Firefox Has Gone Feral On Me

[Bribie G]

I've been a happy FF user for several years now. Occasionally it updates itself without permission, and for the last month:

It never remembers my logins, for example Yahoo Mail even though I have specified to keep me in for 2 weeks, and annoyingly AHB and other forums where it ignores the 'remember me' option

FF no longer prompts me as to whether I would like to restore a previous session, it just goes ahead and does it anyway. For example if I get onto a malicious site that I can't get out of (not talking porn necessarily :lol: ) - I got into a malicious site when I was doing a search on Psoriasis treatment. Then FF won't let me get out "Firefox not responding..." so I do a hard reboot and guess what the stupid lame program puts me right back into the malicious site again.

If I get into a site such as the new VB Raw which wants to load heaps of Flash stuff (I'm currently using a five y.o. laptop and it takes forever) so when I try to close that tab nothing happens then "Firefox not responding"....... Hard reboot again. Then Oh no back into VB Raw.

I'm running this session in Internet Explorer 8. No problems, remembered my login for Yahoo and AHB etc etc from last week, prompts me to restore session.... OK I just closed the VB raw tab in IE8.

I can't find any options in Firefox to stop it clearing cookies when it closes down, or prompting to restore sessions. Any techs here know what's going on or should I give the new improved FF the arse?

 

[smollocks]

Assuming you're using the latest version of firefox, which is 3.5.2:

• Set your cookie preferences here: Tools > Options > Privacy > Settings
• Some sites have a built-in cookie expiry, regardless of whether you check "remember me". There's nothing you can do about this.
• If you want finer control over cookies, I use the extension CS Lite
• Set your session restore preferences here: Tools > Options > Main
• If you want finger control over session restore, particularly following crashes, I use the extension Session Manager. It allows you to select what windows/tabs to restore after a crash.
• If heavy flash sites are crashing your browser, this is most likely because your computer is old and slow. I use the extension Flashblock, which adds a "play" button for all embedded flash. This stops a lot of ads, and a lot of annoying flashing pages.

It would probably help to start a new Firefox profile too.

 

[Bribie G]

Hmmm... I'm using the latest version but not even getting #1 on your list:

 

[buttersd70]

bribe
where it says remember history, change the dropdown to "use custom settings for history"....this will then display the other fields.

 

[Gulf]

If you can't, or can't be bothered finding all the options and would like to put your Firefox back to "new", just delete or rename your Firefox Profile folder.
First, you'll probably want to backup your bookmarks, so do that using Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks, then the Import/Backup menu.
Using Windows Explorer, go to "C:\Documents and Settings\<yourusername>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\"
Rename the randomly named folder (something like "6ghj45h.default"), just put .old on the end of it or something.
Restart Firefox and import your bookmarks back in.

Note this will return Firefox to a state like you've never used it before, you'll need to login to all the sites again before they'll start remembering passwords etc. Just keep that in mind if there are some sites you can't remember your password too...
Reference: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles

 

[katzke]

Well I dumped the new version and went back to the old version 2.0.0.20. I did not like all the odd things in the new version like the hokey history combining with the bookmark thing. It took a bit of searching to find a repository that has old versions of many programs. I thought I save the site but can not find it now.

I even sent them a nice email saying why I hated the new version and never heard a thing back.

 

[Gulf]

... like the hokey history combining with the bookmark thing ...

Hmm, Firefox is actually quite customisable, if you do a bit of searching you can usually find an option to make it do what you want. If you really want to be overwhelmed, try typing about:config into your address bar.

I do agree though FF2.0 was fine, I really only use FF3.5 for its speed increases.

 

[mika]

Just to add to the bitching. Mine now randomnly decides to take the tab I'm viewing and put it in a new window. I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing or some glitch. Kind of annoying. Only been doing it since the last upgrade.

 

[schooey]

Just to add to the bitching. Mine now randomnly decides to take the tab I'm viewing and put it in a new window. I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing or some glitch. Kind of annoying. Only been doing it since the last upgrade.

You can drag and drop a tab into a new window, and I find with my laptop that the touch pad is fairly sensitive and I click when not meaning to and drop tabs in new windows...

 

[katzke]

Hmm, Firefox is actually quite customisable, if you do a bit of searching you can usually find an option to make it do what you want. If you really want to be overwhelmed, try typing about:config into your address bar.

I do agree though FF2.0 was fine, I really only use FF3.5 for its speed increases.

Well that page does not say FireFox so it must be one of the promised add-ons to fix the problem they created with the new version. Why they thought it would be a good idea to have every page a user visited stuffed in with important bookmarks is beyond me.

