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Problems with Firefox 16, no homepage shown when starting firefox, bookmarks not shown, slow loading, adress missing, no going back while browsing

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  • Last reply by FFxuser

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I installed firefox 16 on my laptop, before that I had version 15 and everything was just fine. after insalling the update, some problems came up. first, there is no homepage shown when I start firefox, even though I picked that in the options

second, my bookmarks-toolbar is not shown, I have to disable and enable the bookmark-toolbar to see my bookmarks, that is due every time I close firefox and open it again

third, it seems to me that pages load slower, every new page needs a few seconds to appear, using version 15 page loading was much faster

fourth, there never appears the adress of the internet-page I go to, it always just says "go to a website" so it is much harder to find out the adress of the site

fifth, when I go from one page to another, I can not go back but have to look for the site, for example when I look something up on google and pick a page to look at, to go back to my search results I have to start the search again

I hope there are some solutions for my problems

I installed firefox 16 on my laptop, before that I had version 15 and everything was just fine. after insalling the update, some problems came up. first, there is no homepage shown when I start firefox, even though I picked that in the options second, my bookmarks-toolbar is not shown, I have to disable and enable the bookmark-toolbar to see my bookmarks, that is due every time I close firefox and open it again third, it seems to me that pages load slower, every new page needs a few seconds to appear, using version 15 page loading was much faster fourth, there never appears the adress of the internet-page I go to, it always just says "go to a website" so it is much harder to find out the adress of the site fifth, when I go from one page to another, I can not go back but have to look for the site, for example when I look something up on google and pick a page to look at, to go back to my search results I have to start the search again I hope there are some solutions for my problems

Chosen solution

Rather than suggesting you change back to Firefox 16 which was not functional maybe you could try Firefox portable and use Firefox 16 that way. Check if that works ok for you. (Firefox portable installs easily as an additional browser without making a mess of any other Firefox settings or bookmarks).

I could provide you an address for a firefox 15 download but that is probably no better than temporarily using Firfeox 3.6

  • see Install an older version of Firefox (That provides links, it also mentions ResetFirefox, but I personally would avoid using the Reset Firefox feature, unless you have no extensions and no customisations/customizations)

If Firefox 16 portable works maybe we could then consider getting a standard Firefox 16 installation working correctly.

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If you open a blank page such as using about:blank or about:newtab the location bar does now contain the text go to a website this is however just a prompt and can easily be overwritten by typing in some text or an address.

What version of Firefox are you using now,and what version have you moved from ?

The system information aside indicates you are using Firefox 3.6.28 that is old, not secure and not supported. If you have moved from 3.6 have a look at

  1. Homepage,
    you may need to choose between displaying a homepage when Firefox restarts, or displaying previous tabs
  2. bookmarks toolbar,
    if you enable this it should display next time you restart, make sure you close Firefox properly by using Firefox button -> Quit. (Do not just kill the process or close the window)
  3. slow loading
    Firefox 16 should not be slow.
  4. no web address
    I commented on this above, if you continue to have a problem maybe a screenshot would help
  5. back arrow
    The back arrow should appear and be active where appropriate, note you should be able toright click the button for a listing ov previous pages
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Hi John,

first up thanks for your response, even though it does not help me at all

before the upgrade so firefox 16 I was using verison 15, currently I am using version 3.6.28, thats right, but I only use this version because version 16 causes the problems names above and I could not find a place to download version 15

now to you solutions

If you open a blank page such as using about:blank or about:newtab the location bar does now contain the text go to a website this is however just a prompt and can easily be overwritten by typing in some text or an address.

My problem is when opening a new website, there is no adress given

1. Homepage,

     you may need to choose between displaying a homepage when Firefox restarts, or displaying previous tabs
         * see Startup, home page and download settings 
  2. bookmarks toolbar,
     if you enable this it should display next time you restart, make sure you close Firefox properly by using Firefox button -> Quit. (Do not just kill the process or close the window)
  4. no web address
     I commented on this above, if you continue to have a problem maybe a screenshot would help
  5. back arrow
     The back arrow should appear and be active where appropriate, note you should be able toright click the button for a listing ov previous pages

I´ve already tried all of the above without any progress, the back-arrow is not active, using backspace or mouse-botten for going back does not work either

about the web adress: just image you go to google.com, search for "food" an click the first link(to open in new tab), in the new tab, the website appears, but the adress-field(at the top of the window)is empty, so I actually do not know what page I´m browsing on instantly

I remember another problem: the top-bar with the title of the webpage and the buttons for minimisation, maximisation and closing is also missing in firefox 16

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Chosen Solution

Rather than suggesting you change back to Firefox 16 which was not functional maybe you could try Firefox portable and use Firefox 16 that way. Check if that works ok for you. (Firefox portable installs easily as an additional browser without making a mess of any other Firefox settings or bookmarks).

I could provide you an address for a firefox 15 download but that is probably no better than temporarily using Firfeox 3.6

  • see Install an older version of Firefox (That provides links, it also mentions ResetFirefox, but I personally would avoid using the Reset Firefox feature, unless you have no extensions and no customisations/customizations)

If Firefox 16 portable works maybe we could then consider getting a standard Firefox 16 installation working correctly.

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Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Creating a profile":

There may be extensions and plugins installed by default in a new profile, so check that in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions & Plugins" in case there are still problems.

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.

See:

You can also try to reset Firefox:

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thanks john, firefox portable works on my computer without problems, I importet the bookmarks from my old firefox so they´re there now, too

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Glad at least Fifefox 16 works as Firefox portable. I was intending that as only a temporary step and an easy proof that Firefox16 should work.

You should now be able to up grade from Firefox 3.6 to16 and get that working. Cor-el in the post above has already explained what steps would be needed.

I would add that it may be worth backing up the Firefox 16 profiles once you upgrade from fx 3.6 to fx 16 and as you make changes.

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thanks guys firefox 16 now works properly, I kinda think the problems were caused by some extensions I´ve had, thanks again guys for your help

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Thanks for posting back. Glad we were able to help and that Firefox 16 is working.

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Hello, I am having similar problems with newly updated Firefox. I also found the starting page on FF strange but what bothers me most is the fact that I can't get to any of pages through this browser. Pages seem to be loading but they never really do. my homepage hangs half open for almost all day. I restarted it several times, as well as the browser itself. I even uninstalled and installed the fresh FF. Nothing works! I'll try the tips above in this forum and see if anything helps. I'd hate to do a big work to move all the bookmarks to other browser (not the FF).

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Oh, by the newest version, I meant THE newest which appears to be 18 (not 16 any more).