Last Updated on November 22, 2016 by Dave Farquhar
I’ve discussed vacuuming Firefox before to make it run like new, but it’s not something everyone is exactly comfortable doing. I found an extension called Vacuum Places Improved that allows you to vacuum Firefox automatically.
Most importantly, in the options for the add-on, you can make it run, say, every 50th time Firefox starts. That way, the vacuum process happens transparently–at the expense of every 50th load being slower, the database gains automatic maintenance. I’ll gladly trade occasional slower load times for improved performance.
Just vacuuming the places database isn’t always enough, but it makes a big difference in performance. It’s also something you might not necessarily remember to do as often as you really need, and it’s not exactly easy to remember how to do it. As such, it’s a good candidate for automation.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
I have error 8×80570018
Farhad, it looks like the trick may not work on versions of FireFox earlier than 3.5: http://mozillalinks.org/2009/08/vacuum-firefox-databases-for-better-performance-now-with-no-restart/ Not certain about later versions.