Flash update kills Firefox causing hanging and crashing

Starting with the latest Adobe Flash version, some browsers, particularly Firefox, will hang or crash.

After the last Adobe Flash update my Firefox Browser became completely unusable. Chrome and Internet Explorer (IE) still worked but they too were markedly slower.

I am a huge fan of Firefox and use it as my primary browser because it enables me to use a plethora of extensions that greatly increase my productivity and the usefulness of the pages and sites I visit. [I'll list my plug-ins at the end]

To get Firefox to even work at all I had to started it in Safe Mode -
in the ‘Run’ dialog type "Firefox -safe-mode" (minus quotes) - Then choose to continue in safe mode. Then go to 'Tools>Add-ons>Plug-ins and then disable Shockwave Flash. That would then allow Firefox to work but obviously that is not a solution.  Without Flash you can hardly view some websites and of course could not watch most videos or multi-media files.

So I set off on a solution like an angry rhino.

I tried uninstalling Adobe Flash (using Windows Uninstall AND Adobe's own 'Flash Removal Tool) and re-installing it several times; that didn't work.
You can get the official Adobe Flash 'uninstaller' here. [download/save and then 'run as administrator' to use it.]

For all of Adobe's Flash Player downloads (the FULL Offline installers) you can go here
Make sure you download all the players you will need - if on Windows download the one for Internet Explorer AND the 'Plugin-based browsers' versions.

I tried using older versions of Firefox; that didn't work.
Re-installed the latest version of Firefox, with Flash Player 11.3.300.257, 
I tried the latest Beta/Developer versions of Firefox ; that didn't work.
I tried reverting to older versions of Flash; that too didn't work.

I finally found the reason for this behavior AND a solution after MUCH searching and LOADS of aggravation.

According to Adobe, "Starting with Flash Player 11.3, a protected mode was added as a new security enhancement for Firefox 4.0 and greater on Windows Vista and higher.  This security enhancement is designed to limit the impact of attacks launched from malicious Flash content (SWF files)."

They are trying to 'sandbox' Flash files to limit their susceptibility to being used as vectors for more serious virus/Trojan attacks.
Problem is I believe their developers FAILED. While the idea of sandboxing is sound (Chrome and the latest IE browsers use it extensively) this implementation is obviously poorly written and implemented in Flash for Firefox.
You would think that Adobe, with it's truckloads of cash, could hire decent security coders and engineers and then thoroughly test their software. But judging by that fact that Adobe's products have been the primary vector for serious security wholes over the last 7 years I guess not. But I digress.

Ok so now to the solution
To disable this newer 'protected mode':
add the following line to your 'mms.cfg' file located in:

On Windows 32bit: C:\windows\system32\macromed\flash
Or
On Windows 64bit: C:\windows\syswow64\macromed\flash

"ProtectedMode = 0"  (without the quotes)

If the mms.cfg file does not exist, create one using any standard text editor (e.g.. notepad).

Make sure if you create the file that the file 'extension - is NOT a .txt but is the .cfg.
If you don't see or know how to see the file name extensions you can read how to do that here. Depending on your operating system, you might need to first create and or save the mms.cfg file to a writable location (such as your documents or desktop folder) and then copy the file into the destination folder using Windows Explorer.

Here is a link to a zipped mms.cfg file version with Protected Mode disabled (directly from Adobe).

Download, unzip the file and copy it to the needed location.
One note:
I did not find the mms.cfg file in my "C:\windows\system32\macromed\flash" so I copied that file to there.

I did however also find an mms.cfg file in my "C:\windows\syswow64\macromed\flash" directory.

There I simply opened the mms.cfg file (with notepad) and just added the line ProtectedMode = 0

below the last line there.

Then I started Firefox normally. Went to Tools>Add-Ons>Plugins and made sure Shockwave Flash was 'Enabled'

Now all is working very well. And since I'm using version 14 (beta) of Firefox things are even faster.

That ends two days of aggravation.
I hope that helps some of you.

