Skip Pictures to Speed Slow Websites

Your Internet connections might be speedy at your office and home locations, but what about in-between? When visiting websites, you could waste lots of time waiting for images to download. Here's how to disable images in Firefox and Internet Explorer so text-only pages quickly appear. If you connect on a weak coffee shop or airport network, you'll see a noticeable speed boost. And without images, suddenly a slow connection through a satellite phone, tethered mobile phone, or--gasp--dial-up becomes tolerable.

In Firefox, pick Tools, Options, and click the Content tab. Uncheck the box to Load images automatically, and click OK. In Internet Explorer, pick Tools, Internet Options. In the Advanced tab, uncheck the box to Show pictures. (Look under the Multimedia heading.) Click Apply and restart IE.

That's it. The image icons should still function as links. Or visit sites as you normally would, but right-click a single, unloaded image you'd like to see, and pick the option to Show Image.