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Something like Firefox, but faster starting?
- Thread starter Nyarlathotep
- Start date
I had Firefox, and then I switched the Chrome, which is still kindy buggy, although its fast.
I now use Opera, its fast as hell, and its super easy to become immersed in all the hot keys and everything else which makes the thing even faster and more efficient to use. Plus the speed dialer on it is a great idea.
I now use Opera, its fast as hell, and its super easy to become immersed in all the hot keys and everything else which makes the thing even faster and more efficient to use. Plus the speed dialer on it is a great idea.
You mentioned Adblock in your Firefox. That, and any other add-ons you have may very well be your issue. There's a way to start FF without addons called Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode). Go to your full programs menu, it's in the Mozilla Firefox group. See if that's any better. If it's much better, then the addons you're using are the culprit.
Chrome does load fast, but I have no interest in losing adblock, or some of my other addons.
I do find the AVG sucks some startup speed from FF. It's possible one of your addons is getting high scrutiny from AVG while loading.
Edit to add: Browsers can be resource intensive on older laptops. If the hard drive speed is slow as well (and they often are in older consumer laptops), the combination of addons, AVG (or any AV), low relative horsepower, a slow hard drive and registry clutter can make for some serious sluggish....
Chrome does load fast, but I have no interest in losing adblock, or some of my other addons.
I do find the AVG sucks some startup speed from FF. It's possible one of your addons is getting high scrutiny from AVG while loading.
Edit to add: Browsers can be resource intensive on older laptops. If the hard drive speed is slow as well (and they often are in older consumer laptops), the combination of addons, AVG (or any AV), low relative horsepower, a slow hard drive and registry clutter can make for some serious sluggish....
<ahem> continually installing new programs to give them a run is kind of what slugs up the registry in the first place....
The older the machine (and that's no powerhouse) the cleaner you have to keep it...
But I wish you luck...
The older the machine (and that's no powerhouse) the cleaner you have to keep it...
But I wish you luck...
that sounds like a problem with your computer not the browser to me. Unless you have a bajillion extensions install and run on 512mb of RAM theres no way firefox or any other browser should take 5 minutes. When was the last time you checked for spyware, ad-ware, and viruses? I try to do that weekly on my PCs, it can make a huge difference. Also, consider getting rid of unused programs and other junk data and defragmenting your HDD that could also speed things up significantly. How does your computer run well outside of browsing?
And to more accurately answer your question: The only other browser even close to Firefox is the new Netscape which uses FF2 architecture (though I'm not sure about its support of extensions) but is no longer being supported. Firefox is the only browser that offers the amount of customization that it does it to the user. However, if you are looking for speed Google Chrome and Netscape (i know it's no longer being supported but that doesn't mean its no good) are at the top of my list along with Firefox.
And to more accurately answer your question: The only other browser even close to Firefox is the new Netscape which uses FF2 architecture (though I'm not sure about its support of extensions) but is no longer being supported. Firefox is the only browser that offers the amount of customization that it does it to the user. However, if you are looking for speed Google Chrome and Netscape (i know it's no longer being supported but that doesn't mean its no good) are at the top of my list along with Firefox.
My laptop runs really well. Has some hickups if I try to record in audacity AND run a drum loop in hammerhead at the same time. I just switch HH to "high" priority and everythings peachy. My desktop is pretty much the same.
Something is wrong with the OP's Firefox install or setup. There is absolutely no way it should be taking that long to load and open. Online research is strongly indicated.
I use a program called "MemoKit" to see what's loaded at any time in memory, how memory useage changes over time(task bar icon), and a few other memory related tasks (clear all free memory). It wasn't free but it has helped me clear RAM of all kinds of junk that every program wants to leave in RAM "just in case you need it" or to send info about your system to the interweb.
I had on old WinME computer that this program absolutely saved it from being so rundown that it was virtually useless.
Another program I use is PC Magazines "Start up Cop" to help control boot up programs.
To use the MemoKit effectively, you have to learn which programs you need in memory and the ones you don't. I searched for each program in memory in the interweb. There are websites that will tell you which programs are absolutely necessary and which ones aren't.
If you're an advanced user who doesn't mind peeking under the hood, then go for it. Otherwise I suggest you take the computer in for a "setup" by a Tech, just like would do for a bass and have him/her check it out.
Also, maybe the computer needs to be defrag'd or registry cleaned or virus scanned or a combination of all three, among other things a PC Tech would do such as reinstall Windows, update software, Windows patches, etc.
Thank Bill Gates for knowing how to make money and not bullet proof operating systems.
I had on old WinME computer that this program absolutely saved it from being so rundown that it was virtually useless.
Another program I use is PC Magazines "Start up Cop" to help control boot up programs.
To use the MemoKit effectively, you have to learn which programs you need in memory and the ones you don't. I searched for each program in memory in the interweb. There are websites that will tell you which programs are absolutely necessary and which ones aren't.
If you're an advanced user who doesn't mind peeking under the hood, then go for it. Otherwise I suggest you take the computer in for a "setup" by a Tech, just like would do for a bass and have him/her check it out.
Also, maybe the computer needs to be defrag'd or registry cleaned or virus scanned or a combination of all three, among other things a PC Tech would do such as reinstall Windows, update software, Windows patches, etc.
Thank Bill Gates for knowing how to make money and not bullet proof operating systems.
Did a check with the spyware stuff that was linked and it made FFs startup a little faster.
I also just did a startup race between the FF and Opera, and looked at the mem usage between the 2.
- FF logged more mem usage up to 30000K while Opera was still @76K. Neither was on screen
- FF hung at around 30000K while Opera suddenly went to around 20000. Opera then appeared on screen. This was while windows was still loading stuff starting up, and Opera only took about a minute to a min+1/2 to start. If I don't count the time that Opera was hanging at 76K mem usage, its about 30 seconds at most.
