Firefox problems

After reading about the problem currently with ie6 and a friend has been infected,
I have inatalled firefox and Thunderbird.

While I am happy with thunderbird I have major troubles with firefox.

After shut down and restart, I cannot access the net via firefox even though it says it is running, I have right clicked and disabled it as default and have re-inabled ie6 as default.
but,
I cannot access any sites via desktop shortcut items or the favourites accessed through the start-favourites yet they work from the favourites accessed from within ie6.

I wanted to give firefox a fair chance but looks like I will have to go back to a previous restore point.

unless you know better...

I use firefox for like 1 and a half years now, and never head any problems like these.

i suggest you just uninstall windows and try if it helps :D

seriously, it sometimes happens that a firefox profile or session are not really clean and screw things up. Try creating a clean profile, it often helped me. you just have to copy the old bookmarks file and it's ok ;)

Uninstall windows?

Do you mean internet explorer?

I have tried a system restore and that has failed on last 4 points, so I guess there is no going back

Tools -> Options -> General -> Connections (its at the bottom)
Make sure things are correct there.

There are other browsers for Windows that don't use an overlay on IE you know......

yes I found that, now Ill need to sort out some settings,
localhost,127.0.0.1 is greyed out, and when selected nothing still happens, so Ill have to try and find correct settings later when I get home.

Just wondered why it worked first time, unless IE was set to check if it was default and altered the settings?

I cannot even get that far,

I cannot even get it to open or even right click to access settings, Its like everything is controlled by IE.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled.

It is so frustrating.

I cannot find any useful help on google searches, I cannot possibly be the only person with this problem.
I have disabled all firewall and spy blockers in case. Still no luck.

Im just going to have to format and start again.

It seems to me that you're having problems with you connection in general, not with Firefox specifically.

Open a command prompt & see if you can reach sites from there (tracert www.techspot.com for example).

I am able to access all the sites via the favourites drop down list once I have opened internet explorer, and am able to access all my email via thunderbird,

The wiers thing is that any links shown up in the e-mail when clicked will not link to the site and any short cut in the sesktop and the favourites in the start menu when clicked give the error that windows could not find....... please re type etc etc.

yet if I now shrink this window and click on the desktop shorcut link it takes me to the site.

Its like Internet explorer is not quite the first thing that the shortcuts access.

Im sure its a setting that firefox has changed.

Also when I went to delete firefox it was reported as running, so its there somewhere but does not show up on ctrl alt del

:(

ptitterington...just curious. Does you ISP require you to connect through a proxy server?

I think so, as we had trouble with internet messenger a while ago and that rings a bell

The thing is, I was able to right click on forefox and view the settings, I cannot do that now.

If so make sure you fill in the proxy address in the "connections" tab sngx has pointed out. Otherwise, you can't surf the internet.

I just am unable to access firefox at all even a bit, and I have deleted and reinstalled.

I am in the process of backing up work so I can format and reinstall. This time when all is working 100% ill make a ghost image

I'm having the same problem...i think the uninstall doesn't restore the proper reg entries for htm, and html, and url file associations. :( i WILL solve it, but damn, the time investment to try non MS solutions...i dunno guys... AND firefox should be all over this instead of hiding their head in the sand!

Well I formatted and reinstalled, and have not gone back to firefox, its a pity as the glimpse I had was good. I know a few people who are using it and are happy.

Originally posted by sopan123
I'm having the same problem...i think the uninstall doesn't restore the proper reg entries for htm, and html, and url file associations. :( i WILL solve it, but damn, the time investment to try non MS solutions...i dunno guys... AND firefox should be all over this instead of hiding their head in the sand!

Bug fixes are made daily to Firefox. If you report a bug, it is very likely it will be fixed right away as long as you can reproduce it.

Never seen anything quite like what you are experiencing though. But I'm not sure I understand the problem fully.

I get this error message when I click a URL shortcut to a site such as techspot.com from the desktop or from the Favorites menu at Start > Favorites with Firefox set as the default browser.