For those that care here are the Firefox Extensions/Add-ons I use:

Adblock Plus
http://adblockplus.org/en/

After the Deadline
http://atdfirefox.wordpress.com/

Better Gmail 2
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/better-gmail-2/?src=userprofile

Video Download Helper
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/

Downloads Context Menu
http://www.bm-productions.tk/

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/file/128500/downloads_context_menu-1.5-fx-windows.xpi

Ghostery
http://www.ghostery.com/

Google Redesigned
http://www.globexdesigns.com/#!products/gr
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/8434/addon-8434-latest.xpi?src=addondetail

FireFTP
http://fireftp.mozdev.org/

IE Tab V2
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ie-tab-2-ff-36/

PDF Download
http://www.pdfdownload.org/

Redirect Remover
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/latest/537/addon-537-latest.xpi

RightToClick
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/righttoclick/

Social Fixer for Facebook
http://socialfixer.com/

Stop Autoplay
http://neticat.ath.cx/forum/index.php

TinEye Reverse Image Search
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tineye-reverse-image-search/

Vacuum Places Improved
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vacuum-places-improved/?src=api

Greasemonkey
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/

Greasemonkey Scripts:
Search here http://userscripts.org/
Google Maps Zoom
http://jeffpalm.com/gzoom/

YouTube Enhancer
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/33042

SocialFixer fixes Facebook replaces BetterFacebook

Better Facebook extension/Addon has been updated/changed to ‘SocialFixer’

This extension makes Facebook SO much more useable!! It’s just great.

If you previously had the Better Facebook! extension installed remove it.

Then go here and install the new version called Social Fixer for your preferred browser(s).

Install the Social Fixer Extension (for Firefox, Chrome, Opera etc.) Then go to https://facebook.com You will then be prompted with the configuration wizard.

Here is what the wizard looks like and here are the settings I chose.

I don’t like the ‘Light Box’ feature, so I choose to Disable Light Box Viewer:

I’m also fine with the Default theme

I also went in and made more changes.

You will see a little ‘Wrench’ where you can access your ‘Social Fixer’ settings:

Here you can REALLY TWEAK away.

My advice is to make one or two changes at a time and sees how they work for YOU.

I hope that helps some of you wrest control of you Facebook back. Peace out.

More on fixing Facebook

I wrote about using the Firefox (Chrome works too) add-on Greasemonkey and the super script BetterFacebook and I have been getting loads of requests for people asking me to go into a little more detail of how to use it. You should read that first here.

I am amazed at how well I was able to ‘un-muck’ my Facebook pages!

Here is what my Facebook home page now looks like now after setting up and using the BetterFacebook Greasemonkey Script in Firefox:

Here are the options as I’ve selected them. Once installed and you restart your browser then ‘re-login’ to Facebook, cancel the set up wizard. Then go to the ‘new’ Options button near your User Name and click on it.

The options I selected give me virtually the same/old layout I’ve been used to and added the ‘feed’ to the right; which I actually find useful so long as it doesn’t try and take over the whole page. Also removed are ads and other garbage I never use – applications being the major one.

Note above that I selected the ‘Stech the Layout…’ option

Note that above I selected the ‘Force the main news feed to be ‘Most Recent’..

And that’s all the settings I chose and hit ‘Save’.

I hope that helps those that asked. You’re all grown ups. I hope that you can take the time and a  chance to experience some ‘pain’ and learn how to do this.

Blacksheep add-on to protect against WiFi session Hijacking

This is a Firefox add-on everyone should use if you use public WiFi anywhere anytime.
It's called 'Blacksheep'.

Blacksheep will find and block 'Firesheep' - a highly popular new hacking tool used to 'sniff out and steal your sensitive information on WiFi networks.

What Firesheep is:
Firesheep is the Firefox extension that makes it easier to steal logins and take over social media and email accounts after users log in from a WiFi hotspot or even their own unprotected network. It is designed to sniff out weak security and hijack web site credentials on open Wi-Fi networks. This technique is technically called 'Session Hijacking'.

Session hijacking is nothing new. Web sites typically use SSL connections for initial login pages, but revert to non-encrypted traffic for all subsequent communication. As such, while a user’s username and password may be protected, once they are authenticated, any user on the same network can simply sniff network traffic, obtain a user’s session ID and then hijack their session for a given website. Although this has always been a serious risk, especially on insecure networks such as public WiFi hot spots, some degree of technical knowledge was required to accomplish the attack. Firesheep, opens such attacks to the masses as it turns session hijacking into a point and click exercise. Unless websites mandate SSL for all traffic on the site, session hijacking will always remain a threat.

Fortunately, BlackSheep can be used to let you know if someone is running Firesheep on the same network and protect you.

Read some more here.

and here

or just add the extension to Firefox by going here!

Be safe folks!

