Strange problem with Firefox

[Jeff Zylstra]

This problem started yesterday (I think).   I cannot use the search box in my Firefox. Others can, but I cannot.  There are no search engines listed, and I cannot add any using the "manage search engines" function.  Everything is grayed out in that box.  I have deleted Seach.SQLite, and the FormsHistory file in the profile, thinking that it was corrupted and would be recreated but to no avail.  I even updated the program to version 20, but still nothing.  What is even odder is that I cannot access Google.com, Bing.Com or Amazon.Com.  You can type the address in the address bar and hit enter, but nothing happens.  No errors, no hour glass, nothing.  Any ideas?

[Conan_Ward]

no problems going to any of those pages from other browsers? address/search bar in IE (depending on version) or omnibox in chrome is able to search ok?

[Bob]

I would laugh if you working offline and didn't know it.   

I just downloaded and installed FF 20.   Previous version struggled with G+ this one plays nicer.  Has more privacy features too.

[Jeff Zylstra]

no problems going to any of those pages from other browsers? address/search bar in IE (depending on version) or omnibox in chrome is able to search ok?

No problems accessing any other sites in IE 8.  Yes, address searchbar in IE works fine.  I ran a Malwarebytes scan, and it came up with nothing.  The sites that I cannot access all seem to be search engines that were once used in Firefox, but can no longer be accessed  because the plug in for the search engine is gone and cannot be added, and also typing the address for the website in the address bar does not work either.  I CAN access those websites via links in other websites, or from bookmarks however, so I'm guessing that it is a corruption issue in Firefox.  Tried rebuilding the Firefox profile, but no joy as of yet.

And yes, I did try the "work offline" option  - just to make sure.   

[Bob]

Save your bookmarks to a file, uninstall the browser completely.  Reboot.   Load the latest version and should be good to go.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Save your bookmarks to a file, uninstall the browser completely.  Reboot.   Load the latest version and should be good to go.

I've been dreading that because I have hundreds of bookmarks, but if I can do it with an export and import then the "nuclear" option it is!  Thanks, Bob.

[Gene Foraker]

No need to worry about bookmarks.  I use the free Firefox addon - XMARKS to save all of my bookmarks in the cloud and synchronize them to all of my computers.   I believe that Firefox has their own addon now to do the same thing.   You can also choose to share the saved passwords to all of your computers.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Tried uninstalling with Revo uninstaller to get a thorough uninstall, and STILL no joy!  I've also disabled every plug in and extension, updated those extensions, and everything else I can think of.  I've uninstalled and reinstalled several times, deleting old folders and profiles, but still no joy.  I have to think that there are hidden files out there somewhere, probably related to the fact that I used roaming profiles. 

Also, I can not directly type a web address into the address bar or search engine bar (there are no search engines listed and I can't add any).  I CAN reach sites that are in the bookmarks, are reached via links, or that I have visited previously.  Those work.  Almost makes me think it is DNS related, except that Internet Explorer works fine (I just hate it), and Firefox works with sites in the bookmarks, even though I've cleared history, etc....

Any ideas?

P.S.  Thanks, Gene.

[Mark]

In Firefox, click Bookmarks -> Show all bookmarks (Ctrl+Shift+B) -> Import and Backup -> Export Bookmarks to HTML.

Save to known location like Desktop or whatever, then uninstall and reinstall Firefox, or just close Firefox and delete your profile and let it build a new one.  Profile is located in

Code Select Expand

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
If it's Windows 7, then

Code Select Expand

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

I'd just nuke the whole folder.  It will be named some_randomness.default.  You could even just move it to another location for testing and move it back if it doesn't work.  If Firefox wont open afterwards, run a repair.

I got another idea if this doesn't help, but try this first.  It'll be less time consuming than plan B

[Billy Welsh]

Does Plan B involve garlic and incantations?   

[Mark]

Does Plan B involve garlic and incantations?   

No.  It involves the about:config page and manually resetting any user-defined settings to default.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Does Plan B involve garlic and incantations?   

No.  It involves the about:config page and manually resetting any user-defined settings to default.

I already tried accessing about:config from the address bar.  It's just like a website.  You hit enter and nothing happens.  No error, no hour glass, nothing.  I also tried deleting the profile, both from the users folder and the profiles\%user% folder on the server.  No luck with that yet.  I suspect that it was seeing old data from when I did a reset, so I am deleting those folders and trying the uninstall/reinstall again.  I'm so tempted to go with Chrome at this point, but I find some of the plugins for FF to be very useful.

[Jeff Zylstra]

From the Mozilla Firefox Forums:

"This is a known issue and will be fixed in 20.0.1 due out in the next few days. There is a problem with the address bar becoming unresponsive if the profile is stored remotely."

Bug 857672

Yes, my roaming profile is stored remotely, so I will assume that is the problem.  I should have checked there first, before uninstalling Java, plugins, etc....  Oh well.  It still beats Internet Explorer, which I am using right now. 

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2687285

[Conan_Ward]

I dunno, I do just fine with IE 10...but 10 only just got rolled out to anything other than 8

[Jeff Zylstra]

I dunno, I do just fine with IE 10...but 10 only just got rolled out to anything other than 8

We're still using IE 8 here, simply because insurance company websites don't really like change too much.  They invest in all of these plugins to make their print and PDF generation engines work, and they don't update them for eons, so we're stuck with what they support.  For some strange reason, the cursor in IE 8 blinks like a nervous tick, which drives me crazy.

[Jan Regnier]

I can say from experience IE 10 doesn't work with Indiana or Hanover websites.  I rolled back to IE 9 those machines that had updated to 10.  No problems with IE 9.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Maybe I need to update to IE 9.  Is there a lot of difference between IE 8 and 9?

[Conan_Ward]

I suppose for work reasons i can't recommend 10, I know PL rater has issues with it and csr24 pages require compatibility view on to work.

I got nothing on the cursor, mine here on 8 at work doesn't blink any worse than any other part of windows.

[Jan Regnier]

Maybe I need to update to IE 9.  Is there a lot of difference between IE 8 and 9?

Jeff, I honestly don't know since I use FF all the time.  Seldom use IE - only when required and I think we have had 9 for quite some time.

[Bob]

Maybe I need to update to IE 9.  Is there a lot of difference between IE 8 and 9?

PC needs to be Windows 7 to use IE9.  XP stops at IE8

[Conan_Ward]

I didn't notice much difference, IE keeps getting better at being a browser that works correctly the farther you get away from IE6. Though there is a bit more of a jump between 9/10 than I recall with 8/9 for speed/loading stuff correctly.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Maybe I need to update to IE 9.  Is there a lot of difference between IE 8 and 9?

PC needs to be Windows 7 to use IE9.  XP stops at IE8

Hmm.  That would stop it for me.  I have 3 workstations on XP right now, but I have ordered new ones that should arrive in the next week or so.

[Mark]

Your roaming profile is stored locally after you logon.  I didn't click the link, though.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Your roaming profile is stored locally after you logon.  I didn't click the link, though.

True, but if I look at file dates and times on the Firefox Profiles in both the C:\Users\Jeff\Local\... and the \\Server\Profiles\Jeff\... folders, the dates and times are identical so there is some interplay between each one.  Maybe it is because I use redirected folders, that this happens.

[Mark]

ahh.  Could be.  I only redirect the My Docs.