DIY: How to speed up firefox.

[GlxyGry06Si]

Just found this and it is a night and day difference:

Useful guide on speeding up firefox for broadband users

1.Type about:config into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining
network.http.proxy.pipelining
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests


Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

(the trick here is clicking the false word and it will change to true)


3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

If you're using a broadband connection you'll load pages MUCH faster now!

[XSRCivic]

I think Firefox just gained 12 whp. Good tip, I notice a difference immediately. + Rep for you

[twistedframe]

gonna try this when I get home! Thanks for the info!

[splatterson]

Very nice. Now if work would just upgrade our proxies, I'd be golden.

Have to try it at home too.

[gx4th]

Holy F'ing...

You just made my Firefox hit VTAK, +rep

[2006BlackSi]

i got some boost site.... didnt say anything like u said to scroll down n look for maybe i missed it

[drunkrusski101]

Hey man Thanks this works, + Rep for you

[vtak07]

works great! +rep

[chrisfrofro]

wow great find! works immediately

+1 REP to you sir

[dentrecords]

your exact post in the comments section here, word for word....

Geek to Live: Top Firefox 2 config tweaks

Here's a more comprehensive guide:

Tweakfactor.com: Firefox Tweak Guide - Page 1 - Get your tweak on!

And some common configurations for different computers with different connections.

The Firefox Tweak Guide has the full details on how to speed up Firefox regardless of your connection or hardware, reprinted in part below. Don’t forget that the easiest way to tweak user files is with chromEdit extension.

Common to all configurations

These are the settings that seem to be common to all configuration files regardless of connection speed or computer speed with a couple of additions - plugin paths can be found with aboutlugins and the bookmark menu delay is turned off.

user_pref("network.http.pipelining", true);
user_pref("network.http.proxy.pipelining", true);
user_pref("network.http.pipelining.maxrequests", 8);
user_pref("content.notify.backoffcount", 5);
user_pref("plugin.expose_full_path", true);
user_pref("ui.submenuDelay", 0);
Fast Computer Fast Connection

user_pref("content.interrupt.parsing", true);
user_pref("content.max.tokenizing.time", 2250000);
user_pref("content.notify.interval", 750000);
user_pref("content.notify.ontimer", true);
user_pref("content.switch.threshold", 750000);
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 48);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 8);
user_pref("browser.cache.memory.capacity", 65536);

A couple settings of note - Firefox is allocated 4096 KB of memory by default and in this configuration we give it roughly 65MB as denoted by the last line. This can be changed according to what is used.
Fast Computer, Slower Connection

This configuration is more suited to people without ultra fast connections. We are not talking about dial up connections but slower DSL / Cable connections.

user_pref("content.max.tokenizing.time", 2250000);
user_pref("content.notify.interval", 750000);
user_pref("content.notify.ontimer", true);
user_pref("content.switch.threshold", 750000);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 48);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 8);
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0);
user_pref("browser.cache.memory.capacity", 65536);
Fast Computer, Slow Connection

user_pref("browser.xul.error_pages.enabled", true);
user_pref("content.interrupt.parsing", true);
user_pref("content.max.tokenizing.time", 3000000);
user_pref("content.maxtextrun", 8191);
user_pref("content.notify.interval", 750000);
user_pref("content.notify.ontimer", true);
user_pref("content.switch.threshold", 750000);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 32);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 8);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 8);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 4);
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0);
user_pref("browser.cache.memory.capacity", 65536);
Slow Computer, Fast Connection

user_pref("content.max.tokenizing.time", 3000000);
user_pref("content.notify.backoffcount", 5);
user_pref("content.notify.interval", 1000000);
user_pref("content.notify.ontimer", true);
user_pref("content.switch.threshold", 1000000);
user_pref("content.maxtextrun", 4095);
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 1000);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 48);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 8);
user_pref("dom.disable_window_status_change", true);

One of the changes made for this particular configuration is the final line where the status bar is disabled for changing web pages to save processor time.
Slow Computer, Slow Connection

We have entered the doldrums of the dial-up user

user_pref("content.max.tokenizing.time", 2250000);
user_pref("content.notify.interval", 750000);
user_pref("content.notify.ontimer", true);
user_pref("content.switch.threshold", 750000);
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 750);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 32);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 8);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 8);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 4);
user_pref("dom.disable_window_status_change", true);

[GlxyGry06Si]

mine was a lot easier. jk

[06si]

you must spread some reputation around before giving it to GlxyGry06Si again

[Duce2k]

Gotta try this when I get home

[GlxyGry06Si]

Originally Posted by Duce2k

Gotta try this when I get home

let me know how it works. i had great results with mine and apparantly so did a lot others.

[jerhunter]

it definitely works, but now i just have issues loading images.....seems to be taking longer

[wwbaker3]

my mac's handling of firefox was pretty fast already...so i didn't see much of an increase in speed - if any.

nonetheless, i'm glad it's working out for other users out there.

[foolio_67]

I see some difference, thank you!

[GlxyGry06Si]

Originally Posted by jerhunter

it definitely works, but now i just have issues loading images.....seems to be taking longer

mine seemed about the same.

Originally Posted by wwbaker3

my mac's handling of firefox was pretty fast already...so i didn't see much of an increase in speed - if any.

nonetheless, i'm glad it's working out for other users out there.

same here. just subtle differences.

Originally Posted by foolio_67

I see some difference, thank you!

welcome.

[wwbaker3]

Safari (mac browser) sucks btw, hahaha, but I guess that goes without saying.

[GlxyGry06Si]

Originally Posted by wwbaker3

Safari (mac browser) sucks btw, hahaha, but I guess that goes without saying.

what?