Firefox Update Prevents Sites from Loading

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This is not pure Windows, but I’m hoping someone can help me with this. I updated Firefox to its most recent version (sorry, forget how to find out which one it is) a couple of days ago. Since then, I can’t load any sites, my own, Ask Woody, local library … any of the sites I usually use. Additionally, all my program icons from the top bar have disappeared.

I’ve tried to research ways to fix this, but find the instructions are too technical for me and I’m afraid to make things worse.

Can anyone suggest a fix? Should I delete the browser and reload it? If I do, won’t I lose all the settings I’m trying to keep? For now, I have to use Chrome, but I don’t want to switch to it permanently if I can avoid doing so … Google is far too intrusive already!!

Thanks for any suggestions!

Linda

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First, backup or make a copy of  C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla

Then try Help > Troubleshoot Mode and see if anything works. Then you might try downloading firefox and reinstalling over the top.

I have only had issues with firefox once or twice over many many years. Those times I ran the install over the top and was OK. Good luck!

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Should you try Troubleshoot Mode what opens (for me) is Missing the Menu bar (File Edit View History Bookmarks, etc…. SO, to the right of the tabs area Rt Clk and Clk – Menu Bar – to see them. Look at Bookmarks to see if they’re there and try one. Troubleshoot Mode (aka FF Safe Mode) is FF WITHOUT Addons or customizations Working, and IF something then succeeds, you generally can blame it on an Addon. When you CLOSE FF in Troubleshoot Mode and Re-open it, it opens back in Regular mode.

What cyberSAR told you to Copy has Your – FF Profile – in it (ie) your FF DNA with Addons, custom features, appearance mods, etc and most/all of it may be used to reconstruct FF in a NEW Profile – IF it comes to that. Hopefully, Install Over current version works as it has for him.

A backup source for Help is where I go – the Mozillazine.org Sppt Forum —

Try whatever you can and report back so the experts can update suggestions.

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Thanks, cyberSAR and CraigS26.Will give your suggestions a try.

One Question:

Then you might try downloading firefox and reinstalling over the top.

I understand the file I copy has all my stuff on it but how do I “install over the top” of it?

Will hold off until you have time to answer.

Linda

P.S. This is the first time I’ve had any issues with Firefox so it has taken me by surprise. Even YouTube won’t load!

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Sorry, the folder I suggested backing up (making a copy of) would be for backup purposes in case you end up having to do a thorough uninstall and fresh install of firefox. That has all your bookmarks, passwords, settings etc. After copying (backing up) that folder just run the FF installer and it will see the original folder and “should” save all your settings.

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Aha! Thanks, now I understand. Will give it a try soon and post back results once I have.

Oops, another question:

I found the files, but am unsure how much to copy. Do I copy/backup the whole “Mozilla”  folder or just the Firefox one in the dropdown list on the right? Please see attached screenshot to see what I mean.

Linda

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You can pick out the files needed for recovery, such as places, bookmarks etc. I just copy the whole folder out of convenience/speed then if I need it I can either copy the folder contents back or pick what I want out of it.

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IreneLinda

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The latest Firefox update as of this date is 104.0.2.   Since there was no security update with it I have not installed it yet on my Win 7 machine.  IreneLinda’s problem has me concerned to say the least.  It would be good to know if possible, if this is a fault of this latest update and if anyone else is having any problem(s) with it.  Thanks.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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i have 104.0.2 and don’t have any problems. However, it might be an extension that’s causing the problem, so perhaps disabling all of them to see if the problem is fixed, if so, enable them one at a time.

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

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I have 104.0.1 installed and I don’t have any problems either.  So it’s 104.0.2 that’s in question here it would seem.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Hey Charlie I meant to type the latest version 104.0.2. I’m doing an office with 10 right now and they all updated just fine. Bookmarks, layout, passwords all working. Hope that helps.

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Charlie

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I run ESR on most of my machines but have updated probably 30-40 machines to 104 with no reported issues.

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I have 104.0.2 and don’t have any problems.  I am replying in Ask Woody on Firefox.

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Interesting idea, access-mdb. Maybe I should give that a try before going any further. Can’t hurt. Will post back. Certainly looks as if the issue lies only with me as you have no issues with the update.

Thanks!

Linda

P.S. Thanks for the clarification, cyberSAR. Am going to copy the whole folder just to be safe, but will try access-mdb extension idea before I do.

