Topic: Back with Opera

[chorleydave]

Well, folks, after several months of Firefox 2.x versions, I have finally had enough of using a browser that crashes more times than Internet Explorer and have gone back to Opera.  I don't know if it's the browser itself, or the addons "Noscript" and "Adblock" that make the browser unusable, but something had to give.

Does anyone know if it is possible to completely get rid of Firefox version 2.x and revert to the far more stable 1.5x version, or will it leave bits of 2.x, which will make 1.5 unstable too?

Thanks.

[Reno]

I use 2.0 all the time, and it rarely crashes man. It really only crashes when the cache gets too large. I keep mine down by having it remove all the cookies on restart. The settings are under tools.

[Simon]

You should be able to uninstall Firefox 2.0 and reinstall version 1.5 without any problems, Dave, but to start again with a clean slate, you may need to create a new profile, which is explained here.  All settings will then be reset to default, but you can transfer any required data, such as bookmarks, from the old profile to the new one.

Before you get too destructive, it might just be worth clicking (in Firefox) Help > Check For Updates, to see if there is anything for FF itself, or any of your installed add-ons, or you could try uninstalling the add-ons by going to Tools > Add-Ons > Extensions (tab), and see if FF runs any better without them.

[davy51]

ive gone back a couple times

i just install 1.5 over 2.0 and it gives me back 1.5
it seems to work and it saves my profiles

[gmax]

Never had Firefox 2.0 crash yet, i found it very stable on both pc's i use.

[Simon]

Dave, you could also have a look at Netscape 9, which is basically a Firefox clone, with a few different features.  It's in it's beta stage at the moment, but I have tried it and it seems stable enough.  I wouldn't use it as my default browser personally, because I like Sea Monkey, I have no problems with it, and it also contains the mail client, but Netscape looks quite neat, and you can hide the stuff you don't need.



You could also try SeaMonkey itself.  You can just install the browser component on it's own, if you don't want the mail client, or you can choose which components to install by selecting Custom from the install menu.

[chorleydave]

Thanks for the replies.

Simon, I think Seamonkey might be the way to go, although I will only install the browser as I will be keeping Thunderbird as my mail client.

Thanks again.

[Clive]

You could also try SeaMonkey itself.  You can just install the browser component on it's own, if you don't want the mail client, or you can choose which components to install by selecting Custom from the install menu.

And in other news, Simon has 49 personal messages??   He must be sending them to himself!   

[Simon]

Yes, I suppose I should have a bit of a clear out. 

Dave, if you go for SeaMonkey, the Modern theme (built in) is much nicer than the default.    The SM mail client is identical in all but appearance to Thunderbird, and is integrated nicely, if you choose to install it.  You can easily transfer your mail from TB over to the SM mail client.

[chorleydave]

Hi, Simon.

I've installed the full Seamonkey and will have a play about with it.  However, I can't find the options to import my Firefox Bookmarks into the browser or my mail from Thunderbird into the built-in mail client.  Nor can I find how to empty the cache on exit.

As I say, I will have a play with it.  However, I only have three weeks to work and then I'm off for the annual summer break of seven weeks when I usually set aside a day to format my system and start afresh, so I think I'll probably end up back on Firefox 1.5x, the best browser I have ever used.   

[Simon]

I'll come back to you on those points this evening, when I get back on my PC, Dave. 

[Reno]

Nor can I find how to empty the cache on exit.

[chorleydave]

Cheers, Bob, but I meant that I can't find the way to empty the cache on exit in Seamonkey.

[Simon]

OK, sorry for the delay, Dave.    Once you have set up the Mail account(s) in SeaMonkey Mail, if you locate your SeaMonkey profile, usually C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles, you should be able to simply copy the Mail folder (or contents of) from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail, into the equivalent SeaMonkey location.

Same procedure with Firefox Bookmarks - locate C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default, and copy the Bookmarks file to the SeaMonkey profile.  Job done.

Unfortunately, SM won't clear your cache automatically on exit (I'll look for an add-on for you), but you'll find it does have a better Cookie Manager than Firefox, and is more easily accessible (Tools > Cookie Manager) and controllable.

[Simon]

The best I can come up with as far as clearing private data goes, is this, Dave:

http://webdesigns.ms11.net/seamonkey.html

Scroll down to the Clear Private Data bit, and you get something similar to Firefox, where it clears all your cache, cookies, history and location bar in one hit, but unfortunately, you can't set it to do so automatically, when you close SeaMonkey.   Bit of a shame they left it out of the build, but the other alternative, of course, is to have a really small cache, and manually delete it when you like.