Speeding up Mozilla Firefox

I know this is off topic, but I just did all of the recommended Mozilla/Firefox tweaks on my IBM Thinkpad (relatively fast computer), and my browser FLIES now. Wetpixel is loading really quickly -- probably 2x faster or more (!). These changes are best if you're on a fast connection:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1854508,00.asp

Yes indeed. The hacks really makes a very noticeable difference.

It's like a just bought a new computer. amazing...

Yes. It makes me wonder why the defaults are so out of tune.

Slightly off topic... I've had an issue with Firefox when browsing Wetpixel forums: when I click on the "Assistant" box, a small window pops up that loads up the main page of the forums. I have the latest version of FF. The same thing happens with Netscape 7.2, but not with IE.

However, if I click the refresh button prior to clicking the assistant button, the correct page (i.e. the assistant) loads up. Any idea what causes this? And anybody had a similar issue?

Can't figure out how to do those hacks on the Mac version... (I can't find the .js files). My FF is very slow in wetpixel sometimes and freezes when I do searches. When I am searching I have to write down the topic number that I want and open it in a new window, otherwise it takes forever to follow the link from the search results page. No idea why...

Luiz

Ignore the message above, I've just found out how to change the settings on the Mac. Just by typing about:config as if it was a web address, and double click the settings...

A lot faster now, thanks for the tip!

Luiz

Can't figure out how to do those hacks on the Mac version... (I can't find the .js files). My FF is very slow in wetpixel sometimes and freezes when I do searches. When I am searching I have to write down the topic number that I want and open it in a new window, otherwise it takes forever to follow the link from the search results page. No idea why...

 

Luiz

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The user.js file does not exit by default. You have to creat it. I don't know the mac file structure. In windoz and linux it's in the same directory as bookmarks.html and history.dat . Here's mine after the recent changes if you want to use that as a starting point.

// Make sure all pop-up windows are resizable:

user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.resizable", true);

// Make sure all pop-up windows are minimizable:

user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.minimizable", true);

// Always display the menu in pop-up windows:

user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.menubar", true);

// Always display the Navigation Toolbar in pop-up windows:

user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.location", true);

// Put an end to blinking text!

user_pref("browser.blink_allowed", false);

// Force frames to be resizable

user_pref("layout.frames.force_resizability", true);

// Stop reusing active windows:

user_pref("advanced.system.supportDDEExec", false);

// Hacking Simultaneous Connections

user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 96);

user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 32);

user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 24);

user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 12);

// Enable Improve Pipelining

user_pref("network.http.pipelining", true);

user_pref("network.http.proxy.pipelining", true);

user_pref("network.http.pipelining.firstrequest", true);

user_pref("network.http.pipelining.maxrequests", 8);

// other hacks

user_pref("network.dnsCacheExpiration", 86400);

user_pref("network.dnsCacheEntries", 256);

user_pref("network.ftp.idleConnectionTimeout", 60);

user_pref("network.http.keep-alive.timeout", 30);

// Page Rendering

// This one makes a huge difference. Last value in milliseconds (default is 250)

user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0);

user_pref("content.notify.ontimer", true);

user_pref("content.interrupt.parsing", true);

user_pref("content.notify.interval", 100);

user_pref("content.notify.threshold", 100000);

user_pref("content.notify.backoffcount", 200);

user_pref("content.max.tokenizing.time", 3000000);

user_pref("content.maxtextrun", 8191);

//unblock error log

user_pref("browser.xul.error_pages.enabled", true)

// disable smooth scrolling

user_pref("general.smoothScroll", false);