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Also try Help > More Troubleshooting Info. Option to clear cache refresh FF etc. I knew it used to be there somewhere 🙂

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UPDATE

Well, it looks as if an extension was the issue. When I disabled DuckDuckGo Privacy, all sites could load again. Disappointing since I love DuckDuckGo.

Now, the only remaining issue is why all the program icons I used to have at the top of my screen are no longer there (see attachment – most of the icons in Chrome). Is that something that cyberSAR’s fix could correct?

Thanks for this quick fix, access-mdb! Never thought of extensions, but likely should have given “disable plugins one at a time” is always the first debugging step WordPress uses and I use WordPress!

I’m glad to have Firefox back, even missing the icons. 🙂

Linda

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Weird. Troubleshoot mode didn’t disable the extensions?

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cyberSAR:

Troubleshoot mode didn’t disable the extensions?

I tried the extension fix before I did troubleshoot. Will still try your further suggestions and post back. I guess that’s called the toolbar and not address bar??

Charlie: you’re right. I used to be much more conscientious about doing restore points before updating. Got sloppy with Firefox because I’d never had any issues through dozens of updates. Sigh. I’ll certainly do one before the next update!

Linda

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If it were me going through this grief I would ask myself which I liked better – DuckDuckGo Privacy or the non-security Firefox update.  This is one reason why I always make a resort point on Windows and Linux before installing any updates!

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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IreneLinda

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Could just be corruption and reinstalling the extension may get it back. I also think this shows a VERY good reason to have more than 1 browser on a machine.

Linda, I’m not sure about that toolbar with icons you showed but if you have a backup of the app data folder from before this occurred you might try restoring it and see if it comes back. You can always overwrite it if not with the latest folder contents.

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I’m not familiar with “program icons”.
Perhaps are these website icons, in the Bookmarks Toolbar?
If so –
Long way (this is on FF 100, but 104 should be same/similar) –
> ‘Hamburger proxy’ [upper right corner]
> More tools
> Customize toolbar …
> [bottom left corner] Toolbars > Bookmarks Toolbar
(While you’re in this neighborhood, play with other settings?)

Medium way
Alt+V > Toolbars > Bookmarks Toolbar > Always Show
(And I always have Menu Bar selected.)

Short way
Ctrl+Shift+B

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Perhaps are these website icons, in the Bookmarks Toolbar?

Yes, Paul, that’s what I meant … I think.

I tried Long Way and Medium Way with no success; Short Way gave me back the icons, but they are all blurred out and in a row above where they used to be. I attached a screenshot to show you but they are hard to see … they’re on the New Tab line, way over to the right.

Just realized that they are sort of there on the line beside the Color Picker icon – no icons, just gray boxes but if I hover over them, I can see their names, eg. LastPass, WhatFont? and so on. Weird, huh? Maybe cyberSAR is right and I should save current FF files and reload Firefox?

Does that suggest anything further. I’m don’t think these are bookmarks, but icons or shortcuts to apps or programs I use regularly, eg. LastPass.

I’m getting brain fog so will come back at this on a new day.

Thank you all for your suggestions and offers to help. You, your ideas and your time are very much appreciated!

Linda

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I wonder: Is it possible that the ‘faded icons’ really are the icons on the Desktop, but seen through the semi-transparent-semi-opaque top of the FF page?
To test this, either minimize FF; or do a ‘Restore Down’ – the middle stacked boxes just to the left of the “Red-X” in the top-right corner. These background faded icons should now appear in their full glory. And they really are Program Icons!

Also play with the settings at: Tools > Add-ons and Themes > Themes

For Website appearance (not this problem) also see at:
Tools > Settings > General > [in 2nd main section down] ‘Website appearance’.

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IreneLinda

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I think the icons Linda is referring to are the extension icons, not website icons (aka, “favicons”) on her Bookmarks toolbar. To illustrate, I’ve taken the liberty of mocking up a hybrid image merging my own bookmarks toolbar with her extension bar.

Note that in my mockup, I have the Bookmarks toolbar showing, whereas Linda has hers turned off. I’ve shown it turned on merely to emphasize the difference between that and the extension bar.

