>>>>>>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Ever since I installed/added NoScript to my FF, opening sites is very slow. In fact I switched to IE 6.0 for UT (much faster). Anybody else is using NoScript and has no problems? I am thinking about removing NoScript. My FF version is 3.6.16.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Can you use the latest IE (IE 9.0) and latest FireFox (version 4.0)?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>BTW, I'm using IE 8 for UT at present, haven't used FF for a long time.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I don't want to be beta tester for IE 9.0. Neither do I want to test FF 4.0. I tried updating my IE to 8.0 but there were too many patches I would have to download and install so I gave up. I like FF user interface. I just don't like the slow access. If NoScript is what causing it, I will remove it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I've used NoScript for a long time. IME it doesn't noticeably affect web page load speeds. I first started using it with FF on an Athlon/1GHz single-core computer with 512MB RAM.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>If you're new to NoScript, the most important thing to know is that almost all web sites are blacklisted by default (actually, almost no sites are whitelisted). So, no "active" content will run: Java, JavaScript, Flash, PDFs etc. If you load a page you have not whitelisted, any such active content will *never* load and the page will typically appear "broken" - missing pieces, improper formatting, inactive controls etc. I don't know if this is what you mean by "very slow" - it might look like the page is only partly loaded (because it is), and it will *never* "fully" load - by default.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Now, if you've decided the site is not malicious and isn't out to attack your browser, you may want to view it the way it's "meant" to be viewed. You click on the NoScript options button. There are several types of things you can do:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>- selectively allow certain sites - the main one, or 3rd-party. Usually just allowing (temporarily or permanently) the main site will let the content show properly. Enabling sites individually lets you prevent 3rd-party scripts for tracking sites etc. from running.
>>>>>>>- allow site(s) temporarily (for the duration of the browser session) or permanently ("Allow")
>>>>>>>- To quickly view the whole page you can "Temporarily allow all this page" or "allow all this page"
>>>>>>>- If you want to be unsafe, like IE, you can "Allow scripts globally"
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>In a nutshell, you have full control, and can be as safe/paranoid as you wish. By default, NoScript is very paranoid, so you have to explicitly whitelist ("allow") sites you consider safe in order to get a "normal" browsing experience.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>NoScript is the best defense I know against zero-day attacks via infected/malicious web pages, which is an increasingly popular attack vector. I used to think it necessary only if you regularly visit new or unknown sites, but with increasing web site compromises and injection of malicious ads into banner ad networks it's important to use it for everyday browsing.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>BTW FF4 seems stable in almost a week of regular use (no crashes or bugs). It's noticeably snappier than 3.6.xx even on fairly fast hardware. The UI changes take a little getting used to but you can configure it to be lean & mean, no wasted vertical space with unnecessary menus, toolbars etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I understand how NoSript works (in terms of whitelisted or backlisted). But, for example, UT is whitelisted in my NoScript but it is bar far slower in FF than in IE 6.0. As I said, I am not 100% sure that the problem is with NoScript. It could be something else in FF that causing this slowness. Maybe what I will do is remove NoScript and see if the speed improves.
>>>>>>Thank you.
>>>>>
>>>>>You can selectively disable add-ons in FF's Addons manager. If you have a lot, and don't quickly find the culprit(s) you can do a binary-style search: disable half, test, disable half of the "bad" half, test again etc.
>>>>>
>>>>>Some antivirus suites offer link and other browsing protections, which could slow things down. You could look at disabling those features for testing. Also, you could uninstall any unnecessary toolbars.
>>>>>
>>>>>Another unpleasant possibility is that you've acquired an infection. Some do overt things like redirecting or not letting you access certain sites; others just track what you're doing and send the info to Russia :-/
>>>>
>>>>I just disabled NoScript (thank for pointing to me that I can simply disable it without uninstalling) and for the few minutes I am using FF without NoScript it seems to be considerably faster. Actually I am typing this message from FF (which I have not done in some time).
>>>>
>>>>UPDATE: Spoke too fast. I have been trying to send this message for over 3 minutes and still unsuccessful.
>>>>
>>>>UPDATE2: For some reason I think the slowness has something to do with the Javascript though. When I click on Send in UT I see the Javascript:document.Form1.submit() is being executed and this is where I get a very long delay. Sometimes this .submit() never fires. So I have to cancel reply all together and try again. But it only happens in FF and not in IE. But I will still use UT in FF without NoScript to see if I can find some consistency in either case.
>>>
>>>A wild guess: do you have any sort of debug add-on installed such as FireBug, or anything else that might be logging actions during page loads etc.?
>>>
>>>As a last resort, you could save your bookmarks, completely uninstall FF then reinstall (maybe go to 4) in case something got hosed.
>>
>>Do you know how to save all bookmarks so that I can restore them in FF 4? Thank you.
>
>First hit on Google: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Backing%20up%20and%20restoring%20bookmarks

Thank you very much.