Updating to Firefox 4

I’ve written previously of my heavy reliance on Firefox and the many add-ons I use to make my time more productive and enjoyable while using the Internet.

Read here.

Now Mozilla has release the final version of Firefox 4.

Firefox 4 provides a MUCH faster and integrated browsing experience than version 3.x. The speed improvement will be noticed more on systems that allow for ‘hardware acceleration’ (more on that later) but it is still much faster on older systems.

Here is how I went about doing the upgrade.

1^st download and install the latest version of Mozbackup here:

Download location here 

Information page here

This application is wonderful. It completely backs up your profile; bookmarks, settings and extensions.

Run Mozbackup and back up your profile(s) completely.

Download/install Add-on Compatibility Reporter. This requires a few Firefox restarts to be properly loaded.

This add-on will let extensions that are not explicitly ‘approved’ for version 4 to run.

And it will provide a nice interface to report those that don’t work correctly to Mozilla and/or the developer.

[If you use LogMeIn (and you should, if you need remote access to machines – Mac or PC!) here is the process to get the older add-on working in version 4:

Download by right-clicking and choosing to ‘save link as’ to your desktop or wherever this file: https://secure.logmein.com/activex/npRACtrl_ff3.xpi and then open the file with a zip extractor:  (this is zip-file, you can use Winzip, 7-Zip or Winrar. I use 7zip,)

extract the file:

install.rdf

modify it the part ‘3.6 – to read 4.6 here: <em:maxVersion>4.6.*</em:maxVersion>

Then save the file and ‘put it back into the xpi (zip file) overwriting the original.

In the xpi file (opened via 7zip or whatever) delete zigbert.rsa in /META-INF folder

Save all back to single xpi file.

Open Firefox then go to the menu bar on top and choose ‘File>Open File’ and select the xpi file and install it.]

OK so let’s get to it!

Download Firefox 4 here and install/upgrade.

I had very few issues with the upgrade on all my machines. So I’ll address them here.

Once installed there are a few things that may need adjusting. I had to do this on some machines and not others.

If your ‘Menu’ bar disappears it can be brought back very simply. Just right-click on free space in one of the toolbars and the selection of ‘Menu Bar’ switches back to the old layout. I also check the ‘Navigation Toolbar’, the ‘Add-on Bar’, and the ‘Bookmarks Toolbar’.

By choosing ‘Customize’ you can select more items to add to the toolbar and place them where you like.

If you have ‘blurry fonts’ you may have an issue with ‘hardware acceleration’.

Simply go to the Options section from the ‘Tools’ context menu. Then in the Advance then General tab you can ‘uncheck’ the ‘Use hardware acceleration when available’.

Tabs on top? The new version puts them there. I don't like that, you may. Firefox displays tabs on top by default which is a big change for Firefox 3 users. The customize menu has an option to move tabs back down. The entry Tabs on top needs to be unselected to move them below the address bar again.

On my OS X Machines there was one peculiar thing during the installation. Once the dmg was downloaded and mounted I could not copy the install to the applications directory until I trashed the existing Firefox application. Once installed, most of the above still apply.

On Linux (at least on my Ubuntu installs) Firefox 4 is real fast too!

Well I hope this help some.

A little Firefox fix

Something strange has been happening for me lately

I have been having some issues with my Gmail in Firefox, and in Firefox only, after the last security update. And as most of you know I am a HUGE fan of Gmail with Firefox.

What was happening is that my Gmail response was slow, Chat would disappear, and 'respond' and sometimes even 'compose' wouldn’t work making my productivity slow and frustration speed up.

This was only in Gmail not in iGoogle. And only in Firefox, all worked in IE and Opera.

So after doing loads of searching I found the fix:

It appears to have something to do with the additional security settings from the last Firefox update. And also may be related to the 'Better Privacy' add-on I use too.

To resolve the problem you can do the following

Open up a Firefox browser window and type in:

about:config

In the address bar.

Then click that you'll be careful.

Then type in:

dom.storage.enabled

into the Filter search window

Double-click on the value to toggle from ‘false’ to true. [You can also right-click and choose ‘Toggle’]

Once the value is set to ‘true’ close any Firefox browser windows.

Restart Firefox and your problems should be gone!

Yay! Just thought I’d pass this gem along.

Another reason to use Firefox and Add-ons/Extensions

As I've previously written more than a few times I use Firefox as my primary Internet Browser because of extensive amount of add-ons and scripts available. This helps to make the browser a 'super tool' for me. With Firefox I can block unwanted adds and scripts, stop annoying 'auto play' music and videos, download just about any video, picture or file, FTP from within my browser, download/convert to PDF nearly any web page and many other cool and productive things.

