "out of" part.
Collapsed settings windows
Issue: In Chrome version 19(ish)+, settings are configured via overlayed / popup windows. Sometimes, the window will open fully collapsed.
Fix: Resize Chrome's window or open the developer tools.
"Network Error" with large downloads
Issue: Sometimes, when downloading large files (500MB+) Chrome will download the entire file, the download status will freeze (for example, "1 GB/1 GB") for a few minutes, report "Network error", and delete the .crdownload file.
Extra Information: The same file from the same website on the same computer downloads perfectly in other browsers. The website and file type seem to be irrelevant.
Information:
I've experienced some of these issues on my home PC and some on my work PC, both of which are Windows 7 Ultimate x64. The only things that link them are my Google account (all settings are synced).
Updating Chrome hasn't worked. Most of these issues presented themselves around about version 17 and have continued right through to 21 (current).
Uninstalling Chrome, deleting all data in %programFiles(x86)%\Google and %localAppData%\Google, and reinstalling hasn't worked.
I have yet to see whether disabling all extensions would make a difference, but it's hard to diagnose as these issues don't occur 100% of the time.
In my case, I don't know if there's an actual solution. I'm just curious as to whether anyone else is having similar issues to those that I'm experiencing. At least then I'll know it's an issue with Chrome itself.
