How to Speed Firefox 3.5 by Limiting History Size

At times you might find Firefox 3.5 responding slowly to your typing and web surfing. This is because Firefox is using a lot of resources to run many functions and items altogether, which is more than necessary. This is that users call "the Firefox memory leak"; it really does drain your computer's RAM and add to CPU's workload. Many features on Firefox 3.5 can be disabled when not in use to save resource for other needed functions. If your Firefox is slow to catch up with your typing on a web page, it lags while using the scroll bar, or it takes ages to load a page, then it may indicate that Firefox is distributing the needed resource memory to somewhere else. Thus, slowing the responding time to your request.

One of the biggest memory guzzlers on Firefox is the "History" database. Firefox will store every page and site you've visited. It seems like it will hold on to the records forever, but you can stop it from using too much memory on the History. There's no need to connect to the Internet for the tutorial task. Here's how to speed up Firefox 3.5 by limiting its History size >>

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mozilla Firefox 3.5.X versions
• Mouse/touchpad
• Keyboard
• Internet access, optional

1. 
   Limit Firefox 3.5 history size

   -- The Easy Way --
   
   On the top main menu, go to Tools > Options. Choose the "Privacy" tab and from the drop-down menu, click "Remember History". Select "Use custom settings for history".
   
   Set the "Remember my browsing history for at least ?? days" to 45 or fewer, tutorial recommend less than 10 days (using 5 days on the example image). Click OK to complete. No Firefox restart necessary to have the change take place.

2. -- Intermediate / Experienced --
   
   Use this method if you feel confident and have experience in using Firefox. Open a "blank" tab. Type the following in the address bar, about:config
   
   Click the right fly-out arrow on right side (next to the address bar) to bring up a configure warning page.
   
   Click the "I promise, I'll be careful!" button. Copy the below three items, one at a time, and paste on the "Filter" text field that you will find at the top of the Firefox configure window. For each item you paste, click the magnifying glass on the right hand side to proceed.
   
   • Item (1): browser.history_expire_days
   • Item (2): browser.history_expire_days_min
   • Item (3): browser.history_expire_sites
   
   Description for the above items:
   
   Item (1): The maximum days that Firefox keeps websites/visited pages in the history database. The default is 180 days. Change the number of days to your preference, the fewer days the better.
   
   Item (2): The minimum days that Firefox keeps websites/visited pages in the history database. The default is 90 days.
   
   Item (3): Sets the limit of websites/web pages that can be stored in the Firefox history database. The default number is 40000. Limiting this to a lower value can help a lot in speeding up Firefox.
   
   Close window when done. Change will take place immediately without Firefox restart.

3. 
   Rename places.sqlite file

   -- Hack and Force Method --
   
   Force Firefox losing the ability to remember browsing history by hacking the "places.sqlite" file. First, make sure the browser is disconnected to the Internet.
   
   Click on the Windows Start button and enter the following in Run text field: %appdata%/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/
   
   Press Enter to bring up the Firefox folder window. Click on the main folder and find a file called: places.sqlite
   
   Right-click the file and select Rename. Rename the "places.sqlite" to: places.sqlite.bak
   
   Firefox will ignore this file containing instructions for the history when on the Internet. Go back in and change the file name to original to have the function return. Change will take effect without restarting Firefox 3.5.
   
   ※ WARNING: DO NOT DELETE this "places.sqlite" file. It is not the same as renaming it.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are online most every day or spend long sessions on the web, you can totally eliminate Firefox keeping the History. In Step 1, set it to "0" or "1" day to maximize resources.

[godfather25]

on 11/12/2009 Great article speeding firefox 3.5 by limiting history size.

[george1127]

on 11/12/2009 Thank you,made it easy to do.