Making firefox faster

Here’s something for broadband people that will really speed Firefox up:

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.

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!

Others thing u can do is

Preference name: browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers
Type: Integer
Value: 2

This is for faster loading of pages via the back and forward buttons on your toolbar. The higher the number, the more pages FF keeps in memory for each tab, and thus the higher the memory usage. One page will on average take 4MB of memory. However, reducing this number will make pages load more slowly when you do use the back and forward arrows because they’ll need to be pulled from your disk cache and re-parsed in memory.

Choice about:config settings

Preference name: browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers
Type: Integer
Value: 2

This is for faster loading of pages via the back and forward buttons on your toolbar. The higher the number, the more pages FF keeps in memory for each tab, and thus the higher the memory usage. One page will on average take 4MB of memory. However, reducing this number will make pages load more slowly when you do use the back and forward arrows because they’ll need to be pulled from your disk cache and re-parsed in memory.

Preference name: config.trim_on_minimize
Type: Boolean
Value: true

This setting should force Firefox to dump most of what’s in RAM to disk whenever you minimize it and allows Windows to reclaim the memory for other apps to use. However, some users report spotty success with this, but others claim to be able to get back 90% of their allocated Firefox memory using this hack. (You can view the memory used by applications with a tool like Process Explorer previously from Sysinternals.com but now owned by Microsoft.) Note that if you use this, Firefox may take longer to restore from its minimized state as it has to negotiate for more RAM from Windows to restore itself.

(At the time of this blog entry I have FF open with five tabs. It’s using approximately 104MB of RAM. A few seconds after minimizing, its RAM utilization dropped to 13MB.)

Preference name: content.notify.backoffcount
Type: Integer
Value: 5

As Firefox downloads a page it will attempt to render it for display. As it receives more data from the Web, it will move items around on the page to repair rendering until all the data is finally received and the page can be finally re-parsed and fully redrawn. The backoff count limits the number of times FF will redraw the page in memory while downloading content. Setting the number to five, as above, limits FF to redrawing the page six times. Five (max) during downloads (according to the timer intervals set below) and once upon completion.

I set this to five because I have a fast connection and I prefer to get the page drawn quickly even if all the images and stuff haven’t downloaded yet. Every time FF has to redraw the page, it slows down total page load time.

Preference name: content.notify.interval
Type: Integer
Value: 120000

120,000 microseconds is actually the default. I specified it in case I want to change it later. This is equivalent to redrawing a page (as it downloads) every .12 seconds.

Preference name: content.notify.ontimer
Type: Boolean
Value: true

This turns the timer on for the previous two settings.

Preference name: network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server
Type: Integer
Value: 8

Persistent connections are “keep-alive” connections from your browser to the server you’re getting data from. In HTTP 1.1, persistent connections are used to download multiple items via one connection without wasting overhead for one connection per file. On a typical web page you might have 50-100 items that need to be downloaded. Forcing every time to be pulled off a web server with its own connection will slow things down considerably. However, you don’t want too many of these connections per server, since it could clobber a server’s response time. I’ll probably be adjusting this value over time. The default is 2. (Requires that network.http.keep-alive be set to “true.” And if you are using a proxy, see Network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy)

If you’re on dialup, this probably won’t help.

Preference name: network.http.pipelining
Type: Boolean
Value: true

Related to the previous setting, this allows Firefox to send multiple requests before any responses are received. The maximum number of requests is set in the following option. This will help page load times on fast connections.

If you’re on dialup, this probably won’t help. (If you are using a proxy, see network.http.proxy.pipelining.)

Preference name: network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Type: Integer
Value: 8

This sets the maximum number of requests that can be sent to a server via pipelining before anything is sent back to the browser. You can choose between 1 to 8.

Preference name: network.http.max-connections
Type: Integer
Value: 60

This determines how many total connections Firefox can open to all servers at once. In order to download anything, an HTML file, an image, a video, Firefox has to establish a connection. This setting controls the total maximum number of connections Firefox will establish. Given that many web pages include content from other servers and considering how Firefox extensions also generate their own connections (such as the Google Toolbar), it’s good to have this number higher than the following number, which is a per-server configuration. If you have too many connections open at once, however, you’ll clobber your Internet connection, so make sure you have a good fast pipe before increasing this number.

The downside, of course, is that dialup users won’t benefit from this.

