Run Firefox from removable media

This advanced tip makes it possible to run Firefox from removable media, such as a USB memory stick. This will allow you to run Firefox with your personal settings from any computer, even those that don't have Firefox installed. It has only been tested on Windows XP/2000. The basic instructions are as follows:

1. Copy the Firefox application folder and your profile folder to the removable medium. In this example we will use R:\Firefox for the application folder and R:\FFProfile as the profile folder, assuming the drive letter for the removable media is R:.
2. Create a simple batch file called R:\Firefox.bat with the following line:

   start \Firefox\firefox.exe -profile \FFProfile
   

3. Optionally, disable the disk cache to reduce the amounts of file writes to the removable storage by using about:config to set browser.cache.disk.enable to false.

The reason why a batch file is needed instead of a simple shortcut is that a shortcut uses absolute paths, and since the actual drive letter for the removable media may change depending on which computer it is plugged into, the relative path used in the batch file is guaranteed to work anywhere.

Mouse Shortcut

Adding a Firefox component to Windows XP Embedded

Adding a Firefox component to Windows XP Embedded
by Sean Liming


The Firefox2 SLD is based on version 2.0.0.1 from the www.GetFirefox.com website. The Firefox2 SLD ZIP package, available for download here, only contains the SLD file. The actual Firefox binary files must be downloaded, installed in a system, and copied over to a flat release directory that the Firefox Repository is pointing to.

The SLD was created with the help of Component Helper, one of the tools in SJJ Embedded's supplemental tools package for Windows XP Embedded.

The registry keys captured were not needed since the application creates the necessary keys when it runs for the first time. The Firefox component use the Selector Prototype so you can enabled / disable component dependencies. In this case, Client for Microsoft Networks was added as a dependency since it is required for network access. One could disable this dependency and replace with a different network client, i.e. Client Services for Network

Instructions:

1. Download the v2.0.0.1 installation file from www.GetFirefox.com
   
   
2. Install Mozilla Firefox on an XP system.
   
   
3. Download the FireFox2.zip file containing the SLD.
   
   
4. Extract the contents of the zip file to your hard drive.
   
   
5. Create a new directory in the same directory as the SLD called Files. The Repository path is relative to the SLD. The Repository has been setup so the files are one directory level below the SLD.
   
   
6. Copy all the files in the different Mozilla Firefox subdirectories to the newly created Files directory. The files must be flat in the Files directory; no subdirectories are allowed. The picture below shows what the subdirectory should look like.
7. Also, use the file resources in the component. There are some required files under "\Documents and Settings\[User]\Application Data\Mozilla". These need to be copied to the flat release directory as well.
8. Import the SLD into the XPe data base using Component Database Manager.

Please note that some of these files have the same name. In testing, it didn't matter what file was used. Use the file resource in the Firefox component as a guide.


Copyright (c) 2007, SJJ Embedded Micro Solutions, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced by WindowsForDevices.com with permission.

About the author: Sean Liming is a Microsoft eMVP and is the author of three books on Windows Embedded. Liming is currently the Managing Director of SJJ Embedded Micro Solutions, which offers books, toolkits, training courses, and consulting services covering all aspects of embedded design hardware, software, manufacturing, and life-cycle management.

Quickly lock down your Firefox setup

If you want to prevent users from messing around with your beloved and perfectly customized Firefox install, you can now add a simple deterrant with Public Fox, developed by Igor Rashnistov.

Public Fox lets you set a password to lock some configuration including the Options window, about:config (Firefox’s advanced preferences), the Add-Ons manager (so it prevents adding extensions and themes), the Bookmarks Manager, adding bookmarks, the download manager and also set file extensions you want to block, like .exe, .bat or .msi files, which can be used to install unwanted applications or even spyware.

And Public Fox was smart enough to block the selected windows even when I tried to access them from the location bar directly (with a chrome:// URL).

Public Fox is not perfect, and its protection can be circumvented by starting Firefox in safe mode or with a new profile but it should be enough to stop most users.

I couldn’t access about:config after trying several times with the correct password (it worked for other windows), as well.

Despite these minor problems it is a helpful transparent extension you would like to try.

