Mozilla Firefox Optimized Tweaks & Extensions

[dygital]

Firefox Optimization Tweaking Guide

http://www.getfirefox.com

* Updated 7/20/2005 *

Introduction_______
With the release of the Internet's best web browser, which is much more customizable and faster than its competition (Internet Explorer). This guide is designed to get the maximum speed and lowest latency when browsing the internet while on broadband. However, there are a few tips to assist narrowband (aka, Dial-Up users), so they are still browsing the internet at Extreme speed. Firefox offers two great area of opportunity to modify; the actutal settings, and extensions which are third-party developed "add-ons"; obviously themes too, but that isnt covered in the scope of this guide.

A major focus is on PipeLining. PipeLining is the process of splitting a request a number of times for maximum speed. Works best on large pages, so it splits your request multiple times. Its good to not have have too many pipelines for your connection as it will result in latency in loading pages. Its good to just find a sweet spot that works. FAQ on PipeLining...

To change these settings, type "about:config" in the address field, press Enter



Basic Settings for ALL users_______

• Set the value of network.http.pipelining to "true".
• Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to "8".
• Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to "true"
• Set the value of ui.submenuDelay to "0"
• Set the value of browser.xul.error_pages.enabled to "true"

Fast Broadband (Cable/DSL/LAN)_______

• Set the value of network.http.max-connections to "48".
• Set the value of network.http.max-connections-per-server to "16".
• Set the value of network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy to "16"
• Set the value of network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server to "8"

Slow Narrowband (Dialup)_______

• Set the value of network.http.max-connections-per-server to "8".
• Set the value of network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy to "8".
• Set the value of network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server to "4".
• Set the value of dom.disable_window_status_change to "true".

Load Firefox Faster on Windows XP
Using Windows' ability to prefetch and loads programs faster; notably America Online as proven in my AOL guide, it works well for Firefox. I recommend clearing the Prefetch folder though because it can get messy. This trick forces Prefetching for the shortcut. To do it, just edit the Shortcut to Firefox and add/prefetch:1 to the end of it, so it looks like the result below:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /prefetch:1


Prevent Firefox from hogging Memory
I've noticed how firefox occaisionally gets bloated from going through several beefy sites, and it holds the cache in memory instead of disk. Well, since firefox has excellent management for memory vs. disk caching, just set the limit and its more stable and cleaner running.

• Set the value of browser.cache.memory.capacity to "32768".

* This number is in bytes, so 32768 is equivalent to 32MB. I made mine 40MB (since I usually have several tabs open). Play with it to find your groove.




Highly Recommended Extensions_______

• Adblock - I can no longer browse without it, does the obvious
• GooglePreview - Adds a little box next to each google search which shows preview of website, highly useful
• Sage - A great RSS reader that allows you to browse RSS stuff in Firefox allowing adblocking on all the crappy news sites of the world.
• ImageZoom - Used to zoom in on images
• Download Manager Tweak - A modification of the Firefox download manager
• All-in-One Gestures - Allows mouse gestures which speed up simple commands
• TabBrowser Preferences - Tons of options for how links open

Credits/Acknowledgements_______

• Extreme Overclocking Members: xomcat, Jason, Maher, D_unruled, MD10MD, JoeV2-MCM
• http://www.Mozilla.org
• TweakFactor

[MD10MD]

It's.... it's beautiful...

[xomcat]

Great Job! I will do some tweaking tonight after work.

[aszyd]

Just a small correction: "# Set the value of http.max-connections-per-server to "16"."

Needs to have "network." added to the beginning of the string.

Otherwise great guide. It's good to have both this and the extensions all in one place now.

[Transnone13]

NIce, I'll have to try these .

[dygital]

Fixed typos as previously mentioned.

[JoeV2-MCM]

Thanks for pulling all this info into one page and for the acknowledgement, dygital.

I'd vote sticky but I see you already got it.

[Randall-Raines]

I think that TabBrowser Extension is better than just TabBrowser preferences. it allows to tweak tabs with way more options.

here's the link to it : http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/#tbe

[Randall-Raines]

Set the value of ui.submenuDelay to "0"

i can't find that with my firefox. btw, i use 0.10.1 is it better or worst than 0.10 ?

[Transnone13]

Use PR .

[Randall-Raines]

Originally Posted by Transnone13

Use PR .

i'll try that. but when i try to dl the 1.0PR from mozzila.org, it's the new 0.10.1

[Transnone13]

Wierd. Either way it has to be there someone and I like it .

Here: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.o...up%201.0PR.exe

[dygital]

the ui prefrences, you must create the key as an integer.

1.0PR is the same as 0.10.1 just toying with versions. Nov. 9th is the GM release of Mozilla Firefox with ads in NYTimes, which is called Firefox 1.0 and thats it.

[D_unruled]

very nice guide

Gj

[Topher]

awesome, nice selection on extensions, I have a few of those include the gestures and tabbrowser preferences

[klebs89]

thanks a lot. Really like the tab and google etensions

[Randall-Raines]

****, i had to uninstall the Tabbrowser extension because it randomly crashed. so i installed the tabbrowser preferences, but is there a way to open the bookmark in a new tab without clicking it with the middle button of the mouse ?

[D_unruled]

how can I get all the things back to default? with some sites I get small error things now...



Connection Failure Error

Net Timeout Error

Redirect Loop Error

Unknown Socket Error

Net Reset Error

Offline Error
The connection was refused when attempting to contact ...

[DSwarP]

what benefit did changing all those values have? faster connections and stuff?

[dygital]

what benefit did changing all those values have? faster connections and stuff?

Yes, somewhat. It opens up the powerful networking features of firefox, such as pipelining to get data. The result is a faster loading page, and less latency when browsing.

Connection Failure Error

Net Timeout Error

Redirect Loop Error

Unknown Socket Error

Net Reset Error

Offline Error
The connection was refused when attempting to contact ...

Not exactly, too sure. However, lately I have been noticing some sites, require a refresh to access them. I suspect its my crappy router, because IE has same issues. It could be either my router, or DNS servers.... because in AOL, the proxies pull up pages perfectly. So I am stumped at that, I just need a new router.