101 software tips, tweaks and tricks

Mozilla Firefox 3

056.

 Four different ways to open new tabs
There are four ways you can open a new tab in Firefox, listed from slowest to quickest:

  1. Add a button to the toolbar
    This one requires a bit of set up first. Right-click anywhere on the toolbar and choose Customize. Click and drag the New Tab icon to somewhere on your toolbar. Click Done in the Customize Toolbar dialogue. Now simply clicking on the button will open a new tab
  2. Use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + t
  3. Right-click on the tab bar and choose New Tab
  4. Double click anywhere on the tab bar where there isn't a tab (including in the small section above the tab)

Firefox really wants you to open new tabs, with four different ways to do it. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

057.

 Quick zoom
Quick and simple — just hold down CTRL on your keyboard and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom the page in and out. If you don't have a scroll wheel, you can use CTRL + +, or CTRL + -.

058.

 Open link in a new tab
It's simple, but it's amazing how many people don't know this one. To always open a link in a new tab, click the middle mouse button on it (the middle mouse button is often used by pressing the scroll wheel down). You can also close tabs by middle clicking on them. If you don't have a middle mouse button, the same effect can be achieved by holding down CTRL on the keyboard and left clicking on the link.

059.

 Navigating tabs
There are a few ways you can navigate tabs using the keyboard in Firefox. CTRL + TAB will cycle the active tab from left to right, whereas CTRL + SHIFT + TAB will cycle the active tab from right to left.

To quick access tabs, press CTRL + 1 to switch to the first tab, CTRL + 2 to switch to the second, and so on.

CTRL + W will close the active tab.

060.

 Maintain privacy
First you'll want to set this one up — as this is a quick way to delete all the tracking Firefox does to maintain your privacy.
  1. Click on Tools and then Options
  2. Click the Privacy icon. There's a lot of options here — click the Settings button to begin with. This allows you to set what options are set by default when you clear your private data. When done, click OK. If you're particularly privacy conscious, you may also wish to check Always clear my private data when I close Firefox
  3. Now all you have to do is go to Tools and Clear Private Data, and a confirmation dialogue will appear. Or even quicker, use the keyboard shortcut of CTRL + SHIFT + DEL

    Cover your tracks. The new privacy modes in IE8, Firefox 3.1 and Google Chrome may eventually discard the need for this. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

061.

 Increase simultaneous download limit
Web browsers these days will only run a finite amount of concurrent downloads from the one server. It used to be two, but Firefox 3 has increased this to six. To increase this further in Firefox:
  1. In the browser address bar, type about:config and hit enter. Click the I'll be careful, I promise! button
  2. In the Filter field, enter network.http.m to limit the results
  3. Double click on network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server, and enter the amount of simultaneous downloads you'd like from the server

Increase how many files you can download from the one server. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

062.

 Use Internet Explorer within Firefox
Sometimes you'll come across websites that still only work well in Internet Explorer. But you don't have to leave the comfort of Firefox — just install the IE Tab extension, and you will be able to create or open a link in a new tab that uses the Internet Explorer rendering engine. Note that this will only work in Windows!

IE Tab lets Firefox use the Internet Explorer rendering engine. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

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Talkback 9 comments

    Ignore "tip" #7 Dean -- 26/09/08

    I didn't bother reading them all, but "tip" #7 (turn off UAC) is totally irresponsible. DO NOT TURN OFF UAC! Demand that your vendor fix their application to work correctly with UAC.

    I am a software developer, and on a daily basis, I see maybe 1 or 2 UAC dialog prompts. For a non-developer, you should practically *never* see the UAC prompt in day-to-day activities.

    But they don't apply to my PC Anonymous -- 27/09/08

    "Our insider secrets will help you master your PC and its most important applications"

    Where are the tips and tricks for Apple and Linux users? Barely any of these 101 tips and tricks apply to MY PC or the applications I use on it.

    Craig and Luis, not everyone in the world uses a Windows PC. Most, but not all. I was more than a little disappointed not to see these facts acknowledged.

    Hamish

    Good Work Anonymous -- 29/09/08

    There's some handy tips in there. Good Stuff.

    A safer alternative to turning off UAC would be using TweakUAC and selecting silent mode.

    party Anonymous -- 29/09/08 (in reply to #320112953)

    Wuz up

    #1 tip for a windows PC Anonymous -- 29/09/08

    I suggest that the number one tip to turn your Win PC into a fast, secure, reliable and productive machine is to install any one of the Linux flavors and remove your buggy, virus ridden, DRM controlled Win partition.

    Re Anonymous -- 30/09/08 (in reply to #320112989)

    I did that. Now life is good

    Another PrintScreen Shortcut Joel Potgieter -- 03/10/08

    You can also get a printscreen of only the window that has current focus [nto the whole screen] by using ALT-PrintSCRN. Also works for dialog boxes.

    Tip 51: Outlook - get rid of the large [emails] Anonymous -- 03/10/08

    If you want to keep the email but delete its (large) attachment, Open the email then go to Edit then Edit Message. Delete the attachment and re-save the email.

    Tip 048 Lookout Anonymous -- 13/07/09

    Nice article, there are really some good tips in there!
    But with one point I am not do not really agree with you...I wouldn�´t recommend Lookout, because it is an old an undeveloped tool! I think it would make more sense to work in Outlook with an modern, supported and developed tool, for example Lookeen( www.lookeen.net)! In my opinion this search tool is the best of all!

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