Windows cannot find 'http://www.techspot.com/'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click search. (OK Button)

I load up techspot.com like normally but I get this dumb error message. Is this what you are talking about ptitterington?

This is a strange bug. Favorites run fine from within Firefox. Maybe it is a bug with Firefox interacting with Windows. Windows is expecting IE but gets Firefox instead. :confused:

A bit like that but soon after when I reinstalled it I just could not access the internet unless with Internet explorer. I was unable to access the settings for firefox at all even though it was running.

As opposed to reinstalling, as Rick points out they update files nightly. When you delete and reinstall, redownload the installer with the most recent checkpoint, instead of using an installer that laready gave you a corrupt install.

My first experience with Firefox was a nightmare. Deinstalled, redownloaded, it's been great. Have reinstalled several times with the most recent just to test things (haven't had many actual non-windows bugs), and those have been good too.

The biggest gripe I have is the startup time of Firefox, and that is a function of my hardware, I think... We'll see after my ram gets quadrupled later today after the delivery man arrives. :D

What do you think about this,

Now that my machine is pretty clear of all the old rubbish that may have interferred.

If I set up another account on the same machine, and download and run firefox, if it is now fine, install it on my account and then delete the test account?

Is it that easy?

That probably would be worth a try, although I'm not sure the account difference will help much...

You ought to just swallow your pride and download Opera 7.53 and use it. Its more easily customizable than firefox, it looks better "out of the box", and it has all of the basic stuff firefox offers (that is better than IE). The only thing I can think of that firefox offers that is superior to Opera is about:config and what you can do in there. But I bet a vast majority of newcommers to firefox don't even know about that. Everyone that wants to attempt an alternate browser uses firefox, and I have absolutely no idea why. I even asked about it in a thread here once and didn't get very good responses.

/me steps down off his soapbox
I don't preach stuff like this often (aside from some jabbing in the irc channel), just thought with the abundance of pro firefox people here and nobody to offer any of another side warranted me stepping in.

Originally posted by SNGX1275
You ought to just swallow your pride and download Opera 7.53 and use it. Its more easily customizable than firefox, it looks better "out of the box", and it has all of the basic stuff firefox offers (that is better than IE). The only thing I can think of that firefox offers that is superior to Opera is about:config and what you can do in there. But I bet a vast majority of newcommers to firefox don't even know about that. Everyone that wants to attempt an alternate browser uses firefox, and I have absolutely no idea why. I even asked about it in a thread here once and didn't get very good responses.

/me steps down off his soapbox
I don't preach stuff like this often (aside from some jabbing in the irc channel), just thought with the abundance of pro firefox people here and nobody to offer any of another side warranted me stepping in.

The answer: It's open source and free. Opera is also free, but with the sacrafice of an advertisement... Which is extremely unappealing.

I have never & still do not install Firefox. I just download the ZIP file, extract the folder where I want it & launch the EXE file.

When a new version comes out, I just delete the folder & extract the new one in the same location. Have you tried doing so ?

I just dl the exe, click it and then tell it what directory to install to, also checking the box to launch when install is done. Seems to be about the same amount of work to get it to run :)

Opera does make you buy it to get rid of the ad, but if you have a screen resolution at 1028x764 or higher you can shift things around so the banner doesn't use up anything except 'white space'.

Today, I also encountered the problem with Firefox not starting. I click the icon and nothing happens. I have uninstalled and reinstalled it three times and no luck. What is the bug with this program. Did Windows release some update which is somehow interfering with Firefox?

This is a long shot Jarrett, but hit ctrl alt del and look at running processes, if firefox is running (But you can't see it in the taskbar) kill it. Then launch it again. I've had this happen with a few programs I think in the past. And I've had it happen several times on the comps I use at work with explorer.

Also try picking a new blank Firefox profile, it often helps

When I check the running processes, Firefox.exe is listed. But when I kill it and restart the program, it still does not appear on the screen although it is again listed as a running process in the task manager.

This is odd since I've been using Firefox for 2 months with no problems at all until now.

Thanks for the replies.