Now I can add virus scanning files BEFORE I download files to that list.
The VTzilla Firefox extension adds a Scan with VirusTotal option to Firefox's right-click context menu and file download dialog that allows you to scan any file for a virus before you commit to downloading it to your computer.

VirusTotal is a service that analyzes suspicious files and URLs enabling the identification of viruses, worms, trojans and other kinds of malicious content detected by antivirus engines and web analysis toolbars.
It's a brilliant web service that scans any file you send it against 42 of the best malware scanners available.

They now have an add-on for Firefox that let’s you scan via a simply 'right-click’ on a file you intend to download.

Get Started

The first thing you must do is to install the add-on itself, you can do this by RIGHT-clicking on the following this link while visiting this site with Firefox and choosing ‘Save Link As, then save it to your desktop or where ever.

Then simply drag the file (.xpi) into an open Firefox browser window and it should start the install process. Make sure to choose to ‘Allow’ and install.

Note: By default, VTzilla turns on a new toolbar in Firefox. To disable it, navigate to View -> Toolbars, then uncheck VirusTotal Toolbar.

After installing the component you will have to restart Firefox to start making use of it, below you can find some examples of use.

Scan suspicious links with VTzilla

Imagine you have logged into your Gmail account and you have received a suspicious email from your bank. The email is informing you about an unauthorized access to your account and is asking you to follow a link and provide your credentials to view the account access log.

Since you are a smart guy, you know that this mail is probably a phishing case. Even though you know that this is a scam, you are committed to help others, hence, you right click on the suspicious link and select the Scan with VirusTotal option from the context menu:

This will open a new tab in the same browser window, such tab will show the report for the requested URL scan. Note that the scanning process will also download the file/site of the target link, so do not forget to click on the View downloaded file analysis link.

Scan downloads before storing them

Let us suppose your good friend John Doe has sent you an email with a slide presentation. You know that very often these slides contain exploit code that will compromise your computer. When you click on the slide presentation in your webmail a download dialog appears, you are a cautious user, you therefore decide to scan the file first with VirusTotal:

Once you have checked the file, you will decide whether or not to download it to your PC.

Simple.

Warning!!: VirusTotal is not a substitute for any antivirus software installed in a PC, since it only scans individual files on demand. It does not offer permanent protection for users' systems either.

Desktop and Browser Pizzazz

I don't use much 'eye candy' or bells and whistles for my computing experience. I tend to be very minimalistic in my approach to my working computing environment for three reasons.

First is security - I do not wish to install toolbars, sidebars or other desktop widgets that could introduce one more vector for an intrusion to my system.
Second is that most of the just mentioned things also drain system resources and tend to slow down systems and applications, sometimes dramatically!
And thirdly excessive 'eye candy' tends to strain they eyes and make it more difficult to find application shortcuts/aliases and links to items and files.

But there are a few places you jazz up and personalize without much impact to performance and usability usually without any security risk; the desktop background image and your browser theme (sometimes called skin).

The first and obvious place is your desktop. If you choose to personalize your desktop I recommend a picture or theme that allows you to easily find your shortcuts. [I have had to work on systems where it was nearly impossible for me to locate the icons from the image on the desktop!]

To change the desktop wallpaper:
For OS X:
1. Launch System Preferences by clicking its icon in the Dock, or by selecting ‘System Preferences’ from the Apple menu.
2. In the System Preferences window that opens, click the ‘Desktop & Screen Saver’ icon.
3. Click the ‘Desktop’ tab.
4. In the left-hand pane you’ll see a list of folders that OS X has pre-assigned for use as desktop wallpaper. You should see Apple Images, Nature, Plants, Black & White, Abstracts, and Solid Colors. You may see additional folders, depending on version of OS X you’re using. You can of course add your own pictures.

For Windows XP:
1. Right-Click on the desktop or open the Control Panel
2. select "Display Properties
3. Click on the Desktop tab and choose from the available background images. Or, use the "Browse" button to locate photos on your computer. Use the "Position" menu to set the background image as tilted, centered or stretched. Use the "Color" menu to set the background color. Click "Apply" to lock in your choices.

For Windows 7:

1. Open Desktop Background by clicking the Start button and clicking Control Panel. [Alternatively you can Right-click on the desktop and choose ‘Personalize’] In the search box, type desktop background, and then click Change desktop background.

