Tweak Firefox about:config The Right Way Manually

As we know, about:config page stores all Firefox browsing configurations.The common tweaks that usually made from that page was:

user_pref("network.http.pipelining", true);
user_pref("network.http.proxy.pipelining", true);
user_pref("network.http.pipelining.maxrequests", 8);
user_pref("network.http.request.max-start-delay", 0);
user_pref("content.notify.backoffcount", 5);
user_pref("plugin.expose_full_path", true);
user_pref("ui.submenuDelay", 0);
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0);

Pipelining does multiple data requests at once and should speed things up. I believe IE did this before and this was partially attributable to the speed advantage that IE had over older versions of Mozilla/Netscape. Initial Paint Delay actually slows down the rendering of the ENTIRE page but since users tend to start reading before the entire page is rendered, setting this to a low value gives the impression that the page loads faster.

Not everyone can speed up Firefox by following those settings, it's because you need the following requirement to suite your settings.It is:

1. Computer processor
2. Computer memory (RAM)
3. Internet connection type (DSL, cable, etc.)

Below are the detail settings for different requirements:

Fast Computer, Fast Connection

Definitions:
Fast Computer: is a machine with a CPU greater than 1.5Ghz and with memory installed of at least 512MB RAM
Fast Connection: is a DSL, cable or a better connection

user_pref("content.interrupt.parsing", true);
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", 24);
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);

Fast Computer, Slower Connection

Definitions:
Fast Computer: is a machine with a CPU greater than 1.5Ghz and with memory installed of at least 512MB RAM
Slower Connection: is slower DSL / Cable connections as well as double line ISDN 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", 24);
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);

Fast Computer, Slow Connection

Slow connection means connections through an analog 57k modem or slower.

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", 24);
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);

Slow Computer, Slow Connection

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);

There you go, use which configurations that suite your system requirement.But how to test it? Ok, below are the steps how you going to test which setting is the best.

• Clear the cache of Firefox from the Firefox settings dialog - this is very
important!
• Before you optimize Firefox, navigate to http://www.numion.com/stopwatch/ and do a speed test on url that given there
• The time needed to load the site completely will be displayed to you in the
browser window. Write down the time
• Clear the cache of Firefox from the Firefox settings dialog again - this is very
important!
• Start Firefox again, and repeat the speed test on the same url
• Compare the displayed result with the result from the test before the optimization
• Repeat from the first step if you want to try the next setting and make sure you restart Firefox for changes to take effect.

That's it..on the next post I will review on application that was made exactly according from these settings.It's the same tweak but you don't have to do it manually, let the app. tune it for you and it's called FireTune.