Afaik you can only use I.E to get windows updates.

Yep thats right Joe, you can only Windows Update with IE

thanks for the tips madgamer

it loads the pages almost instantly

thanks a lot!

MadGamer
I have edited your list as to show the readings I get, should I alter what I get to your recommendations?

network.http.max-connections: 48, mine=24

network.http.max-connections-per-server: 24, mine=8

network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy: 12, mine=4

network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server: 6, mine=2

network.http.pipelining: true, mine=false

network.http.pipelining.maxrequests: 32, mine=4

network.http.proxy.pipelining: true, mine=false

Edit:
I have changed the settings and it is indeed a lot faster.

Here's a nice little piece of kit that will do all of the above for you automatically.

FireTune for Firefox - Reviews and free FireTune for Firefox downloads at Download.com