Sunday, May 10, 2009

Optimizing Firefox Tips Tech Guide

Need help to "fire-up" your fox - Mozilla Firefox? Well, great news! I, Creastery™ 2009, will be sharing a guide on that.
We will be using a freeware (No cost needed software) - Firetune
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According to your specific computer speed and internet connection speed, FireTune will optimize several internal settings of Firefox for better performance.

NOTE: FireTune does NOT modify the Firefox executable, or any other Firefox binary file. Everything can be undone easily at a single mouseclick only.

Features:
-No un/in-stallation required - download, unzip and run. Done!
-Speed improvements according to your computer speed
-Improves browsing speed according to your internet connection speed
-Speed improvements for slow, medium and fast computers / connection speeds
-Enables some hidden tweaks of Firefox for even more browsing speed
Includes a configuration backup and restore function
-Optimizes SSL connection speed
-Optimizes Firefox memory usage
-Works with the installable and the portable version of Firefox
-Multi language user interface: includes language files for more than 30 languages

Supports Mozilla Firefox Versions: 1.x, 2.x and 3.x

After you have downloaded, unzip and run the program - Firetune.exe file.
You will see a pop-up, telling you to backup before you do the tweaking. This is very important, just in case anything goes wrong.

The default language should be English. If you are not comfortable with it, change by clicking the language option at the top navigation bar, select any language (language files are called ".lng" without quotation marks.)

Also, if your Mozilla Firefox is portable, please select the option beside the language option. It will prompt you to specify the location of the portable Firefox.

By the way, I recommend PortableApps.com's portable Firefox. Soon, I would be touching up on that.

Now, back to topic. Select an option out of the six options there.
I'm sure that all of you know whether your computer is fast or slow. Therefore, I'm only going to talk about the Internet speed.

For dial-up connection, please choose slow connection.
This will leave you with the 3rd option and the last option only.

If you do not know if your internet speed is fast or not, at least check out SpeedTest.net to find out your average internet speed.

For internet speed with 3mbps (3 Megabyte Per Second)-
Please choose slower connection or fast. Both can work fine.

Additional information of storage size:
8 bit (b) = 1 byte (B)
1024 byte (B) = 1 kilobyte (kB)
1024 kilobyte (kB) = 1 megabyte (MB)
1024 megabyte (MB) = 1 gigabyte (GB)
1024 gigabyte (GB) = 1 terabyte (TB)
1024 terabyte (TB) = 1 petabyte (PB)
1024 petabyte (PB) = 1 exabyte (EB)
1024 exabyte (EB) = 1 zettabyte (ZB)
1024 zettabyte (ZB) = 1 yottabyte (YB)

The above table is just some points for your own information.

After you have select an option, backup first before anything. Next, press the Tune It! Button.
Note: You have to close the Firefox application FULLY.

You can use the Task Manager to find out. Press Control + Shift + Escape to toggle.
Next, choose the "Processes" tab. Under Image Name, search for firefox.exe.
If it still exists, that means it is still running. If you want to close it safely, wait for a while for it to disappear out of the list. Else, click on firefox.exe, press the "End Process" button and of course "yes" for the prompt.

When it is fully closed, Tune IT!!

After it is done, run your Mozilla Firefox.
Notice the difference? If not, change the options again.

Last words: Good luck in the tweaking, but don't overdo it!

That's all folks for today! Please comment on tech as we need comments to improve on the tech guide. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Thanks!
By - WinTechpedia™ 2009 Contributors