- FF appeared about a minute later when it finally hits 40000K of mem. this was about 2 to 4 minutes after it started loading mem.
I have a funny feeling that FFs problem is Addons:
Basically, out of the 10, 3 (AVG, .NET and Java) were not my idea, and 5 (QuickRestart, PDF, GoogleTB, DLStatusbar, Personas) I don't really need. Greasemonkey is basically built right into Opera, and thru user scripts I have replaced AdBlock.
I may yet hack off some of the addons and see if that makes a diff in load time for FF.
I also just did a startup race between the FF and Opera, and looked at the mem usage between the 2.
- FF logged more mem usage up to 30000K while Opera was still @76K. Neither was on screen
- FF hung at around 30000K while Opera suddenly went to around 20000. Opera then appeared on screen. This was while windows was still loading stuff starting up, and Opera only took about a minute to a min+1/2 to start. If I don't count the time that Opera was hanging at 76K mem usage, its about 30 seconds at most.
- FF appeared about a minute later when it finally hits 40000K of mem. this was about 2 to 4 minutes after it started loading mem.
I have a funny feeling that FFs problem is Addons:
- AdBlock+ (I found a userscript for Opera. Works just as well so far)
- AVG SafeSearch
- DownloadStatusbar (I like Ops sidebar transfer frame better. I only got this cus I hated FFs separate window for DLs)
- GoogleToolbar (which I never really use except to quickly go to my gmail LOL)
- GreaseMonkey (I almost like opera better: set up a folder and point Op to it in settings
) - Java Quick Start
- MS .NET Framework Assistant (something about ClickOnce...?)
- PDF Download (useful to a point, but could do without it I guess)
- Personas (nice, but Opera's skins are cool to. Currently rocking 1dragon_blues-09_0115 or something)
- QuickRestart (something I picked up, but not really required since Im not adding a bunch of addons and stuff all the time)
Basically, out of the 10, 3 (AVG, .NET and Java) were not my idea, and 5 (QuickRestart, PDF, GoogleTB, DLStatusbar, Personas) I don't really need. Greasemonkey is basically built right into Opera, and thru user scripts I have replaced AdBlock.
I may yet hack off some of the addons and see if that makes a diff in load time for FF.
Ah, there you go, you must disable Safesearch. It's a killer...
Also: Check your AVG setup for Linkscanner. Disable it, and in the future, when installing AVG, do a Custom Install, and don't install it.
MS.net framework was put there in a recent Windows update. Optional. Same with Java quickstart, it came with a recent Java update.
You may want to got to a blank home page as well. Put your favorite home page in a link instead.
Also: Check your AVG setup for Linkscanner. Disable it, and in the future, when installing AVG, do a Custom Install, and don't install it.
MS.net framework was put there in a recent Windows update. Optional. Same with Java quickstart, it came with a recent Java update.
You may want to got to a blank home page as well. Put your favorite home page in a link instead.
i think you need a faster computer
Hell, I've been thinking that for a while.
But school came first. Now effects do
Have to give out props to Opera. I've been using it for about 9 years now. Everything that FF "did" Opera was there first waiting on the rest of the pack to catch up.
It's not perfect mind you, but that's not really Opera's fault. It's the most web standard compliant browser you can get. The problem is that IE was the de facto standard for so long that many websites created their sites and catered their code to IE.
IE is not web standards compliant and a lot of browsers which are compliant just act a little bit different on those sites that aren't coded properly.
Thanks IE team. You did us all one helluva great thing.
But Opera is great. If you have issues with a site, just fire it up in FF or IE for the time being.
I'd recommend sending an e-mail to [email protected] and explaining you use Opera and would like to see their site work properly in it. The same goes for FF if you find a site doesn't work right.
Also, Opera remembers exactly what you were doing when if it crashes. FF doesn't. The difference between the two is this: In Opera, the pages/tabs you had will reappear and you will be none the wiser. In FF, the pages/tabs you were at, appear but reload what was on that website.
This means that if you were looking at cnn.com on Opera and cnn.com on FF, if you crashed both of them on Tuesday and didn't open either of them until Friday, Opera would show you what was on that page on Tuesday while FF would show you only what's on there now. If you were reading a story and the website changed, you won't have it anymore.
It's not perfect mind you, but that's not really Opera's fault. It's the most web standard compliant browser you can get. The problem is that IE was the de facto standard for so long that many websites created their sites and catered their code to IE.
IE is not web standards compliant and a lot of browsers which are compliant just act a little bit different on those sites that aren't coded properly.
Thanks IE team. You did us all one helluva great thing.
But Opera is great. If you have issues with a site, just fire it up in FF or IE for the time being.
I'd recommend sending an e-mail to [email protected] and explaining you use Opera and would like to see their site work properly in it. The same goes for FF if you find a site doesn't work right.
Also, Opera remembers exactly what you were doing when if it crashes. FF doesn't. The difference between the two is this: In Opera, the pages/tabs you had will reappear and you will be none the wiser. In FF, the pages/tabs you were at, appear but reload what was on that website.
This means that if you were looking at cnn.com on Opera and cnn.com on FF, if you crashed both of them on Tuesday and didn't open either of them until Friday, Opera would show you what was on that page on Tuesday while FF would show you only what's on there now. If you were reading a story and the website changed, you won't have it anymore.
Hell, I've been thinking that for a while.
But school came first. Now effects do
effects always does. all the gear does
minutes?
From the time I double-click the firefox icon until I'm looking at my home page (Wall Street Journal), is less than 3 seconds. I'm running adblock plus.
Something's not right there bro.