2. Click the picture or color that you want to use for your desktop background.

If the picture you want to use isn't in the list of desktop background pictures, click an item in the Picture location list to see other categories, or click Browse to search for the picture on your computer. When you find the picture that you want, double-click it. It will become your desktop background.

Look for pictures in other locations on your computer.

3. Under Picture position, click the arrow and choose whether to crop the picture to fill the screen, fit the picture to the screen, stretch the picture to fit the screen, tile the picture, or center the picture on the screen, and then click Save changes.

After the desktop the next place is you internet Browser.

I use Firefox as my primary browser for a number of reasons I have previously listed so I won’t go into those here. And I will concentrate on Firefox Themes.

First open your Firefox Browser

To locate themes just visit Mozilla’s theme library here:

Choose a category or search:

If you find something you like click on the image ‘details’

 

And choose ‘Wear this Persona’. You will then be prompted at the top of the browser to ‘Allow’, choose allow and the theme will be installed.

You can try a multitude of different themes by just doing the same thing over and over.

To manage or switch back to themes you previously installed follow this:

In the Firefox Browser go to the toolbar at the top and click on ‘Tools’ then ‘Add-ons’ Select the ‘Themes’ tab:

From here you can manage/switch your themes. Simple as that.

Currently Internet Explorer and Safari require third party tools/apps to change the Browser theme and I don’t use them.

If you use Opera there is a pretty good tutorial here.

Have fun!

 

Improving productivity and fun with browser add-ons and scripts

I spend all day working online and managing information systems.
I was asked again how come I don't have the same 'bad experiences' others do when browsing the internet. Why I don't get things like getting 'drive by Trojans', bogus Anti-virus pop-ups, and obtrusive music or videos that play no matter what.
I mentioned that besides the obvious of keeping all of my systems AND applications(browsers, Acrobat etc.)up to date with the latest security patches, always making sure I have the latest Anti-Virus/anti-spyware updates and not going places I know I shouldn't or clicking on suspicious links, the most likely reason beyond that is the web browser and add-ons I use that make my browsing more productive and fun. I also spend a great deal of time furthering my education, catching up with friends and family and just plane wasting what little free time I may have being entertained online.
I have put together many tools and configuration additions that make all of the things I do with my systems way simpler and easier.
I hope these may help some of you be more productive and provide for a more pleasurable internet experience.
I work with lot's of different people with varied technical skill sets from absolute newbie's all the way to the guys with lot's of CC's and MS's after their names, and when they see how much I can 'just do' from the browser they are often just amazed.
I am a believer in 'Kaizen'. Why not try to do everything better if you can. Work, play, rest, worship and just plain life in general. So I hope some will take the time and try and use some of these tools and tips and have some more fun and a more pleasant and rewarding internet experience.
First off I must start off with the 'machine' with which I connect to the internet with 90+% of the time.
That is Mozilla's Firefox browser.
I use Firefox not because it is not any more secure than IE (compared to IE8 it is definitely not, but that is news for another post.), Safari, Chrome or Opera, but I use it because the 'browser is the machine or portal' that gets you to all of the 'stuff out there' and Firefox has ALL these custom tools and add-ons available to make just about everything I do easier, faster, funner and more efficient.
I use IE only when absolutely needed; usually with custom built applications that require some of IE's more integrated Windows 'hooks'. I actually like the way Internet Explorer renders pages better than Firefox. But the lack of add-ons stop me from using it.
Google's Chrome is a fast simple browser but all of the extensions for Firefox have not been ported yet. AND I really dislike how the 'Google updater' is continuously running and connected to Google. As much as I like lots of things Google, especially Gmail and Google Docs, I try to restrict some of the information they are gathering on me.
[While I do love my Gmail, Google is getting more like big digital brother than imagined.]
I used to recommend the Google Toolbar for Firefox and IE but I have now removed it from ALL of my machines. I now recommend that everyone do the same. Seems Google is being even more sneaky and still tracking you even when you disable 'sending of usage statistics'! I realize it is for 'marketing' - to provide you with targeted adds. People forget Google is in the ADVERTISING business; and they are very profitable at it. But I just don't need that much data collected on me. Here is one article describing the issue. And here is another.]