There should be up to four rows at the top of the browser:

1. optional: a top row of menu shortcuts (File, Edit, View, etc.)
2. tabs of open websites
3. the URL bar, with the extension bar to the right of the URL bar
4. optional: the bookmarks toolbar with select shortcut icons (“favicons”)

(Note that bookmarks usually have text names next to each favicon, though in my own toolbar I’ve eliminated the text. Personally, if I frequent a site often enough to make it worth putting in my quick-access toolbar, I don’t need a text name to remind me what the favicon represents. In exchange, I can get more shortcuts in my toolbar.)

In Linda’s post #2476825, it appears there are two Firefox windows, with one on top of the other. In the default “aero” manner, the back window is blurred and partially visible through semi-transparent portions of the front window.

Note the front window (the clear text) shows header rows 1,2 and 3, with only one one extension — the “eyedropper”.

The back window shows header rows 2 and 3 of a different browser instance, with four open tabs and Linda’s full complement of extensions.

It appears to me there are two FF instances running, each drawing from different profiles.

Now, whether she really opened two browser instances or whether Firefox is malfunctioning, I don’t know. I’m just delineating what I see in her screenshots. Hopefully, this will help focus others in helping her repair the issue.

Perhaps an uninstall/reinstall is in order. I wouldn’t really worry about the extensions because they’re easily reinstalled. But if there are bookmarks that need to be saved, multiple profiles could complicate the matter. The rest of the stuff in the profiles isn’t really relevant if she’s reinstalling.

I don’t have Firefox installed on my system, so maybe others can help her retrieve her bookmarks, if she needs to. (I use the portable version of Firefox, which doesn’t use the normal Firefox directory structure.)

 

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PaulK

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Thank you, DG. I don’t use extensions so I don’t know how they exhibit.
Nice graphics work.

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Perhaps @IreneLinda should read the link within this thread whilst addressing the issue.

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Hi all, and thanks for all your suggestions.

Is it possible that the ‘faded icons’ really are the icons on the Desktop, but seen through the semi-transparent-semi-opaque top of the FF page?

Good idea, Paul, but, no, they aren’t on my desktop. In the light of a new day, I realize I must have had Chrome open behind Firefox and those faded icons I saw were Chrome ones being seen through the semi-transparent top of Firefox! Duh. When I couldn’t reproduce them just now using your “Short way”, I realized my error. Sorry for the misdirection.

dg1261:

There should be up to four rows at the top of the browser:

1. optional: a top row of menu shortcuts (File, Edit, View, etc.)
2. tabs of open websites
3. the URL bar, with the extension bar to the right of the URL bar
4. optional: the bookmarks toolbar with select shortcut icons (“favicons”)

Yes, that’s it. I have #1 – 3 on mine and it’s #3 that’s missing (except for the Color Picker icon). Thanks for the helpful graphic!

Rereading this thread, I think the best option is to save the FF folder; then, uninstall and reinstall. As suggested, getting the extensions back on the URL bar is not difficult.

I’ll tackle that and let you know how I do. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will just correct itself when I open my computer again in the morning has not worked! 😉

Again, many thanks to all of you for your ideas and your time!

Linda

 

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This is an embarrassing post to write, but …

What I did:

• Went back to the beginning (cyberSAR and CraigS26)
• Copied all relevant FF files just in case
• Tried Help – Troubleshoot and saw the browser worked, minus extensions etc. as Craig suggested
• Closed Troubleshoot FF and opened a new instance …

And everything was back where it should be, without having to do a new install! I could even reactivate DuckDuck Go Privacy with no problems.

So now I feel as if I’ve wasted everyone’s time and am so sorry! I know I learned a lot just following suggestions and reading links (Mozilla help forum, info about extensions’ possible dangers to name two) so I’m hoping others reading this thread did, too, and will forgive me!

All is now well. Next step in both Firefox and Chrome: check on the safety of a few of my extensions and get rid of any that are unsafe or not regularly used.

Embarrassingly yours,

Linda

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cyberSAR

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Nothing to forgive and nothing to be embarrassed about! We all jump to the “usual” things we’ve learned and done in the past. I learned a long, long time ago when your initial suspicion doesn’t pan out start from scratch and approach it fresh (which is sometimes hard to do). Something as simple as a restart will often get a computer under control (I keep waiting for that to be included in tip of the day thread). 🙂

Glad you got it back.

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Thanks for your kind reply. It made me feel better! As for restart, that’s what I kept hoping … each morning when I started up the computer anew, I hoped the “new” fresh start would fix the issue! 😉

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