Firefox - Troubleshooting Thread

Having problems with Firefox? The answer is you're still using IE :lol: Okay, seriously, if you have any issues, then post them here.

I don't like the UI, that's the only reason I'm still using IE. I had a period of about 4 hours when I first upgraded to Vista back in February when IE went on a power trip and didn't want to view any webpages so I had to use Firefox... Luckily for me IE decided to fix itself!

That said, never had any trouble with Firefox when I have used it. It's a sturdy browser.

I was planning on changing browsers from IE to Firefox. I heard some very good things about it.

Is it worth getting?

Thanks :)

I think it's worth it, fawkesfan. Firefox is much faster than IE on my computer, and I like using tabs instead of opening tons of windows.

I think it's worth it, fawkesfan. Firefox is much faster than IE on my computer, and I like using tabs instead of opening tons of windows.

IE 7 allows for tabbed browsing, though I personally find it slower.

Here's a problem that I have. Whenever I try to download a file off firefox my browser essentially freezes for about a minute before the download actually starts. Does anyone know why this happens and how I can fix it?

I recently got a new computer with vista. Firefox only opens about 60% of the time. When it goes into sleep mode it seems to "reset" and then sometimes firefox will start opening or stop opening. It's bizarre.

Here's a problem that I have. Whenever I try to download a file off firefox my browser essentially freezes for about a minute before the download actually starts. Does anyone know why this happens and how I can fix it?

That used to happen to me too, and I don't think it actually stopped until I got a new computer with higher RAM. I don't see how that helps, but apparently it did. However, I find that the Firefox extension that you can download called "Download Statusbar" also helps, because I got the freezing problem slightly on the new computer. The "Download Statusbar" gets rid of that annoying Windows box thing that comes up containing your downloads and instead puts a little bar at the bottom of your browser.

I have a question about Firefox, not really a problem. I started using it a week or so ago because IE was getting incredibly slow, but only at night. Anyway, sometimes Firefox is transferring data from other sites. It shows in the lower left corner what site it is. Is Firefox safe, or are they spying on me?

I have a question about Firefox, not really a problem. I started using it a week or so ago because IE was getting incredibly slow, but only at night. Anyway, sometimes Firefox is transferring data from other sites. It shows in the lower left corner what site it is. Is Firefox safe, or are they spying on me?

Firefox is 100% safe. Mostly from other sites are things like adds or images.

I don't like the UI, that's the only reason I'm still using IE. I had a period of about 4 hours when I first upgraded to Vista back in February when IE went on a power trip and didn't want to view any webpages so I had to use Firefox... Luckily for me IE decided to fix itself!

That said, never had any trouble with Firefox when I have used it. It's a sturdy browser.

Thats the beauty of Firefox, download a new skin for it. In the tools are addons, then go into themes and click the link for "Get Themes" and browse for one you like.

what is google-analytics dot com
it loads sometimes while I am on this site using Firefox

Firefox is 100% safe. Mostly from other sites are things like adds or images.



Thats the beauty of Firefox, download a new skin for it. In the tools are addons, then go into themes and click the link for "Get Themes" and browse for one you like.


:lol: :lol: :lol: Is there an IE7 skin :err:

You might know this actually, is there a way I can change the way Firefox loads webpages and images etc, I find it a lot slower for me than IE7's way or loading. IE7 seems to load the whole thing, Firefox seems to load the page then the individual images within the page. Can this be changed?

:lol: :lol: :lol: Is there an IE7 skin :err:

You might know this actually, is there a way I can change the way Firefox loads webpages and images etc, I find it a lot slower for me than IE7's way or loading. IE7 seems to load the whole thing, Firefox seems to load the page then the individual images within the page. Can this be changed?

Being open source I'm sure there would be a way. My programming knowledge however falls way short of knowing any way to do that.

what is google-analytics dot com
it loads sometimes while I am on this site using Firefox

Google Analytics is a website statistics monitoring software, it basically tells the website owner how many people are looking at their site :)

Thanks styphon, I'll google around a bit to see if anyone has done it.

