Firefox Desktop OSs

 Notes: 

Where you see the instruction: Open 'about:config' you will need to type or copy/paste 'about:config' (without the speech marks) in to Firefox's address bar press return then click the 'I'll be careful, I promise' button.

Where you see the instruction: Type or copy/paste: you will need to enter the text that appears in the highlighted box below in the the box next to the word 'Filter' on the about:config page.

Fix inconsistency ld.so crash caused by Google Talk Plugin
If you experience bad crashing with Mozilla Firefox 4, it could be a dodgy Google Talk plugin. Start Firefox from a terminal session command line and go to Google Maps. Or, to make it crash, just go to Tools > Add-ons. The browser will crash and show this error in the terminal...

Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 583: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_initialize (0, args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!

To fix it, rename the /opt/google/ directory to something else, reboot and try browsing again.

mv /opt/google /opt/google.old

Now try looking in the about:plugins page in Firefox.

Autoscrolling (or Middle Button Scrolling): How To Turn On
Under Options/Preferences --> Advanced --> General tab --> Browsing section tick the checkbox 'Use autoscrolling'.

AwesomeBar: Change The Amount Of Results Returned (v3 >)
The "AwesomeBar" allows you to do a keyword search of your bookmarks, tags and browsing history by typing in the address window. As you start typing in the address bar the AwesomeBar shows you a list of a dozen suggestion, this tweak allows you to set a higher or lower number of returns.

Open 'about:config'

Type or copy/paste:

urlbar.maxRichResults

In the windows below double-click on the entry and change the value to 12

Backspace: Change Behaviour To Previous Page
Type "about:config" in the address bar of Firefox and press Enter. 'Filter' for "browser.backspace_action" and change its value to 0 (zero).

browser.backspace_action

Blinking Text: How To Disable
If you get annoyed by text on website that blinks at you this tweak overrides the site settings and stop the behaviour.

Type or copy/paste: browser.blink_allowed Double click on 'browser.blink_allowed' to change from 'true' to 'false'

Bookmark All Tabs: v.4 >
Right click on any of the tabs you want to bookmark as a group and select:

Bookmark All Tabs...

Bookmark Toolbar Icons: Disable (All Versions)
Locate the chrome directory:  Linux - /home/ /.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome Windows - C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[User Name]\chrome\ 

Create the file userChrome.css

Paste in the CSS following code: /* Hide bookmark icons in the Personal Toolbar */toolbarbutton.bookmark-item > .toolbarbutton-icon {display: none; }

Save and Restart Firefox

Cache Folder: How To Change Its Path (Windows Only)
In the location bar, type about:config and hit enter

Right-click in the white-space, and choose New->String, then copy and past in

browser.cache.disk.parent_directory

Click ok.

In the next box, enter the full patch to the directory you want to store your cache in, i.e. C:\Firefox Temp\

Close Firefox.

Delete your old cache directories in C:Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\something.username

Restart Firefox. It will create the directory specified above, if it doesn't already exist.

This same technique can be used to move your cache to a larger or faster disk.

Dictionary Word List: Editing (All Versions)
This can be useful if you have inadvertently entered an mis-spelt word in to the dictionary or if you want to add custom entries, i.e. scientific words, place names. The location of the dictionary can be found in the following locations depending on your operating system:  Linux - /home/[User Name]/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/extensions/en-GB@dictionaries.addons.mozilla.org/dictionaries OS X - ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/ Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\extensions\en-GB@dictionaries.addons.mozilla.org\dictionaries Windows Vista - C:\users\[User Name\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\  Using a text editor open the following file:

persdict.dat

Error Message On Start Up: "Well, this is embarassing...." not with my newest window & tab settings.
Answer: Completely disable session store

Firefox 3 and below: To completely disable all session saving behavior, including the recording of session information, set browser.sessionstore.enabled to false in about:config.

Firefox 3.5 and above: Starting in Firefox 3.5 the preference browser.sessionstore.enabled is no longer used. [5] Instead, you can set the preferences browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo and browser.sessionstore.max_windows_undo to 0.

Extension Install Delay: Disable (All Versions)
Open 'about:config'

Type or copy/paste: security.dialog_enable_delay In the windows below double-click on 'security.dialog_enable_delay' and change the value to 0 to disable the delay

Extension List
about:support

Plugins List
about:plugins

Save Tabs On Exit: Firefox 4
By default FF4 does not offer to save open tabs when closing, this is a regression back to FF2 days. To reinstate the service:

Open about:config

In the filter bar paste the following:

browser.showQuitWarning

Double click the result (there should only be one) in the lower window which will change the value column from 'false' to 'true'.

If the above does not work check that the following all have their values set to false:


 * browser.tabs.warnOnClose
 * browser.warnOnQuit
 * browser.warnOnRestart

Shortcut Keys Firefox 4
Ctrl+L = Location bar (replaces F6)

Shortcut Keys All
Ctrl+K = Search box

In-Line Spell Check In All Textboxes And Webforms: Enable (All Versions)
Open 'about:config'

Type or copy/paste: layout.spell In the windows below double-click on 'layout.spell' and change the value to 2

Keep Firefox Open When You Close The Last Tab: Enable (v3.5 >)
In previous versions of Firefox if under Preferences/Options --> Tabs was set to 'Always show tab bar' pressing Ctrl+W if a single tab was showing it blank the contents but left Firefox running. In Firefox 3.5 even with this option set; pressing Ctrl+W with a single tab showing closes the programme.