I was recently asked about these tools and items so I just updated the links and information and added a few items. I hope you all enjoy.
Here are the Firefox Extensions I use:

 

After the Deadline
After the Deadline checks spelling, misused words, style, and grammar using artificial intelligence and natural language processing.
Now you can use it in your browser. Write better blog comments, tweet with correct grammar, and compose professional messages.

Better Gmail 2:
Developed by the founder of Lifehacker.com Better Gmail 2 compiles the best Greasemonkey user scripts for Gmail into a single package. Adds useful extra features to Gmail, like hierarchical labels, an unread message icon on your browser tab, file attachment icons, and more.

BetterPrivacy
Super-Cookie Safeguard (protects from LSO Flash Objects, DOM Storage Objects).

DownloadHelper:
I use this A LOT. Just surf the Web as you are used to, when DownloadHelper detects it can do something for you, the icon gets animated and a menu allows you to download files by simply clicking an item. It is also possible to capture all the images from a gallery in a single operation.

Adblock Plus:
Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? Install Adblock Plus now and get rid of them.

FaviconizeTab:
Alows you to right click on a tab and 'Faviconize' it.

FireFTP:
FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.

gui:conif:
Adds a graphical interface for Firefox about:config tweaking. Useful for the non-geek crowd.

Ghostery:
Ghostery allows you to detect trackers on the sites you visit, learn more about the companies behind them, and control their visibility into your online behavior.

Firesheep:
A Firefox extension that demonstrates HTTP session hijacking attacks. Nice to know if someone is 'sniffing' your wireless browsing!

IE Tab  2
Allows you to use IE to display web pages in a tab within FireFox. This updated version includes support for FireFox 3.6 and will continue to be updated with new features and enhancements.

MultirowBookmarksToolbar:
Multi Row Bookmarks Toolbar.

PDF Download:
Use PDF Download to do whatever you like with PDF files on the Web. Regain control and eliminate browser problems, view PDFs directly in Firefox as HTML, and use the all-new Web-to-PDF toolbar to save and share Web pages as high-quality PDF files.

Perspectives:
Perspectives is a new approach to help clients securely identify Internet servers in order to avoid "man-in-the-middle" attacks.

RightToClick:
Defeats a wide varity of javascript annoyances like disabled right click (contextmenu) , disabled text selection, disabled drag&drop and many more.
Enables right-click, text selection, context-menu, drag&drop and much more where it is disabled by Javascript.
Puts little 'Arrow' in bottom corner allowing you to enable, then highlight and right-click and/or copy text!

StopAutoplay:
Disable the autoplay of the embedded music and movies. User action (clicking on the play arrow) is then required to hear or see 'active content'. Some people don't like this because the want to click on a YouTube link and have it play right away. I DON'T. Being the control freak I am I want things to play ONLY when I choose them to. I would rather go to the page and use DownloadHelper add-on mentioned above, to download the file and view it with out all the buffering and such. Most web videos are 'Flash' video format, and can be played back via a freeware flash player like the one from Martijn de Visser his site is here and the actual player download is here.
I love this one! Stops that lousy music or videos from playing automatically playing on certain sites.

TinEye Reverse Image Search:
TinEye is a reverse image search engine. It finds out where an image came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or if there is a higher resolution version.

User Agent Switcher:
The User Agent Switcher extension adds a menu and a toolbar button to switch the user agent of a browser. The extension is available for Firefox and will run on any platform that this browser supports including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Helpful for sites that require specific browsers and versions.

Download Context Menu:
Shows the Explorer context (right click) menu of downloaded files in the Downloads list.

Open Bookmarks in New Tab
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13784

Vacuum Places:
Defragments your Firefox "Places" database (history/bookmarks). This greatly reduces the lag while typing in the address bar and the start-up time.

BetterPrivacy:
Better Privacy serves to protect against not delete-able long-term cookies, a new generation of 'Super-Cookie', which silently conquered the internet.

VTzilla:
VTzilla is a Mozilla Firefox browser plugin that simplifies the process of scanning Internet resources with VirusTotal. It allows you to download files directly with VirusTotal's web application prior to storing them in your PC. Moreover, it will not only scan files, but also URLs.

WiseStamp:
WiseStamp Email Apps enable users to bring social functionality in every email they send.

Greasemonkey:
Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows you to customize the way webpages look and functions by adding additional scripts.
Hundreds of scripts are already available for free. And if you're the tinkerer sort, you can also write your own.

