Firefox won't cache images

no matter

[library user]

I'm usually pretty good at answering my own PC/web questions, but no matter what size I set the FF cache too, every time I go to the same web site, the same images are re-loaded over and over again, each and every visit.

Is there a way to get around this?

Maybe type about:config in the address bar and tinker with a setting in there?

Any suggestions most appreciated.

[NonValueAdded]

How Web Caches Work

[JerseyHighlander]

“I am only allowed 5GB per month with my current internet plan. Are there some settings you can recommend I change in Firefox to decrease the bytes I’m downloading while surfing the web?”

I’ll write this out as best I can...

1. go to http://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman and download hostsman.

2. install hostsman
3. run hostsman
4. In the menu bar go to Hosts->manage Hosts
add the following sources for host file automated updates:
In alphabetical order:

Cameleon

* Site: http://sysctl.org/cameleon/
* Updated: August 8th, 2010
* Source: http://sysctl.org/cameleon/hosts.win

hpHosts

* Site: http://www.hosts-file.net/
* Source: http://support.it-mate.co.uk/downloads/hphosts.zip
* Mirror: http://hphosts.gt500.org/hosts.zip

hpHosts (Ad and tracking servers only)

* Source: http://www.hosts-file.net/ad_servers.asp
* Mirror: http://updates.it-mate.co.uk/hphosts/ad_servers.asp

hpHosts (Partial)

* Source: http://www.hosts-file.net/hphosts-partial.asp
* Updated: Frequently
* Mirror: http://updates.it-mate.co.uk/updates.asp

MVPS Hosts

* Site: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
* Source: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

5. in Hostsman menu bar go to Hosts-> Optimize Hosts

---

On to Firefox extensions:

Open Firefox browser...

6. go to http://netticat.ath.cx/BetterCache/BetterCache.htm and install BetterCache

7. go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2489/ and install CacheViewer. (This is NOT required, however it simplifies working with your firefox cache.)

8. go to http://flashblock.mozdev.org/ and install flashblock
extension

9. go to http://noscript.net/ and install noscript extension

10. go to http://code.google.com/p/uctb/ and download Undo Closed Tabs Button extension

11. go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9609/ and install ghostery extension

Note that hostsman will control the HOSTS file and remove 95% of all advertisements on the internet. Drastically reduces your bandwidth use on textbased browsing. However it will also block some websites you might use regularly... such as facebook.com, you need to use the Hostsman HOSTS editor to remove any url from the blocklist ....

Note that BetterCache is extremely aggressive in default settings... you will have to decide on the caching options... it takes some time to find what works for you.

[library user]

Excellent, thank you very much for that!

[JerseyHighlander]

Hope you are using windows.
Depending on which windows version you use you might have to give hostsman rights to run as administrator... right click the desktop icon, go to properties-> compatibility-> run as administrator tick box, apply.

you can also add it to your Startup folder so it starts when windows starts. So the UAC doesn’t pop up every time you open hostsman.
Absolutely necessary in Vista, a best option in Win7, and not needed in WinXP.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

That's great.

NOW LOWER MY TAXES

[library user]

I’m trying to understand Mi-Me. Can you explain? I’m trying to add a site to Better Cache which will allow it to always cache, but instead of just being able to enter the URL, it asks for Mi-Me. I checked Wikipedia for more on Mi-Me, but I still don’t understand.

[JerseyHighlander]

I set it up so long ago I had to relearn it... but I found the website I first used to speed up bettercache! I suggest reading the whole thing... it has more than what I posted above:

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/65875_the-unofficial-how-to-make-firefox-fly-like-a-bat-out-of-hades-when-your-on-dial-up-guide-for-dummies

for bettercache:

BROWSER EXTENSIONS:

BetterCache - Firefox extension

descrip: forces caching of web pages regardless of no-cache headers which webmasters sometimes put in place to prevent caching, sometimes for a good reason and sometimes just to annoying the living doo-doo out of you i think.

suggested config: In the “always cache list” delete the wildcard (the *) in the MIME type area and insert the following (the important ones are bolded while the rest are optional):

application/dsssl
application/x-javascript
application/x-perl
application/x-pointplus
audio/
image/
music/
text/css
text/javascript
text/vbscript
video/
x-music/
x-world/

Delete everything in the “never cache list”.

usage: nothing to do other than enable/disable it from its options. Go here for more confusing info on MIME types.

effects: combined with other tweaks, will dramatically lessen page load times when visiting many pages for which content is already cached. Settings above will force the caching of most non-text content (images, flash, JavaScript, style sheets, etc.). Text content will be handled by Firefox as usual (auto).

caveats: if content of a MIME type you specify is cached, but then is changed on the server, the page may not display correctly (think CSS for instance). Could potentially break sites that depend on such content, though i haven’t had any problems... yet. You should be able to just refresh the page if something if something looks fishy, but if that doesn’t work then you’ll have to either flush your cache, temporarily disable BetterCache, or buy a new computer.

[Moose Burger]

If you’re crazy enough, you can install an industrial level proxy cache like squid (http://www.squid-cache.org/) and it will help keep low that download rate even for a whole network. If you aren’t that crazy, what JerseyHighlander #15 said should be enough.

[JerseyHighlander]

Right, I forgot why I remembered you needed CacheViewer.

With BetterCache you can easily change the browser.cache.check_document_frequency setting which normally has to be done in about:config. This alone makes it worth having. I used it together with the CacheViewer add-on which shows mime-types that you can then use in BetterCache. This add-on is tremendously useful on sites like Google Books if you have dial-up. It only saves two or three pages at a time so if you’re reading along and want to go back a few pages you have to wait for the whole damn thing to load again. Just set BetterCache to save the mime-types you want and set “Check pages for actuality” to Never and you’re golden. :-)

[library user]

OK, thanks guys. Seems like a lot of work, though. I was hoping to just install one or two things and be done. This seems more manual and laborious than I was expecting. :O)

[wrench]

Have you tried the latest version of Opera? It has settings for slow connections that reduce download sizes of pages and images. Also, it is the easiest browser to use with images disabled, easy toggle right there on the page.

You can also run Opera Mini on your desk top. This is the smart phone version of Opera. The pages look good, and there is only a fraction of MBs used compared to the regular browsers. If interested, a quick search will fix you up.

[library user]

I had heard that about Opera. I’ll give it a try. Thanks!

[JerseyHighlander]

How did this turn out?

If you do use Opera Mini you can install Hostsman in my above post and you’re good to go.

regards,