How to Keep Your Browser from Hogging Resources

All browsers greedily suck up processor and RAM resources, slowing and even stalling PCs — but you can help put an end to your browser’s piggish ways.

I’ve finally had it! I’ve lived with this problem for so long now that I started to believe it always existed and nothing could be done. My system, a dual-core, 4GB monster of a machine, slows down to a crawl. I bring up the Windows Task Manager only to find that my browser is at fault. I use both Firefox and Internet Explorer, and they are both offenders, though Firefox is the one that seems to hog the most: slowly grabbing processor and memory resources until my work stalls. I then must stop the process and recover the browser so that I can begin again. Sound familiar?

There are all sorts of theories on which browser is better or faster, and depending on whom you trust, you will find a different winner. I personally don’t care about the performance of each when I start the browser. After all, no matter which I choose, I end up in the same place: My browsing and computing experience slow to a crawl. Click here to read more.. »

Tech News January 20th 2010

Incredible Bookmarks Helps You Find Your Way in Firefox

Incredible Bookmarks adds a new toolbar to Firefox that acts like a supercharged Bookmarks Toolbar. This free add-on introduces many nifty features for displaying and managing your bookmarks.

For starters, Incredible Bookmarks lets you choose which bookmarks to display at any given time on the toolbar. Using a pull-down menu, you can display all bookmarks, the regular bookmarks toolbar items, or bookmarks that match a specific search term. You can switch between folders or search terms as much as you’d like.

Although Incredible Bookmarks’ toolbar can easily substitute for the regular Firefox bookmarks toolbar, it doesn’t automatically replace it. You can choose to display them both, or hide the regular toolbar (via View | Toolbars) and let IB take over. You can also add additional IB toolbars, and color-code a bookmark or folder by right-clicking it in the IB toolbar and selecting “Highlight Bookmark.”

If you use a bookmarks synchronization option such as the Xmarks add-on, which would normally mean having to see the same toolbar bookmarks in all browsers, IB affords a nice additional customization. If you create one bookmarks folder for items you want displayed in the toolbar for your work browser, for example, and another for home bookmarks, you can then select the appropriate folder to display in the appropriate browser. The other folder would still be there, but just not displayed up front on the toolbar.

In addition to these nice display options, you can also get rid of duplicate or broken bookmarks with Incredible Bookmarks. Pull-down options can “Check Duplicates in This Toolbar” or “Check Links in This Toolbar.” To check all your bookmarks, set the toolbar to display all your bookmarks (by selecting the Bookmarks Menu) and then pick one of the clean-up options.

Incredible Bookmarks adds sophisticated new options for managing your bookmarks in an easy-to-use package. If you juggle many bookmarks (and these days, who doesn’t), give it a try. A handy video at developer Visibo’s site will help get you started.

Tech News January 4th 2010

Firefox Update Fixes Three Critical Flaws

Mozilla yesterday released Firefox version 3.5.6. The update resolves three critical security holes, and also patches up some stability issues.

An integer overflow flaw in the libtheora video library picks up a fix, as does a memory safety concern in the liboggplay media library. The third critical fix takes care of a problem with Javascript that could allow for crashing the browser and potentially running malicious commands.

For full details on the critical fixes, as well as four other security updates rated high, moderate or low, see Mozilla’s list of security advisories for Firefox 3.5. For a technical list of all the bugs squashed in 3.5.6, head to Bugzilla.

Clicking Help | Check for Updates will get you the new version, as will the browser’s automatic update feature (find its settings by clicking Tools | Options, then select Advanced and the Update tab).

Tech News December 17th 2009

Bugs & Fixes: Firefox Squashes a Buggy Microsoft Plug-In

Plus: A massive Microsoft patch batch, and fixes for Adobe Reader and Acrobat.

Redmond turned red-faced upon learning that an automatically installed Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in for Firefox opened a major security hole. Following Microsoft’s disclosure of the bug, Mozilla blocked the plug-in. According to Mozilla, Microsoft agreed with the move, even though it had released a patch to close the underlying flaw.

Simultaneously,The move coincided with Mozilla’s launch of a new Plugin Check page designed to identify and update old and vulnerable plug-ins. The page checks only certain popular plug-ins right now, but it’s a simple and handy security tool.

And to top off your Mozilla updates, be sure to pick up the Firefox 3.0.15 or 3.5.5 updates. These new versions close holes that mightcan allow JavaScript and other attacks. Click Help, Check for Up­­dates to ensure that you have the latest version. Click here to read more.. »

Tech News November 23rd 2009
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