GUIDE:FireFox (More to be added)

[JoeDaStudd]

Ok, Im making this guide to help all those users who want Firefox or would like it but dont know how to use it. Aswell as to help any users of Firefox make the best use of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Should I Use FireFox?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possible reasons;

 

 

 

*You would simply like try it

 

 

 

*You are using linux

 

 

 

*You would like to use the features Firefox offers

 

 

 

*More to be added soon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reasons which I wouldn't reccommend Firefox for;

 

 

 

*You have an illegal copy of Windows, so you cant download IE.

 

 

 

*Your PC has performance trouble with IE (FireFox has very simular requirements)

 

 

 

*Just because a friend said you should (Without you want too)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

System Requirements for FireFox 2 (taken from Mozilla's website)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:arrow: You can find this out by going to Start, Run, then type in "dxdiag". This will bring up a window displaying all your system specifications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minimum System Requirements

 

 

 

233 Mhz processor

 

 

 

64 MB of RAM

 

 

 

50 MB of free disk space

 

 

 

Microsoft Windows 98

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mozilla Recommends

 

 

 

500 Mhz processor

 

 

 

256 MB of RAM

 

 

 

100 MB of free disk space

 

 

 

Microsoft Windows XP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mac

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minimum System Requirements

 

 

 

PowerPC G3 processor

 

 

 

128 MB of RAM

 

 

 

75 MB of free disk space

 

 

 

Mac OS X 10.2.x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mozilla Recommends

 

 

 

PowerPC G4 or Intel processor

 

 

 

512 MB of RAM

 

 

 

150 MB of free disk space

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linux

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minimum System Requirements

 

 

 

233 Mhz processor

 

 

 

64 MB of RAM

 

 

 

50 MB of free disk space

 

 

 

Linux kernel 2.2.14 (with glibc 2.3.2, XFree86-3.3.6, gtk+2.0, fontconfig/xft and libstdc++5)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mozilla Recommends

 

 

 

500 Mhz processor

 

 

 

256 MB of RAM

 

 

 

100 MB of free disk space

 

 

 

a modern Linux distribution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your PC doesnt meet the minimum requirements I don't reccommend you even install FireFox 2.

 

 

 

If your PC does meet the minimum requirements and you want to install FireFox 2 then carry on reading this guide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Download

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First begin by visiting the Firefox website (or click here).

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should see the above picture, on this site.

 

 

 

Click on "Download Firefox - Free". A promt box should popup asking you if you would like to save or open this file, select save, then select a location where you have some space free.

 

 

 

Once the download has completed, locate the file which you just downloaded.

 

 

 

Double click the file (if you are asked if you would like to run the file select "yes"), now follow the on screen instructions during the install (very easy, but I will add pictures if people need them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Begin the Browsing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Firefox may or may not have started, if not just click on the desktop icon or from the list of programs in the start menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting Up the Connection (Not for direct internet users)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First click on Tools then click Options. (See below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now select Network then Connection...Settings

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now most of you should be using a direct internet connection and should need to change this, but this section is for all those who arent.Now change the setting to your router or servers settings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customising FireFox 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Themes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go to Tools, Add-ons.

 

 

 

A little window will popup. Select themes from the top icons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By default you are using the default theme so lets change that.

 

 

 

Click on "Get Themes" located in the bottom right corner.

 

 

 

This will open the firefox theme download page. Simply select a them which you like and click "Install Now". This will bring up a promt box, select "Install".

 

 

 

Once the install is complete Firefox will ask you to restart firefox for the theme to take effect, restart Firefox.

 

 

 

And like magic when firefox restarts its now dressed in your new theme.

 

 

 

Repeat if you dont like it or leave it, or turn back to default. Its your choice!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add-Ons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repeat the above exept replace theme with Add-On.

 

 

 

(I will build on this if needed, but it seems very simple after a theme change)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reccommended Add-Ons/Themes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add-Ons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*AdBlockPlus The best Firefox addon, stops all those annoying adds and popups

 

 

 

*Chatzilla A great IRC Client and matches your FireFox

 

 

 

*Download Status bar, great if you download a lot of files

 

 

 

*Customize Google, gets rid of all those google adds and load of google related options

 

 

 

*FasterFox, Add a little timer to tel you the load time as well as speeds up your connection.

 

 

 

*NoScript, Stops alll sites uses any scripts which may harm your pc (ps it takes some time to get it configured to your liking, but stops lots of ad/spyware)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Themes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PimpZilla, very popular on these forums.

 

 

 

MacFoxII Graphite, my personal favourite.

 

 

 

iPox, a iPod themed design for all those iPod lovers out there.

 

 

 

Super Mario Bros. 3 (the NES version, great for all those mario lovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extra Tweaks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memory Leak Fix (only for advanced users)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taken from howtogeek.com, but modified for this guide.

 

 

 

If Firefox 2 is not already started, load it up. If you are already viewing a page (such as this) create a new Tab (Ctrl + T), now type "about:config".

 

 

 

A page should now display with a lot of setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right click within this page and select New, Boolean.

 

 

 

Type in "config.trim_on_minimize" then click ok, now select "true", then press ok to finish.

 

 

 

It should look like the picture below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now restart Firefox for this change to take effect.

 

 

 

Now whenever you minimize Firefox the memory used by Firefox will drop quite alot. Open up taskmanager and take a look for yourself if you dont believe me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keyboard Shortcuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ctrl + T

 

 

 

opens a new tab

 

 

 

Ctrl + N

 

 

 

opens a new window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this guide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Questions Welcome as are all comments, both good and bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ps. More will be added soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited:06/03/2007 Added the memory leak fix.

[runesmithie]

Don't we already have a few of these floating around?

[JoeDaStudd]

Don't we already have a few of these floating around?

Yep, but most of them only offer parts or have very little detail.

 

 

 

I created this one to offer a more comprehensive guide for all users and not just those who have installed software before.

[Guest Cosinus]

Good job, well written and easy to understand with the pictures. Also useful for us Old Schools with the Memory Fix. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up the good work! =D>