Mozilla Firefox Browser

More Firefox links in the menu >>

Why Firefox?

Firefox offers better security, faster browsing, more options, and many other advantages that I have detailed here in the past. However, Mozilla and switch2firefox.com now do a much better job telling you why and how to install Firefox, so I'm leaving that job to them. :-)

Using Firefox

Learning Firefox

There's actually very little to learn to start using Firefox. Your intuition is all you need to switch from another browser. Getting the most out of Firefox requires a little discovery though. A good place to start is the "Learn Firefox" website.

Firefox Extensions
Firefox extensions are one of the best things about Firefox. They help you to customize Firefox to fit your browsing needs. The security-enhancing extensions are some of the most valuable, but there are many other add-ons for Firefox. [direct link]
 

Fixing Firefox

Firefox "clean install": Firefox is usually very stable, but it can out of whack, especially if you experiment with it a lot like I do. ;-) There are two ways to fix Firefox problems though. The quick way is to just create a new profile. If that doesn't work, a "clean install" is in order. There are plenty of instructions for that on the Web. Don't forget to at least save (and later restore) your existing bookmarks.html file if you want to keep your Firefox bookmarks (favorites).
• [nice step-by-step instructions]
• [pictorial instructions]
• [another version]

Note: Some of these instructions instruct you to "Go to C:\Documents and Settings\{your Windows user name}\Application Data\Mozilla\ and delete the Mozilla folder and all its contents."

You may instead/also find a Mozilla folder that you need to delete in C:\Documents and Settings\{your Windows user name}\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\.

Firefox on the Web

Firefox extensions can open Firefox to more avenues of attack. (If you stick to extensions from mozilla.org or mozdev.com the risk is minimal.) "Worst Browser Threats May Not Be Security Holes" | EarthWeb