This is exactly what my problem was and sorry to say that I gave up and reformatted and started all over.

I was a little sad as when it worked it was fine.

*sigh. RTFT*

Originally posted by DigitAlex
Also try picking a new blank Firefox profile, it often helps

Please note that Firefox isn't even 1.0.x yet...

don't see the point ? how is that related to what i said

RTFT? I was just pointing attention to what you'd said.. Makes no sense to me to have you posting useful advice and people ignoring it.

My point about 1.0 was that this isn't a final release- it is still, in a sense, a beta. There are likely to be bugs, that's why they've not gone to 1.0 in version numbers. However, most bugs are worked out, and for most people it's a good experience.

For others, it takes a little bit of patience and troubleshooting- kill the process, restart. Reboot. Use a blank profile. Enable debug messages. Get a new binary. Etc.

OK no prob. I didnt notice the RTFT. I wondered about the link between versions and blank profiles ;) no prob now it's all clear :p

Originally posted by JarrettMD
Today, I also encountered the problem with Firefox not starting. I click the icon and nothing happens. I have uninstalled and reinstalled it three times and no luck. What is the bug with this program. Did Windows release some update which is somehow interfering with Firefox?
I experienced this about 256 times when I was localizing Firefox and testing various things. The solution that worked every time was deleting Firefox's settings directory completely, as it creates a new one when launched if it doesn't exist. Just copy bookmarks.html, cookperm.txt or the like to somewhere else if you want to save them.

[QUOTE=ptitterington]What do you think about this,

Now that my machine is pretty clear of all the old rubbish that may have interferred.

If I set up another account on the same machine, and download and run firefox, if it is now fine, install it on my account and then delete the test account?

I have been reading the posts and was wondering what OS you are running and also if you are running WinXP w/ SP2 update?
There is other controversy on the net about Microsoft and SP2 update that would only allow you to connect with Internet Explorer. I have also heard others complain about the same behavior and they just uninstalled the SP2 upoate as I did and the computer ran extremely slow afterwards. So I started from scratch like you and have been using both Firefox and IE6 ever since and have had no problems (Yet) I also noticed on one of the other tech sites this morning there was another commment about the same problem and SP2 update.
:confused:

My troubles were all XP Homo sp1 and many other fixes, basically up to date at the time. :slurp:

I deleted firefox..and now have problems opening URLs in my files, shortcuts and junk like that..I'm also having some trouble with downloads now..I get errors telling me FIREFOX.EXE cannot be found, I am not given the option to make IE my default..I'm really pissed that I bothered to downlod the program in the first place..

The folder for Firefox should be deleted from your C:\programs folder the uninstall does not remove this folder and should be done manually it may have gotten corrupted. If you downloaded this browser it may have also gotten corrupted during the download. You may want to run a virus scan and it always helps to scan for malware and spyware on your system I use Pest Patrol and Adware 6.0 along with the spyware scan that is included with PC-Cillin Internet Security. If you already downloaded SP2 update for windows I had nothing but problems with that update. I ended up having to remove it.

Right click on the [Start]

Choose[explore]

Locate your C:\ [or your default installation drive] \programs\Mozilla Firefox folder and delete it.

Try to install to browser again it will recreate the folder you just deleted.

My OS is Windows XP Professional Corporate Edition
PC Cillin Internet Security 7

TWL

I am not given the option to make IE my default
The option is in Internet Explorer's Tools menu, in "Internet Options - Programs". Place a checkmark on "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser". You may need to start IE again after that.

yeah the option is there..but it won't let me click it..its not available.

You didn't happen to Uninstall IE while you were preparing to use Firefox did you? In any case if you have XP SP2 open up Control Panels, then Add/Remove Programs, then on the left hand column there is Add/Remove Windows Components. Click that, then see if Internet Explorer is checked.
If it is not check it.

Also it may not hurt to uncheck it if it is checked. Then Reboot. Then go back and check it. That should re-install IE. You will likely need your XP cd for this though, so if you don't have it, I would not bother.