Author: Percy Cabello

Faster Browsing with Firefox (2006 edition)

It's been awhile since I first posted a few simple tips on how to speed up Firefox performance. Some of the information is outdated, so I thought a recap might be a good idea.

All of these tips can be implemented by anyone who knows how to use their keyboard and mouse. No advanced knowledge is required. With that said, however, the adjustments we'll be looking at can have adverse effects when visiting certain websites. I'll note possible concerns with each tip so everyone can decide for themselves if that particular tip is for them. Each of these will help speed up Firefox, independently of the others, so don't feel like you have to use all of them if you don't want to.

To start your tweaking, type about:config in your Firefox location bar. This will bring up a list of hundreds of preference settings. All the changes we'll be making can be done here. Use the filter bar just above the list of preferences to "drill down" to the preferences you need. There are Firefox extensions that will allow you to change most of the settings we'll be talking about in more of a GUI environment, but I prefer to do it in about:config since installing extensions can tend to have a hit on Firefox performance.
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum119/445.htm

So on to the actual preferences you'll need to set. To change a preference, double-click it and enter the new value.

• network.http.sendRefererHeader - This setting controls whether or not Firefox will send a "referer header" for the pages and files it requests. Sending the referer header takes time, actually more time than you might think. Turning it off can improve your browsing speed quite a bit. The default for this one is '2', which means Firefox will send the referer header for page requests AND for images. Set this preference to '1' to send a referer header for page requests only (faster), or to '0' to not send referer headers at all (fastest).
  
  WARNING: Disabling the referer header can cause some websites not to work correctly; for instance, Buy.com requires the referer header during the checkout process. Only set this preference to '0' if you think you'll recognize related problems if/when they occur. I can't imagine any problems that might be caused by setting this preference to '1' (send referer header for page requests only) and that should improve performance dramatically on most websites.
  
  TIP: The excellent Web Developer extension allows you to enable or disable referer headers with just two clicks. This option is listed under the "Disable" menu on the Web Developer toolbar.
  
  
  
• network.http.pipelining - Enabling pipelining allows Firefox to request files (such as images, external CSS and Javascript files, etc.) at the same time instead of individually. The default for this preference is FALSE. Double-click it to set it to TRUE. Enabling pipelining is one of the biggest ways to boost your browsing speed, provided you have a high-speed connection. Pipelining on a dialup connection may have a less noticeable effect.
  
  WARNING: Pipelining is not well-supported (at all?) on Microsoft web servers. Most of the time everything will still work fine; however, some rare websites (most notably Adobe) that are hosted on Microsoft servers will slow to a crawl if you try to browse them with pipelining turned on. I have only run into this on about three or four occasions in over two years of surfing with pipelining enabled; still, it pays to know the symptoms so you can temporarily disable pipelining if you need to.
  
  
  
• network.http.pipelining.firstrequest - As the name implies, this setting (supposedly) controls whether or not Firefox pipelines the first request for a pageview. I don't see what real-world difference this setting can make, but I always set it to TRUE anyway, just in case. The default is FALSE.
  
  WARNING: The comments above about pipelining may also apply to this setting - or maybe not. I honestly don't know.
  
  
  
• network.http.pipelining.maxrequests - This is the maximum number of concurrent requests Firefox is allowed to make. I used to recommend setting this to a high value, around 32 or so. I have since found out that this can have serious implications for web servers that may get overloaded trying to respond to so many requests all at the same time. I don't have any statistics on what a good upper limit for this setting would be, but I have mine set to 16 which seems to work well (possibly better than 32 in the first place). From what I've heard, I would not try setting this higher than 16. Depending on your connection speed, you may have better success setting this to an even lower number.
  
  WARNING: Setting this too high may set off security triggers on some web servers and could get you banned from some websites. Keep it to a reasonably low number in the interests of courtesy and convenience to website operators.
  
  
  
• network.http.proxy.pipelining - If you're behind a proxy, you may want to set this value to TRUE as well. Default is FALSE.
  
  WARNING: I'm not sure if any proxies would have problems with pipelined requests or not. Maybe someone who knows more about proxies could comment on this.
  
