How to Make Firefox Download Faster

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Since its initial release in 2004, Mozilla Firefox has become one of the most popular and widespread Web browsers used. Firefox is a free and open-source browser with various features, add-ons and search options. As a versatile program, Firefox runs as equally fast on different versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other operating systems. If you want to make your Firefox and its downloads even faster, you might want to learn how to properly do it without hindering any feature of the browser itself.

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Step 1

Download the Firefox program from the Internet, from its official website and free of charge. Make sure to go to the original website of the Mozilla Corporation (see Resources) to avoid downloading a virus or a false browser. Even if you have Firefox already installed, check the Mozilla website to see if there is a new version of the browser, and then update your Firefox.

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Step 2

Click on the "Tools" option on the upper toolbar of your Firefox browser and select the option for clearing recent history. Although it says "Recent," you can actually clear all history with this command. Decide whether you want the Web pages you visited, the cookies and the cache all deleted from the Firefox's memory, and if you do, check those boxes in the window. Then click the "Clear" button, but not before you thoroughly thought about it, since this action cannot be undone. This action will significantly speed up loading of the pages in your Firefox browser.

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Step 3

Click on the "Tools" option again, this time looking at the Add-ons option. Check if you have unnecessary additions that might slow your Firefox. These include plug-ins and themes you are not using. Simply uninstall an Add-on you don't need by clicking the "Uninstall" button on its side.

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Step 4

Enable pipelining by typing the phrase "about:config" in the address bar at the top of the Firefox window. Then press "Enter" to start the process pipelining. At this point, you will see the following entry "network.http.pipelining." Double-click the entry to set the value from "false" to "true."

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Step 5

Repeat Step 4, this time choosing the entry that says "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests." Now, change the setting value from 4 to 30. This is actually the maximum number of requests allowed at a time, so typing a number like 25 or 30 will do just fine. Double-click the entry called "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to change the value to "true."

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Step 6

Right-click anywhere in the window. Select the option "New" from the menu box and click "Integer." Then type "nglayout.initialpaint.delay". Type the number of seconds you want for Firefox's feedback time. This will set the waiting period of Firefox until it reacts to a request.

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