Firefox default plugins: Keep or Remove?

[Devinco]

I will be using an alternative media player (not Windows Media Player).
Should I remove any or all of these default plugins?
Are any required?

Mozilla Default Plugin npnul32.dll
Windows Media Player Dynamic Link Library npdsplay.dll
Microsoft DRM npdrmv2.dll DRM Netscape Network Object
Microsoft DRM npwmsdrm.dll DRM Store Netscape Network Plugin

[Lamehand]

I would leave that default plugin where it is, the rest is optional, if you need those you could always re-install them.
The default plugin facillitates the install of other plugins, amongst other things.
For extensive information see the knowledge-base at

http://www.mozillazine.org

Lamehand

[WSFuser]

id keep the default plugin.

does ur alternative media player have a plugin for firefox? if not, id keep those plugins just in case u view any internet audio/video.

[Devinco]

-{ Quote: "I would leave that default plugin where it is, the rest is optional, if you need those you could always re-install them.
The default plugin facillitates the install of other plugins, amongst other things.
For extensive information see the knowledge-base at

http://www.mozillazine.org

Lamehand" }-
Thank you Lamehand.
I'll keep the default plugin and I'll make a backup of the plugins folder just in case the others are needed.

Unfortunately I couldn't find info on this topic where I searched. Before posting, I searched through firefox help, mozilla.com help and KB, and mozillazine KB and the forum. The closest thing I could find was the article to help speed up the acrobat plugin loading.

[Devinco]

-{ Quote: "id keep the default plugin.

does ur alternative media player have a plugin for firefox? if not, id keep those plugins just in case u view any internet audio/video." }-
Thank you WSFuser.
I'll be trying several, so I don't know yet if they have a plugin.
I'll try them out and post the results.

[Devinco]

How to remove default Firefox 2 plugins that don't get removed easily.

Disclaimer:
You don't need to do this and if you mess something up it's your fault. ;D

I don't use Windows Media Player and wanted to find a way to stop Firefox from loading these unnecessary extra plugins into memory.
I've found a way.

Let's say you don't want a lot of plugins loaded into Firefox for reasons including memory use, alternative media players, or security. Here's how to remove them.
If you have problems with some plugins that you need or something else plugin related does not work right, just reverse the steps.
Make a backup copy of these first (your paths may be different):
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\greprefs\all.js

A clean install of Firefox 2 includes some plugins.
Typing about:plugins in the URL will show you what plugins are currently installed in Firefox.
It shows the DLL names of these plugins as well.
Some of these plugin DLLs are stored in the plugins folder, usually: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins.
If you delete any of these, be sure to exit the browser first.

npnul32.dll
This is the Mozilla Default Plug-in and it is the plugin finder that gets initiated, when you try to load a page that requires a plug-in, which is not found. According to this: The Mozilla Default Plug-in (http://ilias.ca/blog/2005/09/the-mozilla-default-plug-in/), it can be removed and still have a similar basic function.
I don't see a problem keeping it, but it seems to be optional.

npqtplugin.dll
npqtplugin2.dll
npqtplugin3.dll
npqtplugin4.dll
npqtplugin5.dll
QuickTimePlugin.class
nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt
All these make the QuickTime Plug-in 7.0.4.
Apple and Mozilla must have made a deal to include this in the default browser package.
There is nothing wrong with QuickTime, but if you don't need it or you want to use an alternative, delete them.
You may have additional plugins in this folder if you installed Firefox 2 on top of an old version.

But where are the other plugins that where shown in about:plugins and are not in the plugins folder?
Plugins like:
npdsplay.dll Windows Media Player Plug-in Dynamic Link Library
npdrmv2.dll Microsoft® DRM Netscape Network Object
npwmsdrm.dll Microsoft® DRM Store Netscape Plugin
You may have other plugins shown like RealPlayer and more.

These DLLs are not in the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins folder.

Firefox has a list of plugins which it scans your computer to load into memory.
If you want to see the full path location where these plugins are stored, type about:config in the URL.
Now look for plugin.expose_full_path and double click it to set it to true.
Type in about:plugins in the URL and you can now see that the full path to the above DLLs is not the plugins folder.
But you don't need to delete the DLLs listed above in order to stop them from loading with Firefox.

Exit Firefox and edit C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\greprefs\all.js with a text editor that supports Unix line endings, such as Wordpad or NoteTab. Do not use Notepad to edit configuration files.

Scroll down near the bottom and you will find a section similar to this:

source (http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/notes.html#scan-intro) with additional notes below.
-{ Quote: "
To disable an individual scan, simply comment out the scan by adding // to the start of the line.

Java Plugin
Leave this setting as is.
The Java Plugins are only removed from about:plugins (and memory) when you disable Java in Tools Menu/Options.../Content/uncheck Enable Java.
The following preference controls the Java Plugin scan if Java is enabled. Unless you run multiple JREs and want Mozilla to use the most recent one, this preference is likely of no use to you.
Sometimes people forget to uninstall their old Java versions.
You should only have the newest version installed and uninstall older ones.
// Locate Java by scanning the Sun JRE installation directory with a minimum version
// Note: Does not scan if security.enable_java is not true
pref("plugin.scan.SunJRE", "1.3");

Adobe Acrobat Reader
If you want to use acrobat reader in Firefox, then leave this setting as is.
If you don't have acrobat installed (or don't want to use it in Firefox) and will use an alternative like Foxit Reader, then comment it out.
The following preference controls the Adobe Acrobat Reader scan. Unless you have multiple versions of Acrobat Reader installed, you shouldn't need to change this.
// Locate plugins by scanning the Adobe Acrobat installation directory with a minimum version
pref("plugin.scan.Acrobat", "5.0");

QuickTime
If you use QuickTime then leave it as is.
The following preference controls the QuickTime scan. You shouldn't need to change the version for this preference.
// Locate plugins by scanning the Quicktime installation directory with a minimum version
pref("plugin.scan.Quicktime", "5.0");

Windows Media Player
If you want to use Windows Media Player then leave it as is.
The following preference controls the Windows Media Player scan. Setting the version to anything below 7.0 is probably not a good idea, as older versions do not work well or at all.
// Locate and scan the Window Media Player installation directory for plugins with a minimum version
pref("plugin.scan.WindowsMediaPlayer", "7.0");

Windows Registry (PLID scan)
Some plugins add PLIDs to the Windows registry. You should not need to touch this.
Some plugins like RealPlayer are added to the registry and the only way to remove them from FF is to comment the following line out.
The Real Alternative also is controlled from this line so it is up to you if you want it.
Commenting out this line will also remove the automatically created Download Actions for file types listed from the registry here: Tools Menu/Options.../Content/Manage...
You will still be able to add download actions as you download files.
If you want some of the plugins loaded by this option but not others, you could find the location of the plugin you want to keep and copy the DLL to the plugins folder then comment this line out.
// Locate plugins by the directories specified in the Windows registry for PLIDs
// Which is currently HKLM\Software\MozillaPlugins\xxxPLIDxxx\Path
pref("plugin.scan.plid.all", true);
" }-
So just add a // before pref on the plugin that you don't want Firefox to scan for and it will be removed from the about:plugins list.

Save the all.js file when done, run FireFox, about:plugins, and the plugins are gone.
If you later decide you need the plugin, just remove the comment // from the appropriate line and add the DLLs back to the plugins folder if necessary.