Firefox memory usage has been quite a hot topic since the release of
Firefox 1.5. This note is designed to provide you with tips on how to
minimise the amount of memory Firefox uses, information on what is
known to cause memory leaks in Firefox, what is and isn’t a memory
leak, progress on the fixing of memory leaks and ways you can help.

Firefox Tweaks

Firefox Memory Cache

By default, Firefox does not use a fixed size memory cache – it uses a
percentage of system memory. Setting a fixed size memory cache can
often reduce memory usage – 4 or 8MB is sufficient in most instances.
To set a fixed size memory cache, add the following pref using about:config:

browser.cache.memory.capacity

This is an integer pref, and can be set to the size you want the cache to be (in kilobytes).

There has been some debate about how Firefox sets the memory cache size. See bug 105344, bug 204164 and bug 296538 for various discussion about this issue.

To disable the memory cache entirely, set browser.cache.memory.enable
to false. Note that this is not advised unless you’re extremely short
of memory, as it can slow things down severely, as well as causing
other odd behaviour.

Memory Usage Upon Minimize

There is a pref that enables trimming Firefox memory usage when you
minimize all Firefox windows. This pref is for Windows only. To enable
it, set config.trim_on_minimize to true using about:config.

Fast Back/Forward

Firefox 1.5 has a new fast back/forward feature (bfcache) that vastly
reduces the amount of time taken to display pages when the back/forward
buttons are used. This adds to memory usage.

To disable this, set browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers to 0 using about:config. You can also control the number of pages stored instead of disabling it entirely, this is documented in the MozillaZine Knowledge Base. Note that the amount of memory used will vary according to the size and content of pages.

Browser History

Setting the browser history to extremely large values will increase
memory usage. Keeping the history to a reasonable level is a good idea
for this reason.

Download Manager

Clearing out the list of downloaded files every so often will reduce memory usage.

Themes, Extensions, Plugins

Themes and Extensions

Themes and extensions can cause memory usage to increase significantly. Try running Firefox in Safe Mode to see if it is a theme or extension causing your problem.

Adblock

Using old versions of Adblock with Firefox 1.5 is a bad idea in
general, and has been reported to cause increases in memory usage.
Firefox 1.5 users should use AdBlock Plus
or upgrade to Adblock 0.5.3.042. If you have not installed Firefox 1.5
yet, uninstall Adblock and restart Firefox twice before installing
Firefox 1.5.

Fasterfox

The Fasterfox
extension has a feature that enables prefetching of all static links in
the page you are viewing (“Enhanced Prefetching”). This is off by
default. Whilst switching this on can decrease the amount of time taken
to load pages (because it fetches them before you attempt to view
them), it will also increase memory usage.

Firefox Preloader

Using the Firefox Preloader will increase memory usage. Disabling it if you do not need it will save memory. (Yes, I know this behaviour is by design…)

Plugins

Some browser plugins, particularly Adobe Reader and Java, can use
large amounts of memory. Since plugins are not unloaded after use,
restarting Firefox can help.

Java

Java users should update to Java Runtime Environment 1.5.0_06.
Turning off the Java Console using the Java Control Panel may also
reduce memory usage.

Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader 6.0, and to a lesser extent 7.0, can use large amounts
of memory. Upgrading to Adobe Reader 7.0.5 can help reduce memory
usage. Disabling unused Adobe Reader plugins can help too.

Other Issues

JavaScript

Pages with lots of (or bad) JavaScript can increase memory usage. Using NoScript to control when sites can use JavaScript can help in this situation.

Profile Corruption

Profile corruption can cause all sorts of strange behaviour, including
increasing memory usage. If you suspect your profile is corrupted, or
none of the other suggestions work, you can try creating a new profile.

Acknowledgements

The information and solutions in this thread have been sourced from
various users and threads, and the MozillaZine knowledge base.

Technorati Tags: Firefox, browser, Internet, memory leak

Microsoft late Monday released the long awaited second beta of Windows
Defender, formerly known as Windows AntiSpyware. Beta 2 incorporates a
redesigned user interface and new threat level system for informing
users of malware. Microsoft says the release is less intrusive and
easier to use.

We like Windows Defender’s new interface and the reduction in warning pop-ups, but its protection still needs work.

Redesigned
interface is clear and simple. Detailed information about spyware and
traces. Pop-ups limited to essentials. “Advanced SpyNet” option to see
all notifications and participate in analysis.

In testing, removed less than half of the spyware it detected. Spyware blocking only marginally better than previous version’s.

Technorati Tags: Software, Security, Antispyware, Windows

Google Copies Your Hard Drive – Government Smiles in Anticipation

By Electronic Frontier Foundation

Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop

San Francisco – Google today announced a new “feature” of its Google
Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy.
If a consumer chooses to use it, the new “Search Across Computers”
feature will store copies of the user’s Word documents, PDFs,
spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google’s own servers, to
enable searching from any one of the user’s computers. EFF urges
consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal
data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly
private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for
hackers who’ve obtained a user’s Google password.

“Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government
snooping into Google’s search logs, it’s shocking that Google expects
its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal
computers,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. “If you use the
Search Across Computers feature and don’t configure Google Desktop very
carefully—and most people won’t—Google will have copies of your tax
returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files,
and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index.
The government could then demand these personal files with only a
subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same
things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn’t even
be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants—your spouse, your
business partners or rivals, whoever—could also try to cut out the
middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files.”

The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication
Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to
emails and other files that are stored with online service
providers—much less privacy than the legal protections for the same
information when it’s on your computer at home. And even that lower
level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for
marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it
copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but
it hasn’t ruled out the possibility, and Google’s current privacy
policy appears to allow it.

“This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital
age,” said Cindy Cohn, EFF’s Legal Director. “Many Internet innovations
involve storing personal files on a service provider’s computer, but
under outdated laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies
have to surrender their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to
trust it to store copies of personal computer files, emails, search
histories and chat logs, and still ‘not be evil,’ it should stand with
EFF and demand that Congress update the privacy laws to better reflect
life in the wired world.”

For more on Google’s data collection:
http://news.com.com/FAQ+When+Google+is+not+your+friend/2100-1025_3-6034666.html?tag=nl http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/21/google_subpoena_roils_the_web http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/20/EDGEPGPHA61.DTL http://news.com.com/%20Bill+would+force+Web+sites+to+delete+personal+info/2100-1028_3-6036951.html

Technorati Tags: online privary, search, google