That used to happen to me too, and I don't think it actually stopped until I got a new computer with higher RAM. I don't see how that helps, but apparently it did. However, I find that the Firefox extension that you can download called "Download Statusbar" also helps, because I got the freezing problem slightly on the new computer. The "Download Statusbar" gets rid of that annoying Windows box thing that comes up containing your downloads and instead puts a little bar at the bottom of your browser.

mmmm memory leaks. It's going to be fixed in the next version of Firefox (it's alpha testing at the moment).
However -
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Memory_Leak

I have a question about Firefox, not really a problem. I started using it a week or so ago because IE was getting incredibly slow, but only at night. Anyway, sometimes Firefox is transferring data from other sites. It shows in the lower left corner what site it is. Is Firefox safe, or are they spying on me?

You mean the status bar, does it say done when it's finished loading a page ? Though if you want a greater degree of control the add on's i'd get are No Script and Ad Block Plus.

That used to happen to me too, and I don't think it actually stopped until I got a new computer with higher RAM. I don't see how that helps, but apparently it did. However, I find that the Firefox extension that you can download called "Download Statusbar" also helps, because I got the freezing problem slightly on the new computer. The "Download Statusbar" gets rid of that annoying Windows box thing that comes up containing your downloads and instead puts a little bar at the bottom of your browser.

Thanks for that Lou :tu:

Looks like I might want to stick with Opera for my downloading needs.

I've a randomly occuring problem on firefox.

Basically if I use ' (apostrophe) it inactivates the screen and opens a find/search bar. If I open tools and options and close it again, things are fine.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen something like this and knows how to resolve it.....it drives me nuts.

I just click one of the mouse buttons, and the search box goes away.

No better solution??

Actually it doesnt work ~ I am having the problem again this afternoon.

It sounds like a hotkey, I'll see if there's a way to edit the hotkeys so you can disable it :)

And for those of us who love IE7s looks, you can get... AeroFox, a Firefox theme that mimics the Vista/IE7 Aero look :D I must say it's quite brilliant! OR even better there's Vista-Aero hehe :D I may begin using Firefox a little more now!

EDIT - the apostrophe thing is a keyboard shortcut (see here (http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/keyboard)) but I really wouldn't know how to disable it.

The best place to look would be the forums on http://www.mozillazine.org/ but they are down for maintence at the moment.

Okay I've finally taken the plunge and switched to Firefox... I've imported all my IE settings, changed the theme to an IE7 feeling theme and so far (aside from the annoying image loading) it's fine.

Thanks for that anyway :tu:

I'll have a look at it and try to sort it out :)

I just downloaded Firefox today, and so far it's working fine :). I like it so far.

I just downloaded Firefox today, and so far it's working fine :). I like it so far.

Have a look at the extra's you can get off their website. There are thousands of theme's to custimise how it looks and loads of extra's to do almost anything you want.

Have a look at the extra's you can get off their website. There are thousands of theme's to custimise how it looks and loads of extra's to do almost anything you want.

That's nice -- but I got rid of it, too many cookies, did a scan with my spy bot s&d and it found over 20 cookies on it due to Firefox. Once I got rid of it and did a scan again, they weren't there.

I loved firefox... Then one day, it just started acting up on me... It started to slow down my computer, and I eventually deleted it, and re-downloaded it hoping that would fix it... It didn't...

So I *gasp* have had to start using IE again... :upset: That is unless someone else has had this problem and knows how to fix it...

Was you using a Beta version? Could have been a memory leak issue I guess.

That's nice -- but I got rid of it, too many cookies, did a scan with my spy bot s&d and it found over 20 cookies on it due to Firefox. Once I got rid of it and did a scan again, they weren't there.

Umm, they would be cookies like for here. IE has them too, just hides them where as FireFox actually lets you see them.