[ultimate greasemonkey repository - if there is a script it is here:http://userscripts.org/ ]

Greasmonkey scripts I use. You can visit the authors pages to see more details:
Userscripts Updater:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/26062
YouTube HD Ultimate:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/31864
Gmail Favicon Alerts 3:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/24430
YouTube Enhancer:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/33042
Google Maps Zoom:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/7840
expertsExchange:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/37941
and
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/37941
and
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/59258

Remove Facebook Ads:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/46560

Greasemonkey scripts I don't use but have heard good things about:
I don't go on Facebook much but if I were a real 'facebooker' I would use this one too:
UnFuck Facebook:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/11992

Another one I don't use but for people who would like to have 'folders' in Gmail:
Folders4Gmail:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8810

Now to keep all tidy consistant in all places.
I use MS SyncToy to synchronize my Mozilla Firefox profiles from machine to machine too:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID;=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52

Pretty good Tutorial:
http://www.pchell.com/support/synctoy.shtml

Location of your Firefox profiles for synching:
Windows/Mac/Linux:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles#How_to_find_your_profile

Lastly even more geeky.
I have a portable version of Firefox on most of my usb flash drives so I can work on machines that might have had their browsers 'compromised' by maleware and virii.
To get more information on 'Portable Firefox'go here:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
Here the more technically savvy will find out how to install, configure and update your portable edition.

Speeding up Firefox

I have written here before of the extensions and add-ons I use in Firefox. [see end of post]
So I though I should add what tweaks I use to speed up and enhance the browser itself.
Give them a try and if they do not improve you browsing experience with Firefox you can always go back to the default settings. [see end of article]

To speed up Firefox 3.x:
Launch Firefox thenType in
about:config
into the navigation bar, you will thne be 'warned' say you will be careful.
You are going to be adjusting the browsers default settings and parameters.

To find a value simply type the name of the setting (or copy between the quotes and paste it) in to the 'Filter' line and hit enter.
If the configuration exists it will be displayed.
Simply double-click and make the adjustments - change integer or boolean value.

If the key/setting does not exist you will have to add/create it.

For values with "true" after them,
Right click below the 'Filter bar' (in the empty space since no values were found)>Choose New>boolean insert the value, hit ok then select true

For values with numbers after them,
Right click below the 'Filter bar' (in the empty space since no values were found)>Choose New>Integer insert the value, hit ok then insert the number

Insert OR adjust these values and settings (no quotes):

"network.http.pipelining", true

"network.http.proxy.pipelining", true

"network.http.pipelining.maxrequests", 8

"content.notify.backoffcount", 5

"plugin.expose_full_path", true

"ui.submenuDelay", 0

"content.interrupt.parsing", true

"content.max.tokenizing.time", 2250000

"content.notify.interval", 750000

"content.notify.ontimer", true

"content.switch.threshold", 750000

"nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0

"network.http.max-connections", 48

"network.http.max-connections-per-server", 16

"network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 16

"network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 8

"browser.cache.memory.capacity", 65536

"browser.turbo.enabled", true

Restart Firefox, and it should be much more responsive and faster!

This works for nearly all high-speed connections and modern PC's (Mac's included).
If you are a dial-up connection DON'T DO THIS.
AND
Please step in to the 21st century, and get some form of high-speed (dsl, cable etc.) internet.

If these don't seem to work for you, you can always reset them to their original state:
When you change a preference setting or add a new preference, the associated about:config entry will appear in bold type with a user set status.
To restore a preference setting to the default value or to remove an added preference, context-click (right-click) on the preference and select Reset.

Or you can read more at Mozilla's site:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Resetting_preferences


Firefox Extensions I Use

Improving Firefox's font display

As most of you know I am a huge Firefox fan, primarily because of the extnsions;
things I could not do without, like 'Better Gmail, DownloadHelper and Stop Autoplay.
All of which I have discussed in previous posts.
But one thing I wish Firefox did was 'render/display' pages as nicely as IE 7.
Because, with IE and XP/Vista using 'ClearType' and the 'Aero' interface pages just look great and I can read them very easily with my old eyes.
Here is a tweak I have used to enable much better font selections (for me anyways) in Firefox.
oops...
Looks like the folks at life hacker have already done a great tutorial (better than mine) on it so go here:
http://lifehacker.com/5197352/force-firefox-to-use-windows-vista-cleartype-fonts

Please note that before you change ANYTHING take COMPLETE and thorough notes of your settings - ALL of them, in all tabs, in case you don't like what this does!!