how to speed up your firefox browser

[Graeme Harrold]

Cheers Hugh, notice the difference on this site alone…………….

[Richard Urquhart]

nice one mate it works !!!! 😀 😀 😀

[Peter Normington]

so why do you need to enhance firefox? whats wrong with good old explorer? or are you guys about to educate me…

[Steve Underhill]

Less spyware, less popups, less active x controls installing themselves, less trojans, less microsoft spying on you, less headache and finally
less buttons.

[Hugh Potter]

Hi Pete,

firefox is so much quicker than explorer, better features, it takes up far less disc space and uses alot less cpu resources,

despite that, it’s also handy to keep explorer as a back up, ideal if you have more than one hotmail account for eg, i can sign into one on firefox, and another on explorer, same with ebay, paypal, banking, etc !

firefox is also a free download, though you can buy it as a package.

oh yeah, 99% of virus’s are written for explorer ! and what steve says above!

[Warren Beard]

or just get a Mac 😉

Nice one Hugh :thumbup2:

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Steve Underhill:

Less spyware, less popups, less active x controls installing themselves, less trojans, less microsoft spying on you, less headache and finally
less buttons.

was just about to post something similar…. 😀 and does it not have a mac layout you can choose? 😀

nik

[Peter Normington]

sorry guys its all in the mind, i use explorer, instant response, never caught a cold with it, let alone a virus, whats a pop up?

but whatever turns you on,

Peter

[Hugh Potter]

Pete, try it mate, it’s not a big download, and if you don’t like after a week, i’ll eat my hat !

ok, maybe o won’t, but i don’t know anyone who’s tried it and hasn’t stuck with it.

it’s amazing how many features on the new version of explorer, were out on firefox for a long time ! firefox is like having a Rolls instead of a reliant !

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/firefox/

[Peter Normington]

Hugh mate
I have been down this road many times before.
My computer works, i dont have any issues with microsoft
never had a virus or trojan. the only time things went wrong, is when geeks messed with it 😀

I’m happy with what I got, so I dont need to change, I got all the features and benefits that I need

Peter

[Steve Underhill]

quote Peter Normington:

sorry guys its all in the mind, i use explorer, instant response, never caught a cold with it, let alone a virus, whats a pop up?

but whatever turns you on,

Peter

You’re obviously not visiting the right porn sites, or music download sites.
:lol1:

The amount of customers Tim has to put right on this is astounding.
If you look at porn use firefox, if you file share use firefox, if you download anything you shouldn’t use firefox.

I use Internet explorer mostly but firefox is a good browser and is less susceptible to hijacks, although version 7 of IE is way better than 6 and so much more secure.

I guess the IE/Firefox debate is almost like the signlab/flexi one.
You either use it or not.
It comes down to personal choice and to be honest I like internet explorer better.
I have never had trojans etc on IE7 but had popups in both firefox and IE7

[Warren Beard]

Steve pretty much sums it up 😀

Since I converted to mac and firefox I can’t wait to get microsoft office for the mac so I can take my PC and stick it in the garage until I get a printer and need a rip 😉 (if it has to be a PC :lol1: )

I only use my PC for office and used to use it for Microsoft Frontpage for my website but now use Dreamweaver8 on the mac, so all that’s left is office but is well over £200 😕 it’s gonna have to wait 😥

love my mac :love:

[Hugh Potter]

quote Steve Underhill:

quote Peter Normington:

sorry guys its all in the mind, i use explorer, instant response, never caught a cold with it, let alone a virus, whats a pop up?

but whatever turns you on,

Peter

You’re obviously not visiting the right porn sites, or music download sites.
:lol1:

damn, ya got me !! lol !

Pete,

each to his own mate,

in my opinion….. it’s just a faster better program, i guess the reason to have it is because you can!! like trading in an older motor and buying a new posh 4dr mitsi or similar….. ya don’t need everyting it can do, but it’s nice to have it…. lol ! 😉

it’s just like getting a ferrari, for free, when you’re used to a coach.

no probs though. i understand ! 😀

[Steve Underhill]

In fact a better browser with more features is opera.
I dont use it as Im so used to IE and firefox I stick with them, but I have used it and its excellent.
even firefox gets some popups and installers now, none of them in opera.
try it out its free anyway
Incidentally on a different note does anyone use "stumbleupon"?
Integrates with IE or firefox and its excellent, you get sites up that you would never have dreamed of looking for and it can be very useful,
(no porn though sorry Hugh)

[Dave Bruce]

Hugh, what am I doing wrong, it just goes to about.com web page? 😳

Cheers

Dave

[Hugh Potter]

quote DaveBruce:

Hugh, what am I doing wrong, it just goes to about.com web page? 😳

Cheers

Dave

dunno mate, i just checked it and it worked for me, i just copy/paste the "about:config" into the address barand it goes to a big list of stuff (luckily in alphabetical order !

[Steve Underhill]

Of course you are pasting it WITHOUT
Inverted comma’s arent you?

I feel it may work now. 😉

[Dave Bruce]

No I typed it in without, didn’t work, so typed it with, no joy. Pasting works tho.

cheers

Dave

[Peter Dee]

Hugh, I am a massive fan of Firefox. I love the way it can be customised with all the free extensions available.
If this is such a good mod to do, I’m intrigued as to why it isn’t like that as standard. There must be a downside.