Not worth trying the new version until I see it working and like it. Putting up with all the difficulties of learning an entirely new program is not worth any possible speed increase on my old antique computer. Besides if I ever get a different computer it will be a Mac. Not that I like one over the other just time to try something real different.

Needless to say I was very disappointed in the new FF. As BIABieG pointed out it was a nice program and now who knows.

 

[Cube]

Try google chrome bribie it's fast and not bad at all. I've been using firefox almost from its conception BUT the last two months been using chrome. Firefox has become bloated and buggy. Gmail it always hangs for 10 seconds when I go to 'label' or 'move to' and I think it has a memory leak as well as it now hogs all my memory after 10 minutes hard use.

Chrome is nowhere as good in certain areas yet like adblock, password master password etc but it is bloody fast, clean and a great browser with incognito if needed . Addons are coming along as it gets more and more popular. If you want to try it let me know and I'll send you a shortcut icon that automagically deletes the unique Client ID before each run of Google Chrome. This tool scans the "Local State" file inside the Chrome directory, removes all Client ID related info and automatically starts Chrome.

 

[technocat]

I have been using FF for about a year now but for the last month or so it has been taking eons to load and get my Google homepage up. Loading time can be as long as nine minutes which is really pissing me off. I have downloaded the latest version, but no improvement. I have all the bells and whistles computer wise, AV, couple of malware programs, reg cleaner so the system runs pretty smooth. Once FF is up and running it is quick but the initial loading is diabolical. I have loaded up IE which I hate and no probs, hook FF back up and the same deal again. Any ideas anyone.

<_<

 

[Bribie G]

Try google chrome bribie it's fast and not bad at all. I've been using firefox almost from its conception BUT the last two months been using chrome. Firefox has become bloated and buggy. Gmail it always hangs for 10 seconds when I go to 'label' or 'move to' and I think it has a memory leak as well as it now hogs all my memory after 10 minutes hard use.

Chrome is nowhere as good in certain areas yet like adblock, password master password etc but it is bloody fast, clean and a great browser with incognito if needed . Addons are coming along as it gets more and more popular. If you want to try it let me know and I'll send you a shortcut icon that automagically deletes the unique Client ID before each run of Google Chrome. This tool scans the "Local State" file inside the Chrome directory, removes all Client ID related info and automatically starts Chrome.

I tried Google Chrome about a month ago and it was a bit nasty IMHO, on starting it up it would take ages then grind away displaying a page of thumbnail shots of all the screens I had last visited "Strangling Kittens", "Kegerator Girls", etc. Quite unwelcome. Maybe it phones the police if you stumble on something you shouldn't be looking at such as the Liberal Party national website..... I expect there's an option to stop it doing all this very helpful stuff but I got rid of it after about half an hour of use. I just want my old FF back. Waaaahhhhh.

Is Opera still available and any good?

 

[smollocks]

Anyone with slowness problems should make a new firefox profile. If it's still slow, the problem is more likely to be with your computer (not enough memory, malware, antivirus running constantly, etc). I run firefox 24 hours a day with multiple windows and over 20 tabs and it's never slow.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Ok while we're bitching about FF , Mine stopped checking my spelling awhile back , It used to do a pretty good job but just stopped .. Its marked in the tools box , I've un checked it and restarted and re checked it and restarted but it won't do it ,, Any wisdon on this .. ??

Cheers

 

[katzke]

Here you go. Go back to any version that makes you happy. In my case it is 2.0.0.20.

http://www.oldapps.com/firefox.php

Not sure if these are full installs or English/USA only, if it matters.

 

[bum]

Got a new laptop to replace the one that was stolen when we were burgled. I've loved Firefox for years and never had a complaint. I've had nothing but problems with this new update.

Trying Chrome now. Not sure I'll stick with it, though. This is the most dumbed down thing I have ever used.

 

[Cube]

Well I'm back on firefox with all my addons working fine. Had to do a HD format+ fresh install of everything including a new download of fox. Running perfectly. Safari is a better option than chrome at the moment if chrome is no good for you. Give chrome another 12 months and it should be feature rich in the options department.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Is Opera still available and any good?

I have the current version of Opera and it's actually really good- fast and easy to use. I use Firefox and Opera, usually Firefox for foruming due to its adblock abilities, and Opera for most everything else.

One thing that's odd- I don't seem to have the option of blocking individual images, just "block all from ___.com" (unless there's some option I need to click?)

 

[Cube]

If your talking about adblock and firefox after right clicking on an image etc and choosing adblock image use the 'custom' option which blocks just that image or what ever you right clicked on. It should have the image link in there already.