I loved firefox... Then one day, it just started acting up on me... It started to slow down my computer, and I eventually deleted it, and re-downloaded it hoping that would fix it... It didn't...

So I *gasp* have had to start using IE again... :upset: That is unless someone else has had this problem and knows how to fix it...

It was a known issue, and yea Rich it was a memory leak but not on a beta version. It's now been fixed with the latest updates and you should be able to use it again.

Umm, they would be cookies like for here. IE has them too, just hides them where as FireFox actually lets you see them.



It was a known issue, and yea Rich it was a memory leak but not on a beta version. It's now been fixed with the latest updates and you should be able to use it again.


Oh I see -- well my friend thought the cookies were really bad and told me to get rid of Firefox, due to that.

Oh I see -- well my friend thought the cookies were really bad and told me to get rid of Firefox, due to that.

When you log into CoS it creates a security cookie to authenticate you. Wouldn't be able to post on CoS otherwise, it would just constantly ask you to login. The only cookies you have to worry about are tracking cookies, and a daily/weekly spyware scan will clear those up. Firefox is just easier to see where it stores them than IE. You will get worse cookies with IE because it's less secure than Firefox. You are much better off using Firefox than IE.

When you log into CoS it creates a security cookie to authenticate you. Wouldn't be able to post on CoS otherwise, it would just constantly ask you to login. The only cookies you have to worry about are tracking cookies, and a daily/weekly spyware scan will clear those up. Firefox is just easier to see where it stores them than IE. You will get worse cookies with IE because it's less secure than Firefox. You are much better off using Firefox than IE.

Oh I see, hmm -- I had about 24 of those things. I got rid of Firefox due to them, my friend thought Firefox caused them or something.

Oh I see, hmm -- I had about 24 of those things. I got rid of Firefox due to them, my friend thought Firefox caused them or something.

Whether you use Firefox or IE you will get those cookies. But it's easier to find them and get rid of them with Firefox. As I said just run regular anti-spyware scans and you'll be fine

Whether you use Firefox or IE you will get those cookies. But it's easier to find them and get rid of them with Firefox. As I said just run regular anti-spyware scans and you'll be fine

Oh, that's good -- I usually found any cookies on IE using Ad-Aware, but as of late -- it's been freezing in the middle of scans, so I haven't been using it due to that. I've been using Spybot S & D for that -- it doesn't show any cookies from IE though, it seems to do that better for Firefox, like you said.

I just cleaned out and dust from my vents and fans -- so maybe I can run a scan on Ad-Aware once again, without having to uninstall it and then reinstall it.

Oh, that's good -- I usually found any cookies on IE using Ad-Aware, but as of late -- it's been freezing in the middle of scans, so I haven't been using it due to that. I've been using Spybot S & D for that -- it doesn't show any cookies from IE though, it seems to do that better for Firefox, like you said.

I just cleaned out and dust from my vents and fans -- so maybe I can run a scan on Ad-Aware once again, without having to uninstall it and then reinstall it.

Empty your temporary internet files. That'll clear everything including anything thats stopping ad-aware from running. If that doesn't work then run a virus scan. Either AVG Free or Avast are very good anti-virus programs.

Empty your temporary internet files. That'll clear everything including anything thats stopping ad-aware from running. If that doesn't work then run a virus scan. Either AVG Free or Avast are very good anti-virus programs.

I was doing that for the most part, but now I've been emptying my history along with it. I've been doing that too, everytime that I ran an ad-aware scan, I'd run a virus scan right after using Avg Free. I love that anti-virus program!! :) It does a good job looking for viruses and stuff.

I was doing that for the most part, but now I've been emptying my history along with it. I've been doing that too, everytime that I ran an ad-aware scan, I'd run a virus scan right after using Avg Free. I love that anti-virus program!! :) It does a good job looking for viruses and stuff.

