Speedy fox?

i JUST saw this.... is it a gimmick or for real?

sounds like snake oil to me

http://www.crystalidea.com/speedyfox

 

It used to actually do stuff like change settings and defrag sqlite databases. I doubt anything is necessary anymore as Firefox probably uses the best settings by default anyways. Not sure how relevant it is anymor ebut it definitely was legitimate way back when.

 

I don't know, it's not likely that is something that has changed much considering all this program does is compact the SQLITE databases, which will still grow over time and probably get corrupted/act strange as changes in the browser are made by normal usage. It's really just a defrag utility now ((though I do think there used to be network settings and such it changed as well in the past.)). Use it once a week for a month and see if you notice the browser keeping its "pep". If it is, great. If not, well, the program is harmless, tiny and easily gotten rid of. One thing is certain though, like it has for some time Firefox will slow down with more use and start acting funky. I've never had a version since I don't even remember when not end up that way. Memory leakage and performance loss over time just seems to be a part of being a Firefox user, in my opinion.

 

Raymond has written on SpeedyFox here:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/easily-optimize-firefox-sqlite-databases-with-speedyfox-portable/

Basically, what it does is to compact SQLite databases, initially for Firefox users but then extended for several other browsers. If you are a CCleaner user, you can achieve the same thing with CCleaner "Compact Databases" under Applications tab.

Firefox users have extensions like Vacuum Places Improved and PlacesCleaner that does a similar thing for places database (places.sqlite), but they might cause some problems for some users.

I can't remember exactly if it was Firefox 4 or 5 but if I'm not wrong, Firefox 4/5 automatically vacuums the places.sqlite database when idle. As such, these extensions are generally speaking no longer needed for Firefox. You can read about it here:

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Projects/Places_Vacuum

I'm not sure about other browsers though.

 

Can this compacting of the SQLite databases harm SSDs, as I've always had that enable in CCleaner? Thank you