Tips For Running Browsers On Low Powered Computers.

[wizard]

Tips For Running Browsers On Low Powered Computers.

1. Use the ad blocker: Ublock Origin. This stops all the pop-up ads and video ad streaming and reduces ram use, CPU load and temperature.

For Chromium/Chrome you may need to see this post:
viewtopic.php?p=130251&hilit=ublock#p130251

2. Firefox
In Firefox type: about:config in the address bar and change the following:
browser.cache.memory.enable (false)
browser.cache.disk.enable (false)
browser.cache.offline.enable (false)
browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers (0)
browser.sessionhistory.max_entries (5)
network.prefetch-next (false)
extensions.pocket.enabled (false)

3. General
-Close other applications
-Only have one tab open at a time
-Clear the cache often
-Open settings and disable everything that will communicate in the background
-Use DuckDuckGo to open YouTube videos and view them in DuckDuckGo
-Reduce the video viewing resolution, use 240p on very low power systems

wizard

[wiak]

Tips For Running Browsers On Low Powered Computers.

1. Use the ad blocker: Ublock Origin. This stops all the pop-up ads and video ad streaming and reduces ram use, CPU load and temperature.
...
wizard

As time goes, for such old computers I'd go for a local text/simple image rendering approach but alongside thin client type remote more powerful computer access. So would:

1. Locally use the likes of links or elinks and try to optimise these via whatever enhancement type tricks we could find.

2. Include rdp and vncclient support and secure shell in some almost seamless ready to use facility via maybe a yad frontend, for example. Old computers may have ever decreasing power themselves but most all of us have pretty good internet connections nowadays, and not just in the West.

I'm also curious how Browsh performs on not too old machines. Takes up firefox-like storage space but operates as non gui type browser but with good html5 support and so on.

A better optimised system using the likes of Links could be longterm really useful and likely easily commandline controlled and used in generally unusual ways. Seems to me that only old rufwoof put much somewhat non-published effort into that 'other world' including powerful thin client like approaches.

Time will run out for gui browser approaches for such old computer resources and dev time on that effectively lost in practice. Commandline and thin client approaches, on the otherhand, offer ongoing opportunity. At the back of my mind I wish I had time to get more into that - it is a really satisfying project area with much fertile ground for the creative imagination.

[wizard]

@wiak

Time will run out for gui browser approaches for such old computer

Yes, we will reach a point in the technology when single core CPU's and low ram systems can no longer be used for graphical web and internet browsing. Intel 386 CPUs and older are current examples,

Thanks
wizard

[wiak]

@wiak

Time will run out for gui browser approaches for such old computer

Yes, we will reach a point in the technology when single core CPU's and low ram systems can no longer be used for graphical web and internet browsing. Intel 386 CPUs and older are current examples,

Thanks
wizard

I also personally take into account that some modern specially designed low-power CPUs can be pretty fast/efficient wheras some of the old computers including many old laptops guzzle electricity. A quick calculation can reveal that you've paid enough extra for power during the year to sometimes have alternatively been able to afford to buy a newer machine... often in fact. Hence I dont power up these old greedy clunkers despie having a few. I do have some sweetspot low power 2008 core2duo variant laptops that continue to work really well even with modern browsers.

As for bitcoin mining. Should be criminal behavior.

[amethyst]

Use a User Agent Switcher (download the extension is easiest) to view mobile versions of sites if available. In general if you have a low end machine: re-compress your puppy files (and any other sfs files) in the gzip format, use a swap file or swap partition instead of zram swap. For a light 64-bit system try my Fossa Fire (which I use on a daily basis and posting from now) or one of ozsouth's stripped down versions of Fossa. You will still be able to run the latest Chrome browser.

[wizard]

@amethyst

Would also be good if you note the hardware you are using.

Thanks
wizard

[amethyst]

@amethyst

Would also be good if you note the hardware you are using.

Thanks
wizard

Old 2006 desktop, 2/2 CPU/RAM. Note that my machine is powerful enough without having to do the things as suggested but it may be of use for others who have even lower spec machines.