Ah, good. You know what you're doing then :D. If AVG turns up nothing and you've cleared everything then it's probably a buggered installation. Just uninstall and reinstall ad-aware. Also a good chance to get the 2007 version if you don't have it already. IMO the new Ad-Aware 2007 is much better than the old one. The only thing I hate about Ad-Aware, you have to pay for real time protection. Meh, scan on boot-up it is :lol:

Ah, good. You know what you're doing then :D. If AVG turns up nothing and you've cleared everything then it's probably a buggered installation. Just uninstall and reinstall ad-aware. Also a good chance to get the 2007 version if you don't have it already. IMO the new Ad-Aware 2007 is much better than the old one. The only thing I hate about Ad-Aware, you have to pay for real time protection. Meh, scan on boot-up it is :lol:

That's what I have -- the 2007 version :lol: -- guess I'll have to uninstall it and reinstall it I guess *shakes fist at Ad-Aware company* -- thanks you guys :p! I hate that too, but hey it's a company and they have to make money somehow.

Just uninstalled and reinstalled Ad-Aware and plan on running a scan. Hopefully it will scan all the way through.

I did the scan and it worked, it scaned all the way through without freezing or anything.

That's what I have -- the 2007 version :lol: -- guess I'll have to uninstall it and reinstall it I guess *shakes fist at Ad-Aware company* -- thanks you guys :p! I hate that too, but hey it's a company and they have to make money somehow.

Just uninstalled and reinstalled Ad-Aware and plan on running a scan. Hopefully it will scan all the way through.

I did the scan and it worked, it scaned all the way through without freezing or anything.

Yea, just a dodgy installation then.

Yea, just a dodgy installation then.

That's what I figured too, had to shut off cookie scan and MRU scan though to get it to work right, but meh -- at least it still searches for the real nasties though. Wish it could still scan for cookies, but that's the way the cookie (I know -- corny joke :p) crumbles this time around.

Do you know of anyway for Spybot S&D to be able to catch any cookies on IE?

Just wondering.

That's what I figured too, had to shut off cookie scan and MRU scan though to get it to work right, but meh -- at least it still searches for the real nasties though. Wish it could still scan for cookies, but that's the way the cookie (I know -- corny joke :p) crumbles this time around.

Do you know of anyway for Spybot S&D to be able to catch any cookies on IE?

Just wondering.

Not personally, I don't use Spybot Search and Destroy. Not for years now anyway.

Not personally, I don't use Spybot Search and Destroy. Not for years now anyway.

Oh, I see -- thanks anyway :).

I think I may love Firefox - Today I've been working on an 800 product online store, adding/editing products with a client. Around 300 products in, in my haste, I accidentally hit the little 'x' on the tab I had the product details in... As you can imagine after 'thinking' I'd lost 300 products worth of data that I'd spent a number of hours adding in to the product addition form I was rather upset to say the least. But why? For no reason at all, good old Firefox has an 'undo close tab' feature :D All my precious work was saved!

On that reason alone SWITCH TO FIREFOX now.

Does anyone know if there's a way to set Firefox up to open your homepage when you use Ctrl-T rather than just a new, empty tab?
Seems like it should be possible, but I don't see the option anywhere.

Does anyone know if there's a way to set Firefox up to open your homepage when you use Ctrl-T rather than just a new, empty tab?
Seems like it should be possible, but I don't see the option anywhere.

I think you'd have to get the add-on.

You can middle click on the home icon. Opens home page in a new tab.

I think you'd have to get the add-on.
I'll have to search for that, thanks
You can middle click on the home icon. Opens home page in a new tab.
oo, look at that! I didn't even know my wheel could click, but apparently it does--fancy! ta

I'll have to search for that, thanks

oo, look at that! I didn't even know my wheel could click, but apparently it does--fancy! ta

You can middle-click on any link within Firefox and it will open up in a new tab. That includes any of your bookmarks, back button etc...

I have a question about the pop up blocker. I have to reset it every time I load Firefox. For some reason, the block pop up box gets unchecked. Why doesn't it stay on?