Preference name: network.http.max-connections-per-server
Type: Integer
Value: 15

This controls the total number of connections Firefox will establish with a single server. The total max is 255 connections, but I’d caution you to be conservative about this. Rumors persist that some hosts will ban you from their site if you abuse their server. And setting this value too high will clobber your Net connection (again, dialup users, move on), so there’s a “sweet spot” where too high a number slows down your data rate for a given file and too low a number slows down your data rate for a given server. Naturally, this will vary from server to server, so finding the right number for your ISP and the sites you visit will be a matter of trial and error.

Preference name: nglayout.initialpaint.delay
Type: Integer
Value: 0

This controls how long (in milliseconds) Firefox will wait before drawing a page on screen. The default is to wait a bit, to make sure some useful data has come down the pipe first. On a fast connection you could set a really low value. On a slower connection (dialup users, beware) you’ll need a higher value. I set mine to zero because FF will wind up repaint the screen within .12 seconds, anyhow, so why wait?

Preference name: plugin.expose_full_path
Type: Integer
Value: true

This doesn’t make anything faster, it just shows you the path to plugins (like the Adobe PDF plugin, etc.) instead of just the name of the plugin.

Preference name: browser.cache.memory.enable
Type: Boolean
Value: true

Just make sure this is enabled (set to “true”) so that the following settings work.

Preference name: browser.cache.memory.capacity
Type: Integer
Value: 4096

This determines how much of your RAM Firefox will use for caching purposes (the cache for pages you’ve recently downloaded, there’s a RAM cache and a disk cache, this just deals with the cache in memory, not on file). Note, I only have 512MB on my current machine, so I’m setting my total cache fairly low. This will probably increase the load time of pages I’ve previously visited (via the back and forward arrows) but it also protects my RAM usage (more important).

See your current cache usage in RAM by plugging about:cache?device=memory into the Location Bar. For info about your cache on disk, use about:cache?device=disk.

Preference name: browser.cache.disk_cache_ssl
Type: Boolean
Value: true

Since I am the only one to use this laptop (I, or the thief who steals this machine next!) and since I purge my cache files pretty frequently I’d rather store all my HTML pages on disk rather than in memory. This setting forces Firefox to store secure pages on disk, too, which it normally doesn’t do for security purposes. Note, don’t do this on a public or work computer that others may have access to, since this will expose your secure pages (bank sites, webmail stuff, etc.) to disk browsing. I guess, if you’ve got a nefarious streak in you, you could covertly use this setting to evil ends, but you wouldn’t do that, would you?

Hope this helps! I know it helped me.

-------------------------------------------------

Choice about:config settings

Preference name: browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers
Type: Integer
Value: 2

This is for faster loading of pages via the back and forward buttons on your toolbar. The higher the number, the more pages FF keeps in memory for each tab, and thus the higher the memory usage. One page will on average take 4MB of memory. However, reducing this number will make pages load more slowly when you do use the back and forward arrows because they’ll need to be pulled from your disk cache and re-parsed in memory.

Preference name: config.trim_on_minimize
Type: Boolean
Value: true

This setting should force Firefox to dump most of what’s in RAM to disk whenever you minimize it and allows Windows to reclaim the memory for other apps to use. However, some users report spotty success with this, but others claim to be able to get back 90% of their allocated Firefox memory using this hack. (You can view the memory used by applications with a tool like Process Explorer previously from Sysinternals.com but now owned by Microsoft.) Note that if you use this, Firefox may take longer to restore from its minimized state as it has to negotiate for more RAM from Windows to restore itself.

(At the time of this blog entry I have FF open with five tabs. It’s using approximately 104MB of RAM. A few seconds after minimizing, its RAM utilization dropped to 13MB.)

Preference name: content.notify.backoffcount
Type: Integer
Value: 5

As Firefox downloads a page it will attempt to render it for display. As it receives more data from the Web, it will move items around on the page to repair rendering until all the data is finally received and the page can be finally re-parsed and fully redrawn. The backoff count limits the number of times FF will redraw the page in memory while downloading content. Setting the number to five, as above, limits FF to redrawing the page six times. Five (max) during downloads (according to the timer intervals set below) and once upon completion.

I set this to five because I have a fast connection and I prefer to get the page drawn quickly even if all the images and stuff haven’t downloaded yet. Every time FF has to redraw the page, it slows down total page load time.

Preference name: content.notify.interval
Type: Integer
Value: 120000

120,000 microseconds is actually the default. I specified it in case I want to change it later. This is equivalent to redrawing a page (as it downloads) every .12 seconds.