Open 'about:config'

Type or copy/paste:

browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab

In the window below double click on 'browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab' to change the value from 'true' to 'false'

Now clearing the contents of the last tab using Ctrl+W will leave a blank tab and not shut the programme.

UPDATE Close the browser. You may also have to add the following Code to UserChrome.css:

.tabbrowser-tabs[closebuttons="alltabs"] > .tabbrowser-tab > .tab-close-button { display: -moz-box !important; } .tabbrowser-tabs:not([closebuttons="noclose"]):not([closebuttons="closeatend"]) > .tabbrowser-tab[selected="true"] > .tab-close-button { display: -moz-box !important; }

Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working
If the 'Home' and 'End' keys are not working press 'F7' and they should be activated.

Location Aware Browsing (a.k.a. Geolocation): Disable (v3.5 >)
 An Overview 

This feature uses Google Location Services to determine the location of your computer using the following: the computer’s internet IP address, information from nearby wireless access points, and a random client identifier (this is assigned by Google and expires every 2 weeks). If you are concerned about your privacy, the feature can be turned off with the following simple tweak.

Open 'about:config'

Type or copy/paste: geo.enabled In the window below double click on 'geo.enabled' to change the value from 'true' to 'false'

Menus Slow To Open: How To Speed Them Up
In the configuration window, right click and choose New -> Integer

Type or copy/paste:: ui.submenuDelay Set the value to 0

Middle Button (Scroll Wheel) Paste
middlemouse.paste

Double click to change from false to true

New Tab Button: Remove (v3.5 >)
Locate the userChrome.css file in your Firefox user profile, this can be found in the following locations depending on your operating system:  Linux - /home//.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome OS X - ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome/ Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\chrome <li>Windows Vista - C:\users\[User Name\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ </ul>

 Note:  If the userChrome.css file does not exist you may need to create it, there is usually a sample file included in the installation which you can copy.

At the end of the file add the following: .tabs-newtab-button {display: none} Save and close the file

Start Firefox

Permissions Manager - (v6 >)
Type in to the address bar:

about:permissions

The permissions manager allows you to tweak setting relating to different website.

RAM Usage - Reduce When Firefox Is Minimized: How To (All Versions)
This tweak moves Firefox to your hard drive when minimized, freeing up much RAM, Firefox requires restarting for these settings to take effect.

Open 'about:config'

Right click anywhere under the 'Filter' box and select New --> Boolean

Type or copy/paste: config.trim_on_minimize Then select TRUE from the resulting pop up window

Session Restore Function - Disable: How To
Open 'about:config', paste the following in the search box:

browser.sessionstore.enabled

Double click to change to False

Session Restore Function - Alter Saving Frequency: How To
Open 'about:config', paste the following in the search box:

browser.sessionstore.interval

1000 equals 1 second so 60000 equals 1 minute, adjust to suit.

Show The Close Button On The Last Tab: Enable (v3.5 >)
New Method - install The Last Tab Close Button addon

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/downloads/file/89367/last_tab_close_button-0.3.2-fx.xpi?src=api&confirmed=1

Old Method

When there is only have one tab left open it does not have a close button, because if you close it it would close Firefox (unless you have implemented the 'Keep The Window Open When You Close The Last Tab' tweak above). It is still possible to close it pressing Ctrl + W, or selecting Close Tab in the File menu. The following code give you back the button.

Locate the userChrome.css file in your Firefox user profile, this can be found in the following locations depending on your operating system:

 <li>Linux - /home/<your_account>/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome <li>OS X - ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome/ <li>Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\<your_account>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\chrome <li>Windows Vista - C:\users\[User Name\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ </ul>  Note:  If the userChrome.css file does not exist you may need to create it, there is usually a sample file included in the installation which you can copy. Add the following at the end of the userChrome.css file:

.tabbrowser-tabs[closebuttons="alltabs"] > .tabbrowser-tab > .tab-close-button { display: -moz-box !important; } .tabbrowser-tabs:not([closebuttons="noclose"]):not([closebuttons="closeatend"]) > .tabbrowser-tab[selected="true"] > .tab-close-button { display: -moz-box !important; } Save and close the file

Zoom Page More
Change the following preferences to suit in about:config. Each number represents a % x 100.

toolkit.zoomManager.zoomValues;.3,.5,.67,.8,.9,1,1.1,1.2,1.33,1.5,1.7,2,2.4,3,3.5,4,4.5,5 zoom.maxPercent;500

Restart Firefox to enjoy :-)

Fix Start Problem / Backup Important Files

 * places.sqlite
 * key3.db
 * signons3.txt
 * cookies.sqlite

Browse to your profile folder and copy the following files to a new backup folder...

cp -av places.sqlite key3.db signons.sqlite permissions.sqlite search.sqlite persdict.dat formhistory.sqlite cookies.sqlite cert8.db mimeTypes.rdf ../backup/