  
  
• nglayout.initialpaint.delay - This preference doesn't exist by default, so you'll have to create it. Right-click on some whitespace in about:config, point to New, then choose Integer. Enter a number between 0 and 1000 (or more if you like, but I don't recommend it) then click OK. This setting stipulates how many milliseconds Firefox waits to start rendering a page after it starts to receive data. The default behavior is 250. I usually set mine to 0, meaning Firefox will start rendering the page with no delay at all. This provides near-instant feedback while browsing. Setting this preference to a higher number - 250 (default), 500, 1000, etc. - will allow Firefox to download more data before it starts to render the page. Some people prefer to set this to 1000 or so, which will give a one-second delay before the page starts to render, but will usually render the entire page all at once in the blink of an eye. Try several settings and see how you like it best. Setting the delay to 0 may actually slow down browsing slightly, but gives an illusion of speed since the rendering begins immediately. Setting a long delay doesn't give feedback so quickly, but you get the whole page all at once instead of in chunks, which seems faster to some people.
  
  WARNING: Setting this value below 250 may cause minor rendering problems on some table-based websites. This usually is not a problem, normally being a minor inconvenience at worst.
  
  
  
• browser.cache.memory.enable - This preference allows Firefox to cache pages and files in memory, which can allegedly improve performance with the back and forward buttons. I've never noticed a difference myself, but I imagine mileage will vary on different systems. Default is TRUE so you probably don't need to change this one.
  
  
  
• browser.cache.memory.capacity - Only used if the above setting is set to TRUE. This setting controls how much memory Firefox is allowed to use for caching purposes. Supposedly, setting this to a higher number can improve performance, provided you have enough free memory in the first place. Again, I've never noticed a difference from this.
  
  
  
• A Note on the Cache: Firefox tends to slow down a bit as your cache (disk cache, not memory cache) nears its capacity, particularly if you're using a higher than average cache size. Clear your cache periodically to avoid this performance hit. I use the Clear Cache Button extension, which gives a toolbar button to quickly clear the browser cache. (This can also be useful for developers who need to be sure they're viewing the most recent version of a page but don't want to disable the cache entirely.)

More Ideas:

There are other Firefox settings that can help with performance, but they tend to be very specific to the kind of system you're running Firefox on. A partial list can be found here. Most of these other settings are more advanced, and should only be attempted by those who are fairly familiar with Firefox. If you choose to play around with any of this advanced stuff, be sure to write down your current settings for the relevant preferences so you can get them back if you need to - I have run into serious problems with some of these settings, particularly content.max.tokenizing.time. Please Note: The page I linked to above tells how to adjust these settings in your user.js file. Unless I'm mistaken, all those settings can also be changed in about:config.

Faster Browsing with Firefox (2006 edition)
Updated information on how to get the most out of Firefox

Source: Wedmasterworld.com

Firefox Shortcuts Sheet - Part 2

Firefox Shortcuts Sheet - Part 1

Pass MegaUpload checking system with firefox

Step 1: Open new tab and type to address bar: about:config

Step 2:
Right click on settings area, choose New>String. This action to create new key of firefox settings. Type this information to each textbox:

New String Value: general.useragent.override
Value: MEGAUPLOAD 1.0

Press OK. Close firefox and re-open. Please try download a file from Megaupload. You will never view limited download screen again. This tweak is the same IE integrated with Megaupload toolbar. You must wait 44s to download every file but you can pass limited slots.

I think it's a useful tweak for user from some country such as Thailand, China or Vietnam...

Open multiple profile Firefox at once

Case 1:

Step 1: Open System Properties, choose tab Advanced, click to Environment Variables button. In System Variables section, click New. Type this information to each textbox.

Variable name: MOZ_NO_REMOTE

Variable value: 1

Press OK to close all windows.

Step 2: Open Firefox icon's properties. Add extension -p to command line. Press OK.

Now, when you open Firefox by click to this icon, you can choose profile of Firefox.

Case 2:

Open notepad (or other)
Enter:

------------------Content below---------------------------

@echo off
set MOZ_NO_REMOTE=1
start "" "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -p
set MOZ_NO_REMOTE=0

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

Save as (whatever).bat
That's it.

You can also do this for Thunderbird. :)