[Hugh Potter]

thats what i initially wondered, but none so far, i think it’s something to do with it being able to do more things at once, and loading pages immediately, not waiting for protocol to tell it what to do, i’m no expert though, and to be honest, i have no firefox add ons yet. other than the email thing, find it’s great as is,

[Harry Cleary]

quote Hugh Potter:

i have no firefox add ons yet. other than the email thing

What’s that then? Just switched to Firefox and it is better! 😀 ……so far.

[Steve Underhill]

First off download the google toolbar add on for it, stumbleupon button, cooliris previewer, (so you can see a website by just hovering your mouse on the link,)
Just go the firefox website and see a list theres loads of add ons.

[Peter Dee]

Go to https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/ and browse the extensions.

I use Adblock plus, All in one sidebar, British english dictionary, Cleo & FEBE (for backing up all Firefox extensions to a single file), Download helper, feedbackfox (for ebay), Firefox showcase, Flashblock, IE view lite (to quickly view a page in IE), McAfee site advisor, PDF download, Wizz RSS newsreader.

I use the theme Outlook 2003 blue so that it all harmonises with the desktop.

[Peter Dee]

Hugh, I now know why this works!
When Firefox is first installed it is configured for dialup.
The alterations set it up for a faster connection (Broadband).

[Hugh Potter]

ah, many thanks !! Hugh

[Marcella Ross]

Just downloaded Firefox last night and it’s running on Johns pc ………….. so far I’m well impressed, the pages load faster than on mine which still uses IE.
I thought I’d give it a few days on the other pc and see how it goes ……… looks like I’ll be swapping over too!

[Harry Cleary]

Hugh, what is the email add on and how does it work?

Having a much better Internet experience with Firefox! Using Thunderbird as well……Microsoft will be quaking in their boots!!!! 😀

[Hugh Potter]

quote Harry Cleary:

Hugh, what is the email add on and how does it work?

Having a much better Internet experience with Firefox! Using Thunderbird as well……Microsoft will be quaking in their boots!!!! 😀

hi Harry, mozilla thunderbird is the email add on, i haven’t used it yet, but it’s supposed to be the same as outlook express, ie it connects to your email and downloads it to your pc for you, saving you logging in to the account each time you want to check it,

[Marcella Ross]

just thought I would say I am now using Firefox, it loads fast than IE. 😀

thanks Hugh!

[Peter Mindham]

I use firefox but this is an issue perhaps.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/art … Id=9022058

Peter

[Hugh Potter]

thanks for that Peter, an interesting read!!

luckily i don’t like search toolbars, or anything like that tbh, if i want to google, i’ll go to google!

[Marcella Ross]

I’m the same. I never use search toolbars.

[Steve Underhill]

I do, but only google toolbar.
If you have a NAT router and a decent firewall, then there should be no real reason for you to get hacked unless you open .exe files that you are unsure of.
Basicaly nobody can gain access to your computer via a Trojan etc unless you give them access to it in the first place by opening and running executable files.
The first ip address they will see is your router, not your pc so random hackers doing port scans rarely are lcky enough to gain access to a pc, only when you actually send info back via a program you run with a trojan hidden in it do they gain the info needed to hack into your pc.
I have hundreds of customers per year who use ie and firefox and although they obviously get spyware, I have yet to have anyone that has been hacked that uses a router.
Im not saying its not possible but there really is no need to worry unnecessarily

[Hugh Potter]

the other thing of course, is that the number of virus’s and hack attempts on firefox browsers is minuscule compared to IE.

[Steve Underhill]

quote Hugh Potter:

the other thing of course, is that the number of virus’s and hack attempts on firefox browsers is minuscule compared to IE.

Agree 100%

The main reason microsoft gets hacked so much is that they are so widely despised in the indisutry, another reason is that they offer bloody jobs to people who can get through their security.
What kind of twisted logic is that.

If you want an almost 100% safe browser download opera.

[Peter Mindham]

Steve I am not talking to you anymore!!
Spent 3 + hours ‘stumbling’ last night and it wasn’t the booze making me stumble 😮

Toooooooooooo addictive mate

Peter

[David Rowland]

Yes Firefox is a good bit of kit… I use IE7 on this one and my old laptop has Firefox is its a slow machine.

I won’t knock Ie7 as it is much more secure than its IE6 which was a target for spyware.

From reading the config lines Hugh talking about, I think you are making a maximum of 30 connections (or hits) to a website, this then downloads the site 30times instead of downloading the page and getting the links as it is reading the page. Firefox always looks quicker 😀

[P. Harris]

Nice One Hugh…
Cheers for your ‘FireFox’ internet browser tip, speeded up my browsing
on my G4 Powerbook. Sorry to say its faster than ‘Safrai’ I cannot
use Internet Explorer its like being on the old dial-up before
broad band came!! Recommend the browser for any Mac User.

Cheers Brock 😛

[Harry Cleary]

ok….it’s me again, the computer challenged one!

I have tried to remove these toolbars from my program files folder. I have removed the Google toolbar and the Yahoo one…..but they are still there in the browser. Anyone know if the programs are hiding elsewhere. I have restarted after deleting them. 🙁

[Marcella Ross]

Quick question ……………….. since installing the fasterfox updates I can’t use emoticons on some pages??????? any ideas?