Tab page and customization keeps disappearing
For the last two days, my tabs page and customization keep disappearing. When I open a new tab, it is completely blank, with no preloaded sites. When I try to add items such as bookmarks, home, search, adblock, etc to the address bar, they appear as if they have been added but do not appear on the page, nor do they appear after I shut down and restart Firefox. I have refreshed multiple times in the last few days. At that point, I can see the tabs page, see the settings gear, and can populate tabs, pin them etc. I can also get the customization to work. Most recently, the tab page was there, and I could see sites loaded, but the images were missing and never appeared. Sometimes when I shut down the computer, the settings are all saved, but other times they all disappear and the process starts all over again. This includes when I close Firefox with the Exit command under File rather than using the red X option.
All Replies (9)
Other users have reported problems with FoxTab recently: the reviews for it over the last 9 months are pretty blistering: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/ad.../reviews/. I don't know enough about that extension to help with that.
But regarding the built-in main toolbar, those are changes that Firefox itself should save. Our support article "How to fix preferences that won't save" covers many of the reasons that there might be glitches with that. Another common issue is utility/privacy/security software like Advanced SystemCare that has a home page protection/browser protection feature. This can roll back your changes between sessions of Firefox. You may need to disable that feature if any of your software has it.
Can you tell me why sometimes i get the FoxTab site (which has no gear in the top right hand corner), and sometimes I get the New tabs page with the gear in the corner? To be honest, if it's glitchy i will stop trying to use it and just use the bookmarks, but that page was very nice when it worked.
I have deleted the preferences file...we'll see if that works.
I've never used FoxTab myself.
Regarding when it appears, it could be on the home page and/or the new tab page, as these are separate settings.
If it can't even consistently put itself on the pages you specify consistently, it may be time for a new "speed dial" add-on.
And it all just happened again...thoughts on uninstalling firefox and then reinstalling? or will that just make things worse?
Does this extension uses the Flash plugin like some others do?
You can check for problems with current Shockwave Flash plugin versions and try this:
- check for updates for your graphics drive drivers
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration - disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)
- disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin
See also:
Hmm, did you already remove FoxTab and the problem occurred again?
Regarding uninstall/reinstall: When uninstalling Firefox you have the choice of whether to destroy your personal data (e.g., bookmarks, passwords, history) or retain it. If you retain it, then when you reinstall, you're back in the same place you are now. Rather than destroy all data, it's usually better to use the Refresh feature, which I think you have already done so you know how that turns out.
In case your Firefox program folders are corrupted, there is a fairly quick way to replace them without uninstalling:
Clean Reinstall
We use this name, but it's not about removing your data/settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean. As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed.
(1) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 36.0.1 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)
(2) Exit out of Firefox.
(3) Rename the program folder
(64-bit Windows folder names)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox
(32-bit Windows folder names)
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
to
C:\Program Files\OldFirefox
(4) Run the installer you downloaded in #1. It should automatically connect to your existing settings.
Hopefully that will help somewhat.
Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:
- \OldFirefox\Plugins
- \OldFirefox\browser\plugins
I did just figure out how to uninstall foxtab completely from the addons. What's interesting is that once I disabled that and restarted, the New Tabs page that shows most recently/frequently visited sites and has the gear wheel in the top right corner reappeared. I know these things all have official names, but I hope you understand what I mean). I just checked, and FoxTabs is not in the extensions/add ons (I have very few, to be honest). The default toolbar, with the search bar, bookmarks, home page, etc, all seemed to stick this time. But if I still have problems I will run the clean install. I will also check the graphics card as was suggested as well.
Just one more note. Firefox has always been very stable for me up until two days ago, which also coincides with the latest Microsoft updates on my machine. Not sure of that's related, or just an unhappy coincidence.
See also this article about the New Tab page (about:newtab):
You can set the new tab page via the browser.newtab.url pref on the about:config page.
App (pinned) tabs and Tab Groups (Panorama) are stored as part of the session data in the sessionstore.js file in the Firefox profile folder. So if you lose (pinned) tabs from the previous session then there might be a problem with this file.
Using "Clear history when Firefox closes" to clear personal data might also affect this and well as cleanup software on your computer.
I looked and the browser.newtab.url is set as the default. I'll see if this sticks. I did delete the sessionstore file once aready but will keep an eye on it. As for clear history, I don't have that set as an option, and I don't believe my computer does either since I do retain history when I open firefox.