The option is in Internet Explorer's Tools menu, in "Internet Options - Programs". Place a checkmark on "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser". You may need to start IE again after that.
You have the choice also to reset to default settings right above the check box.
Just curious:
Was you logged in as administrator for the install?
Do you run anti-virus software? With URL Filtering? Are you behind a firewall? Are you on a network with shields up? Have you downloaded the WinXP SP2? If so check the settings.
Have you scanned for adware, spyware, and malware? You can get adware 6.0 for free from their website http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ or from CNET (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5) and you can scan with Pest Patrol right on the website or try an evaluation copy for download http://www.pestpatrol.com/downloads/eval/download.asp.
Have you tried to download Internet Explorer right from Microsoft and try and run it outside of Windows Install?
Have you reset your "Set Programs and Access Default" settings?
This sounds more like a DoS caused by a third party or corrupted files. Maybe I am wrong. Just trying to help.
My OS Windows XP Pro Corporate Edition
PC-Cillin Internet Security 7.1 2005

I only have been having one problem, My Firefox browser remembers the password to the login on a website, but when i go to login all it comes up with is the same login screen with my username and password still there, it only seems to be happening for a select few sites, ive unistalled and reinstalled Firefox and that doesn't seem to be helping...

Any ideas?

Thanks

I've been using firefox for a year now suddenly i can't use it because of this problem that occured in my screen. do you know what to do?

-------------------------------
the proxy server is refusing connections

Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections.

* Check the proxy settings to make sure that they are correct.

* Contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is
working.

------------------------------

I can use IE but I NEED FIREFOX

I have also had problems with Firefox & also Opera, & would be grateful for any ideas. The two browsers seem to work fine with every website except the BBC homepage, which remains blank. All other BBC pages work fine. Tried the following with no success: clearing the cache, uninstalling & reinstalling, changing my profile. Any suggestions?
The following message comes up in the error console, but it means nothing to me:
'Warning: Error in parsing value for property 'display'. Declaration dropped.
Source File: http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/d/styles/ashes.css?1.3
Line: 21'

I could just dump Firefox (& Opera) & go back to using IE, but apart from this problem they are better browsers.

Ok i've spent the last 2 days trying to solve this myself and the answer is quite simple.

the problem, every time i open Firefox, it tells me that the Firefox process is already running but is not responding. however, when i click "OK" to that and open task manager, there is nothing there for Firefox. I think this is what ptitterington was trying to explain.

here's how to resolve.....

Uninstall Firefox through Add/Remove programs. once this is done, brouse to C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name here)\Application Data (you masy need to check the "show hiden files and folders" check box in the"View" tab in the "folder options" option under the "Tools" menu). look for a folder called "Mozilla" and go into it. then delete the "Firefox" folder. this doesn't get deleted durring the uninstall.

the actuall problem lies with the registry file becoming corrupt after clearing or "Cleaning" a Firefox profile. so by deleting that Firefox folder you are getting rid of the corrupt files that don't disappear on an uninstall.

hope this helps.

also use crap cleaner's registry repair function or norton systemworks registry repair to fix your registry from time to time. Good maintenance tool.

Hi, I had been running firefox for 2years with no probs, but cannot log on to server. Same message as others. This is since upgrading to 2.0. There must be a bug as so many people seem to have the same prob.

I used my firefox this morning, as soon as i tried to use it asfter I came home, I was gettin this:

**********************************************************



Unable to connect


Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at en-us.start2.mozilla.com.


* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.

* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.

* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.



**********************************************************

As a network admin, I know what i need to do to make sure things are working. I did all that and still no firefox. Is thier server down????

BrownPaper,

I have the EXACT SAME problem that you describe, complete with the same Windows error message. It is clearly a problem with FireFox's interactions with Windows. I keep waiting for Mozilla to post a patch that fixes it, but nothing so far.

BrownPaper and ptitterington, don't let these guys convince you that your problem is not real, or it's something that's your fault. It is a reproducible error with FireFox and the FireFox people need to address it. Half the people at my work who use FireFox have the same problem.