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    Set Firefox to cache to RAM instead of HDD

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by winkosmosis, Jan 21, 2010.

  1. winkosmosis

    winkosmosis Notebook Evangelist

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    I wanted to reduce disk access, and I thought I'd have to use a RAMdisk for the browser cache, but with some googling I discovered that you can set Firefox to use RAM only for caching.
    Sources: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1088725 http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.cache.memory.capacity

    Here are the steps:

    Type about:config into URL box in Firefox.

    Search for browser.cache.disk.enable and set value to False.

    Search for browser.cache.memory.enable and set value to True.

    Search for browser.cache.memory.capacity

    It probably doesn't exist

    Right click in browser window and select New -> String.

    Call it browser.cache.memory.capacity

    Set value to desired cache size in kilobytes. For example, 128MB * 1024 = 13107
     
    winkosmosis, Jan 21, 2010
    #1
  2. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    That's good if you never turn your computer off, but defeats the purpose of the cache if you do.
     
    Lithus, Jan 21, 2010
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  3. winkosmosis

    winkosmosis Notebook Evangelist

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    Good point. Although the cache in RAM is useful because you're usually loading stuff multiple times in the same session.
     
    winkosmosis, Jan 22, 2010
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  4. davepermen

    davepermen Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    firefox uses the ram cache anyways, but the disc cache for inbetween sessions, too. browsing gets much slower by disabling the disk cache.

    could be useful for steadystate setups. but i guess, most don't know what that is :)
     
    davepermen, Jan 22, 2010
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  5. UniqueQ

    UniqueQ Notebook Geek

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    Excellent. This is quite good. Everything loads into RAM. Super fast for offline viewing.

    Thanks for the tip :)
     
    UniqueQ, Jan 28, 2010
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  6. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    try setting your cache to a ramdisk built on a usb flash drive.

    much will depend on the read/write performance of the flash drive (cheap/slow ones will NOT do well) but it might be a good middle ground.
     
    newsposter, Jan 28, 2010
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  7. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    I guess it must, because it uses a freakin' boatload of RAM.

    ...including me.
     
    swarmer, Jan 28, 2010
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  8. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Its a set up that always falls back to a predefined point if you are a normal user.
     
    DetlevCM, Jan 29, 2010
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