Preference name: content.notify.ontimer
Type: Boolean
Value: true

This turns the timer on for the previous two settings.

Preference name: network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server
Type: Integer
Value: 8

Persistent connections are “keep-alive” connections from your browser to the server you’re getting data from. In HTTP 1.1, persistent connections are used to download multiple items via one connection without wasting overhead for one connection per file. On a typical web page you might have 50-100 items that need to be downloaded. Forcing every time to be pulled off a web server with its own connection will slow things down considerably. However, you don’t want too many of these connections per server, since it could clobber a server’s response time. I’ll probably be adjusting this value over time. The default is 2. (Requires that network.http.keep-alive be set to “true.” And if you are using a proxy, see Network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy)

If you’re on dialup, this probably won’t help.

Preference name: network.http.pipelining
Type: Boolean
Value: true

Related to the previous setting, this allows Firefox to send multiple requests before any responses are received. The maximum number of requests is set in the following option. This will help page load times on fast connections.

If you’re on dialup, this probably won’t help. (If you are using a proxy, see network.http.proxy.pipelining.)

Preference name: network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Type: Integer
Value: 8

This sets the maximum number of requests that can be sent to a server via pipelining before anything is sent back to the browser. You can choose between 1 to 8.

Preference name: network.http.max-connections
Type: Integer
Value: 60

This determines how many total connections Firefox can open to all servers at once. In order to download anything, an HTML file, an image, a video, Firefox has to establish a connection. This setting controls the total maximum number of connections Firefox will establish. Given that many web pages include content from other servers and considering how Firefox extensions also generate their own connections (such as the Google Toolbar), it’s good to have this number higher than the following number, which is a per-server configuration. If you have too many connections open at once, however, you’ll clobber your Internet connection, so make sure you have a good fast pipe before increasing this number.

The downside, of course, is that dialup users won’t benefit from this.

Preference name: network.http.max-connections-per-server
Type: Integer
Value: 15

This controls the total number of connections Firefox will establish with a single server. The total max is 255 connections, but I’d caution you to be conservative about this. Rumors persist that some hosts will ban you from their site if you abuse their server. And setting this value too high will clobber your Net connection (again, dialup users, move on), so there’s a “sweet spot” where too high a number slows down your data rate for a given file and too low a number slows down your data rate for a given server. Naturally, this will vary from server to server, so finding the right number for your ISP and the sites you visit will be a matter of trial and error.

Preference name: nglayout.initialpaint.delay
Type: Integer
Value: 0

This controls how long (in milliseconds) Firefox will wait before drawing a page on screen. The default is to wait a bit, to make sure some useful data has come down the pipe first. On a fast connection you could set a really low value. On a slower connection (dialup users, beware) you’ll need a higher value. I set mine to zero because FF will wind up repaint the screen within .12 seconds, anyhow, so why wait?

Preference name: plugin.expose_full_path
Type: Integer
Value: true

This doesn’t make anything faster, it just shows you the path to plugins (like the Adobe PDF plugin, etc.) instead of just the name of the plugin.

Preference name: browser.cache.memory.enable
Type: Boolean
Value: true

Just make sure this is enabled (set to “true”) so that the following settings work.

Preference name: browser.cache.memory.capacity
Type: Integer
Value: 4096

This determines how much of your RAM Firefox will use for caching purposes (the cache for pages you’ve recently downloaded, there’s a RAM cache and a disk cache, this just deals with the cache in memory, not on file). Note, I only have 512MB on my current machine, so I’m setting my total cache fairly low. This will probably increase the load time of pages I’ve previously visited (via the back and forward arrows) but it also protects my RAM usage (more important).

See your current cache usage in RAM by plugging about:cache?device=memory into the Location Bar. For info about your cache on disk, use about:cache?device=disk.

Preference name: browser.cache.disk_cache_ssl
Type: Boolean
Value: true

Since I am the only one to use this laptop (I, or the thief who steals this machine next!) and since I purge my cache files pretty frequently I’d rather store all my HTML pages on disk rather than in memory. This setting forces Firefox to store secure pages on disk, too, which it normally doesn’t do for security purposes. Note, don’t do this on a public or work computer that others may have access to, since this will expose your secure pages (bank sites, webmail stuff, etc.) to disk browsing. I guess, if you’ve got a nefarious streak in you, you could covertly use this setting to evil ends, but you wouldn’t do that, would you?

Hope this helps! I know it helped me.