I got barraged with pop ups a couple nights ago - so bad that I shut down the computer because they wouldn't stop popping up. That is when I noticed that the blocker keeps turnng off when I shut down Firefox.

Any ideas on this?

I have a question about the pop up blocker. I have to reset it every time I load Firefox. For some reason, the block pop up box gets unchecked. Why doesn't it stay on?

I got barraged with pop ups a couple nights ago - so bad that I shut down the computer because they wouldn't stop popping up. That is when I noticed that the blocker keeps turnng off when I shut down Firefox.

Any ideas on this?

It might be worth running a Spyware/Adware check, try using AdAware 2007 (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007-Free/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5). Also do a virus scan with your Anti-Virus. Could be that something nasty is going on in there, that might be what's stopping Firefox from blocking the popups.

Does anyone here have a problem with FF freezing for a minute or two when downloading attachments or other downloads?

and also, how do you clear cookies in FF?

and also, how do you clear cookies in FF?
Tools
- Options
- Privacy tab
- show cookies
- remove cookies

or

Tools
clear private data

as far as my pop up blocker goes
I ran Sybot and AdAware

the pop up blocker still turns off when I exit Firefox.
I thought I might mention that the pop up blocker never turns off in IE, unless I manually turn it off.

Tools
- Options
- Privacy tab
- show cookies
- remove cookies

or

Tools
clear private data

as far as my pop up blocker goes
I ran Sybot and AdAware

the pop up blocker still turns off when I exit Firefox.
I thought I might mention that the pop up blocker never turns off in IE, unless I manually turn it off.

Firefox may be turning it off because it has it's own pop up blocker. With Firefox you do not need a third party pop up blocker.

Firefox may be turning it off because it has it's own pop up blocker. With Firefox you do not need a third party pop up blocker.I am not using a third party pop up blocker, at least I don't think I am.

If I open Firefox, go to Tools, the Options, then Content - the box for Block pop ups is always unchecked. I have to check it again every time I open Firefox.

Am I missing a setting somewhere?

I am not using a third party pop up blocker, at least I don't think I am.

If I open Firefox, go to Tools, the Options, then Content - the box for Block pop ups is always unchecked. I have to check it again every time I open Firefox.

Am I missing a setting somewhere?

Oooohh, sorry. I misunderstood. Probably a problem with your profile. Uninstall and then reinstall Firefox. Once you've uninstall go to the root directory and delete the Firefox folder. Then go into the registry (Start -> Run -> Regedit) and then go into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE and delete anything related to Mozilla and Firefox. If you have other Mozilla products installed then only delete anything related to Firefox.

That will remove all traces of it from your system. From then on you can install it as if it was the first time.

Thanks for your help.

I just reinstalled Firefox on my computer, since I was getting really tired of Internet Explorer and its' nice little errors :p. So far it's been good :).

Just a heads up - Firefox 3 is coming in June. It's in the beta stages at the moment but the first release candiate is not far off now.
I would not recommend people try the beta's unless they have some experience with getting incompatiable extensions to work in newer versions of firefox.

The Memory leak issues have been fixed in Firefox 3. I'm running beta 5 at the moment.

I tried the tester version about a month ago and liked the changes, but too many of my add-ons had no updates so I didn't want to move over. Most of the ones I care about have FF3 versions now so I downloaded it.

The only problems I've seen so far are 1) I haven't noticed any great difference in the memory usage, but perhaps it's because of the types of things I have open. 2) strangely a few sites I've gone on the graphics have shown up as red boxes. :huh: It's only a few sites and not even all the graphics so I'm not sure what the problem is. Usually it's just ads so I don't care much, but still a bit odd.

I'm a new firefox user ... IE was just causing too many security problems. Unfortunately FF seems to be so security conscious that I can't get into major sites like Amazon, Target, Office Depot, etc. I keep getting a "waiting for" message. That even includes google searches. The only search engine I can use all the time is Lycos.

