WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

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nuncus
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Joined: June 12th, 2005, 4:37 pm

WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

Post by nuncus »

WHAT IS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" and what does it do? Can this file be deleted safely? Will Fx re-generate a deleted "urlclassifier3.sqlite" on startup?

My urlclassifier3.sqlite" file has grown, over time, to roughly 50 MB. Can I safely just delete this leviathon from my HDD?

Also, does it ever get replaced upon a "new installation" of FX automatically? I've never deleted an "urlclassifier3.sqlite" file prior to taking down an upgrade; so, I rather suspect that, unless the file is automatically replaced at each re-install, or upgrade install, of Fx, my "urlclassifier3.sqlite" file must be relatively ancient at this point.

Thanks for any heads up -- yea or nay -- any of you folk can give me on this matter. I have just got to start trimming away some of the ever-growing bloat in my computer's file system.

Thanks,

Nuncus
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L.A.R. Grizzly
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

Post by L.A.R. Grizzly »

nuncus wrote:WHAT IS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" and what does it do? Can this file be deleted safely? Will Fx re-generate a deleted "urlclassifier3.sqlite" on startup?

My urlclassifier3.sqlite" file has grown, over time, to roughly 50 MB. Can I safely just delete this leviathon from my HDD?

Also, does it ever get replaced upon a "new installation" of FX automatically? I've never deleted an "urlclassifier3.sqlite" file prior to taking down an upgrade; so, I rather suspect that, unless the file is automatically replaced at each re-install, or upgrade install, of Fx, my "urlclassifier3.sqlite" file must be relatively ancient at this point.

Thanks for any heads up -- yea or nay -- any of you folk can give me on this matter. I have just got to start trimming away some of the ever-growing bloat in my computer's file system.

Thanks,

Nuncus


It is the file that is used to check against web attack sites or web forgeries. You can safely delete it. If you delete it, FF will regenerate it (although it will be vastly smaller). If you uncheck the boxes under Tools>Options>Security for checking for attack and forgery sites, the file will remain at its default small size. I have my boxes unchecked and my default size for that file is about 32KB.
Win7 Pro SP1 64 Bit
Comodo Internet Security
Pale Moon 33.0.2, Epyrus Mail 2.1.2, Firefox 115.8.0esr, Thunderbird 115.8.1, and SeaMonkey 2.53.18
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Guest

Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

Post by Guest »

See also:

SQLite Optimizer :: Add-ons for Firefox

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11198
nuncus
Posts: 326
Joined: June 12th, 2005, 4:37 pm

Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

Post by nuncus »

Thank you all. Given your response, my last question on this point is what is the "best practice" for managing this file? Obviously, this file is "NOT" a candidate for "trimming" one's "bloat" on the HDD.

Obviously, it plays a very valuable role in making Fx what it is -- namely a relatively "safe" browser; I personaly have received these Fx warnings in the past, and I always heed them, and I don't go to any site where Fx puts up the warning flag.

I would imagine, however, that "attack sites" get purged off the internet from time to time as ISP's discover they are hosting rogue folks on their ISP addresses.

Thus, would it make any sense to delete this file, say, about once a year? Or is there some other "practicable" time frame you might suggest? I don't think the "turn it off" function is in my best interest; but, if it regenerates when deleted, perhaps I should simply periodically delete it and let it re-generate again?

And that is my final question on this point; I promise I won't bug you further about this. The answer was quite good and sufficient.

You support volunteers are great. This site is better than an "800" number.

Thanks,

Nuncus
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L.A.R. Grizzly
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

Post by L.A.R. Grizzly »

nuncus wrote:Thus, would it make any sense to delete this file, say, about once a year? Or is there some other "practicable" time frame you might suggest? I don't think the "turn it off" function is in my best interest; but, if it regenerates when deleted, perhaps I should simply periodically delete it and let it re-generate again?


If you don't choose to use the SQLite Optimizer Add-on or it doesn't work for you, this is the approach I would use. I would just delete the file when it seems to large for your liking.
Win7 Pro SP1 64 Bit
Comodo Internet Security
Pale Moon 33.0.2, Epyrus Mail 2.1.2, Firefox 115.8.0esr, Thunderbird 115.8.1, and SeaMonkey 2.53.18
nuncus
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Joined: June 12th, 2005, 4:37 pm

Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safely?

Post by nuncus »

Grizzly:

Thank you. I'll just play it by ear; and when the file gets too large, well, then, I shall delete it -- "too large," of course, being my subjective view of things relative, such as "big," "large," "too big," "too large," and the like. I can be quite arbitrary when necessary. :-) :-) :-)

...all depends on how much Whitehorse was in the glass when I looked at the file size, y'know.

Carry on.

Best regards,

Nuncus
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safel

Post by safety »

This is very interesting but why is it necessary for Fx to store all this information on everyone's computers? It takes up a lot of space. Are they storing all known malware sites? Why not have a database of the information somewhere on their own servers?
vio34
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safel

Post by vio34 »

The reason to keep this file locally is for privacy. If the list of bad sites was kept on a server, and not put on your computer, in order to check the badness of a site, the URL of all or many sites you visit would have to be sent out somewhere on the internet. The place that did the checking might keep records of that information or be forced to turn it over to law enforcement.
schwabe
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safel

Post by schwabe »

My slow Dell Inspiron B130 showed the size of urlclassifier3.sqlite to be 2.4 GB. Is this credible?
Alan Baxter
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safel

Post by Alan Baxter »

No. Delete that file and let Firefox rebuild it. Maximum size should be about 50MB.
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DanRaisch
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Re: WHATIS "urlclassifier3.sqlite" & Can It Be Deleted Safel

Post by DanRaisch »

Locking this thread due to the age of the original posts. If additional support on the subject is required a new topic should be created.
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