gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials » optimize firefox http://www.ghacks.net A technology news blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:24:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 SpeedyFox Optimizes Firefox Databases To Speed Up The Web Browserhttp://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/03/speedyfox-optimizes-firefox-databases-to-speed-up-the-web-browser/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/03/speedyfox-optimizes-firefox-databases-to-speed-up-the-web-browser/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:48:57 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/?p=15997 firefoxThe switch to storing data in SQLite databases has caused a problem for Firefox users who use the web browser heavily. The databases grow over time and reduce the startup time and responsiveness of the web browser due to fragmentation. This can be largely attributed to the fact that Firefox will not optimize the databases by default.

We already covered several methods to regularly optimize the Firefox databases. Some options included the Firefox add-on Vacuum Places which is able to optimize the databases automatically and manually.

Some users on the other hand might prefer a third party tool for the process. That’s where Speedyfox comes into play. The program is offered both as a setup and portable version at the developer’s website.

speedyfoxspeedyfox2

It will perform the same operation that the Vacuum Places add-on performs to optimize the Firefox databases. There are however a few differences. SpeedyFox is currently only available for the Windows operating system. It will automatically detect the default Firefox profile and offer to optimize its databases. It is possible to change to other existing Firefox profiles or to select a custom location which is very handy for portable versions of Firefox and those that are not registered in the operating system.

SpeedyFox is available at the developer’s website. A version for computer systems running the Mac operating system is in the making.

]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/03/speedyfox-optimizes-firefox-databases-to-speed-up-the-web-browser/feed/ 7 Optimize Firefox Databases With Vacuum Placeshttp://www.ghacks.net/2009/08/22/optimize-firefox-databases-with-vacuum-places/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/08/22/optimize-firefox-databases-with-vacuum-places/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:19:12 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/?p=15604 firefoxThe Mozilla Firefox development team switched to SQlite databases for data storage in Firefox 3. One problem that arose because of this switch was an increasing Firefox profile folder size as there was no build in way to optimize the SQlite databases regularly. We reviewed a solution to this problem a while ago (read: optimize sqlite databases in Firefox) which involved running a batch file in the Firefox profile directory to optimize the databases and reduce their file sizes. The process can be best described as a defragmentation to close gaps that contain no data which will free the disk space.

The Firefox add-on Vacuum Places makes this process more comfortable by providing the means to run the database optimization right from within Firefox. The experimental add-on will optimize the SQLite databases of the active Firefox profile whenever its button in the Firefox status bar is pressed.

The database size reduction depends largely on the amount of data in the database, the time it has been in use and the last cleanup. A run on a test system (using the batch file) reduced the size of the profile folder from 64.8 Megabytes to 53.4 Megabytes.

Vacuum Places can be downloaded from the official Mozilla Firefox website. It is advised to create a backup of the Firefox profile folder before running it for the first time.

]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/08/22/optimize-firefox-databases-with-vacuum-places/feed/ 5 FireFox Speed Up Scripthttp://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/13/firefox-speed-up-script/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/13/firefox-speed-up-script/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 18:27:44 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/13/firefox-speed-up-script/ firefoxFirefox Speed Up Script is a script for Greasemonkey that combines several tweaks to Firefox core configuration settings with site specific optimizations and various other improvements including blocking of known advertising scripts. The Greasemonkey extension for the Firefox web browser is required to use the Speed Up Script which will automatically become active after installation. This is actually one of the biggest strengths of this solution as it does not require the user to edit the Firefox configuration manually. Cautious users are advised to look at the source code of the script before they install it to get detailed information about the changes that are applied to it.

The biggest improvements are noticeable on websites that have been added by the developer of the script. Sites like the BBC, Youtube, Digg, MSN, IDMB, Lifehacker, Gizmodo or Mashable are all included in that list and should load faster than before for most users who apply the script to their computer system.

The only problem that some users could run into is that optimized sites can only be removed from the script by editing the source code. Advanced users on the other hand can use this to add new sites to the script.

FireFox Speed Up Script can be downloaded directly from the Userscripts website.

]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/13/firefox-speed-up-script/feed/ 10 Firefox Custom Buildshttp://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/09/firefox-custom-builds/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/09/firefox-custom-builds/#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 09:30:21 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/09/firefox-custom-builds/ firefoxCustom builds of the Firefox web browser are created by third parties. They usually optimize Firefox (compiler and code) and sometimes add new features to the web browser as well. Not many Firefox users know of the existence of custom builds and probably lesser know that there is a third party builds forum at the Mozillazine website that is only dealing with custom build announcements. There are however two areas of concern about custom builds of the Firefox web browser: The first is a security concern as third party builds might contain hidden malicious code that would run in the web browser itself. The second are program updates which usually are created later than the official Mozilla builds meaning that security patches and other improvements can only be applied with delays.

The following list contains only custom builds of the Firefox web browser that match the current official version of Firefox. Many custom builds have been discontinued along the road and are only offered as lower (and thus insecure) versions.

Firefox Custom Builds List

  • Autofox (Linux) – 64-bit only optimized Firefox build.
  • Blazing Fast – What if Firefox was custom built to your particular CPU and even operating system? Wouldn’t it perform faster? The answer to that is a definite yes. The following builds of Firefox are optimized for particular CPUs to run specifically for Windows. They are also optimized according to the real world uses so that it performs the best on your desktop.
  • Firefox Ayakawa build (link 2) – Another set of optimized builds of the Firefox web browser.
  • Firefox Musume Nightly Builds – Firefox musume CE is a customized and optimized version of Mozilla Firefox.
  • tete009 – optimized version of Firefox.
  • Pigfoot – VC9-release patch, tweaks profile patch, Adobe Flash Player 10.0.22.87, Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin 1.0.0.8, Reduce memory usage, Speed improvement by using Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO), Support Mozilla Update Channel since Firefox 2.0.0.6.
  • RPM Builds (Mac G3, G4) – Optimised for G3, G4 (7450 & 7400).
  • Swiftfox (Linux) – Swiftfox is an optimized build of Mozilla Firefox. Swiftfox has builds for both AMD and Intel processors and is based on the most cutting edge Firefox source code available.

If you know of a custom build that has not been included in the list let us know in the comments so that we can add it to it.

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