Any suggestions?

ETA: Even my ISP couldn't help and I switched back to IE. Still having some problems with that, but I'm handling them better and I can at least get into websites that I need.

I'm a new firefox user ... IE was just causing too many security problems. Unfortunately FF seems to be so security conscious that I can't get into major sites like Amazon, Target, Office Depot, etc. I keep getting a "waiting for" message. That even includes google searches. The only search engine I can use all the time is Lycos.

Any suggestions?

ETA: Even my ISP couldn't help and I switched back to IE. Still having some problems with that, but I'm handling them better and I can at least get into websites that I need.
It's hard to say without more information. Those sites shouldn't be security risks, so this is likely a different issue. Do all pages have this problem, or is it only some?

Help!

Every time I have several tabs open in one window and I try to change the site or go back in any tab, the change happens in the first tab, but not in the one where I actually clicked in.

Help!

Every time I have several tabs open in one window and I try to change the site or go back in any tab, the change happens in the first tab, but not in the one where I actually clicked in.

Sorry, I can't help you.

My software motto: If it doesn't work, forget about it and use something else.

Hence, I am using Opera right now:lol:



I'll probably move back to FF eventually, but for now I'm good!:)

I'll de-install it and install it again. Maybe it works.

I'll de-install it and install it again. Maybe it works.

If not it may be worth giving this (http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Ask+a+question#Firefox_support_live_chat) a go Tenshi :)

I have Firefox loaded on all the computers that I use, but on my Vista computer I can't see videos. I can see the videos if I use IE on that computer. It asks me to load the Adobe plugin, but when I do, it still doesn't work. How do I get Firefox to run videos?

I have Firefox loaded on all the computers that I use, but on my Vista computer I can't see videos. I can see the videos if I use IE on that computer. It asks me to load the Adobe plugin, but when I do, it still doesn't work. How do I get Firefox to run videos?
I had the same problem. I downloaded the Adobe plugin again and it started to work then. :hmm:

I have Firefox loaded on all the computers that I use, but on my Vista computer I can't see videos. I can see the videos if I use IE on that computer. It asks me to load the Adobe plugin, but when I do, it still doesn't work. How do I get Firefox to run videos?
I had the same problem on one of my computers (even though it wasn't Vista). You Tube videos (well any video online really) wouldn't run (they'd play for 2 seconds and then completely freeze--not loading just dead). I tried re-downloading but it didn't work. I tried a million different things before I came across this page (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Windows_Media_Player#Missing_plugin). It's a WMP plugin and I'm not entirely sure how it works but it worked for me! :)

Thanks. I downloaded the WMP plugin, but it still didn't work. I went back and tried to install the Adobe plugin again and this time it worked. :clap: I think I was doing something wrong the first time.

I downloaded the latest version and FF always dies on me. It starts to close very often, with a weird error message that something causes the closure. I tried to change the settings, but it tells me that FF can't work without this feature. Any suggestions?

Edit: Data Execution Prevention, that's it.

Also where can I download previous versions?

How lucky for me to happen upon this thread: My bookmark icon for MuggleNet used to be the "M" from the homepage, but over the past year or so it has been changing to odd-looking icons -- or the default icon of a piece of paper.

Is anyone else having this problem? Is it something on my end, something I can fix?

For the last few days, I've been having a problem with Firefox. Some websites load blank (all white) and it says "done" at the bottom left of the screen, like normal, but there's no content, just a blank page. It takes forever when it's loading the blank pages too.

I switched to IE last night and had no problems, so I figure it's Firefox. Is this happening to anyone else?

I'm having a problem with Firefox here on CoS on areas that are password protected and requires cookies. I have on "tools", "options" and "privacy" the option "accept cookies from sites" checked as well as the accept cookies from third parties, but when I visite am area that requires password I go there and put it, click on ok and nothing happens. So I'm using IE for this areas here in CoS, what sucks. So if someone can help me with this problem I will be very happy :D