mozilla firefox question? any help appreciated

[bungle613]

Allright, just got talked into downloading the firefox browser. SO far, pretty good. Got rid of all pop ups, a little bit slower on sites initially but still ok.

My question is this.. how do I set Windows media player as the default for all file types? It is a very strange set up for playing media... some you have to download first, others just open in media player, others in quicktime. I would prefer all media items to play automatically in media player. So, if anyone knows how to do this, let me know. Thanks, bungle

[BGbootha]

hey I have recently encountered the same problem. The best way I have found is to simply re-install windows media player. (you can simply download an update at download.com.

I believe there is a way to go through the options in windows explorer and make it the default player for ALL media. It still doesn't work quite as well as IE in some of the media. But again, mine actually runs a bit faster and I haven't had one problem, nor have do I get many pop-ups. Very satisfied customer here!

[no1cowboysfan]

i dont like mozilla...

ie may have its problems, but i simply like it better... easier to navigate. For instance, how in God's name do you choose where to put a newly downloaded file using firefox? It was so easy in IE...

[Tyr]

Firefox is vastly superior to Internet Explorer or Opera once you get used to it. The reason it's slower initially is because you're creating new cache and cookie files for the sites that you load. As you surf around a bit, it will be as fast (or faster than, if you configure the browser correctly) Internet Explorer.

To choose what to open files with:

Tools -> Downloads -> Options ->

In the File Types area select "Change Action". From that window you can choose whether you want to save the file to disk, open the file in it's default application, or choose a new application to assign the file extension to.

To assign a download directory:

Tools -> Downlaods -> Options ->

If you want a popup window asking you where to save every file to come up, select the radio button that says "Ask me where to save every file.". If you want to save all downloaded files to a specific location, select the radio button that says "Save all files to this folder:". From the scroll down menu, you can also select or create a new folder to download to.


A few small tips to make your browsing easier with Firefox:

Control+K will put your text cursor directly in the google search bar. Much more convenient than browsing to the actual site.

Control+Y will open a small window containing all of your recent downloads. From this window you can automatically open recently downloaded files, or go directly to their folders. I find it to be an incredibly convenient way to navigate through my PC, as I have a meticulously organized system with many folders and subfolders.

Right clicking on links that you want to check out and selecting "open in new tab" is a tool that I can't believe I ever lived without. In Opera this feature was clunky. In Firefox it's done perfectly. You can open a nearly unlimited number of new tabs, which you can switch to without switching browsers. It also opens the possibility to have multiple pages open with only one instance of your browser software being open.

In the manage bookmarks options (bookmarks -> manage bookmarks) you can set pages to notify you via several means whenever a site is updated. I find this to be an incredibly useful tool in regards to fantasy football. For instance, I have an injury related site set to update every 10 minutes, and set to notify me by playing a sound and automatically opening the page in a new window. Do this by right clicking a bookmark, click the "Schedule" tab, select every day, from midnight to 11pm, every 10 minutes. Click over to the "Notify" tab and choose "Open web page in a new window" and "Play a sound".

There are tons of other little things you can set the browser to do - especially with the right plugins - (Tools -> Extensions -> Get More Extensions).

If you need any help with anything, let me know.

[no1cowboysfan]

that is pretty sweet... but actually, I find myself using Ares for most my browsing nowadays. It has multiple windows to click on... like using a file cabinet. Very conveniate for entering your FF lineup when you need to see your roster, the NFL schedule and hotmail at the same time. It is extra conveniate because their are no multiple windows on the subbar thing... and i c an check my downloading progress, search progress and web browsing multiple sites with one program running.

[Tyr]

I'm not really a big fan of segmented views. I much prefer viewing sites in full screen, which isn't possible with a giant toolbar protruding from the lefthand side of the screen.

[Mercer Boy]

I like Mozilla for two reasons: The pop up stopper is great, and I like the tab feature in Mozilla for having essentially separate browsers all in one window. It keeps my taskbar less cluttered, and with the way XP is and it's collapsing of similar windows, it is neater. It is a huge pain having to click on the thing saying "5 AIM windows" which i then have to click just to see all the windows I have open.

I still have a problem doing an alt+tab hoping to come up with the stuff in a different Mozilla tab though...

[bungle613]

To choose what to open files with:

Tools -> Downloads -> Options ->

In the File Types area select "Change Action". From that window you can choose whether you want to save the file to disk, open the file in it's default application, or choose a new application to assign the file extension to.

Hey Tyr.

First thanks and thanks everyone for the help. But, when I click an downloads it does not give me an "options" option. In fact, bringing up that screen allows nothing at all to be changed other than to clean up the files downloaded to my desktop. So, needless to say, I am confused.

[Mercer Boy]

Heh, one of the commands was backwards...

Tools -> Options is what you want. From there, on the left side of the screen there is a picture of a file with an arrow. That is the "Downloads" option. Click that, and you can do all sorts of crazy crap!

[LBJackal]

In the manage bookmarks options (bookmarks -> manage bookmarks) you can set pages to notify you via several means whenever a site is updated. I find this to be an incredibly useful tool in regards to fantasy football. For instance, I have an injury related site set to update every 10 minutes, and set to notify me by playing a sound and automatically opening the page in a new window. Do this by right clicking a bookmark, click the "Schedule" tab, select every day, from midnight to 11pm, every 10 minutes. Click over to the "Notify" tab and choose "Open web page in a new window" and "Play a sound".

I've been using Mozilla for a long time now, after about a year of using Opera (I can't stand IE; popups, toolbars being added all the time, homepage being changed, etc) and I never knew about this option to set a schedule for bookmarks

I just updated to get Firefox 1.0 and when I go to manage bookmarks, and right click on one of them, there is no option to set up a schedule. I don't have a need for it right now (although it'd be useful for here at the Cafe, I imagine) but I wouldn't mind knowing anyway. Am I doing something wrong?