Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Browser on Laptop suddenly stop displaying under search bar

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by James

more options

My firefox on my laptop was working just fine until it stopped displaying anything under the search bar. I tried reloading, End Tasking the browser, Refreshing the Install, Uninstall re-install, reboot computer and nothing is letting my laptop firefox display.

it wont even let me access settings or other menu options. It sometimes books up troubleshoot mode but that also has the same issues.

laptop is windows 10 lenovo. firefox is 97.0 64bit version. was working 2 hours ago.....

My firefox on my laptop was working just fine until it stopped displaying anything under the search bar. I tried reloading, End Tasking the browser, Refreshing the Install, Uninstall re-install, reboot computer and nothing is letting my laptop firefox display. it wont even let me access settings or other menu options. It sometimes books up troubleshoot mode but that also has the same issues. laptop is windows 10 lenovo. firefox is 97.0 64bit version. was working 2 hours ago.....
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

There are two common reasons for Firefox to become nearly completely broken:

(1) Visual C Runtime file deleted (could occur with any software install or uninstall) (2) Conflict between 64-bit Firefox 97 and Webroot security software (started yesterday)

Details on each:

VC Runtime Issue

Sometimes program installers and uninstallers mess with certain shared Microsoft files. You may or may not see a message related to a missing VCRUNTIME140_1.DLL file. That can cripple Firefox. To rule out that issue, you can (re)run Microsoft's installer for the VC Runtime files:

(A) Open https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-160#visual-studio-2015-2017-2019-and-2022

(B) In the "Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022" section of the article, download the installer for your system:

  • 64-bit Windows: the "X64" download
  • 32-bit Windows: the "X86" download

(C) Run that installer and restart Windows.

Any improvement?

Webroot Conflict

If you have Windows 10 or 11, and Webroot security software, and 64-bit Firefox 97, there is an incompatibility which cripples Firefox. People are working with Webroot to issue an update.

A couple users confirmed that uninstalling and reinstalling WebRoot resolved the issue. If you can't do that or it doesn't work, several other users confirmed that one temporary workaround is to run Firefox 97 in backwards compatibility mode. Here is how you would set that up:

(1) Open the Properties dialog for your Firefox shortcut. Either:

  • right-click a Desktop shortcut, then click Properties
  • right-click a pinned Taskbar icon, then right-click the Firefox (or Mozilla Firefox) item, then click Properties

(2) Switch to the Compatibility tab

(3) Check the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode for"

(4) If the selector for that option is not set on Windows 8, switch it to Windows 8

(5) Click OK and then start Firefox (if Firefox won't start because it is already running, you might need to restart Windows)

As a result of this change, you may notice that some Windows 10-specific features and styling are disabled. However, I am not aware of any major changes. If you experiment with this, let us know your experience.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (5)

more options

Are you able to input anything through the search bar, or is the search bar blocked as well?

more options

I can type and input items into the search bar, but nothing loads into the browser area. anything that tried to open a new tab like settings wont load. but things like About firefox load in a popup window.

more options

Chosen Solution

There are two common reasons for Firefox to become nearly completely broken:

(1) Visual C Runtime file deleted (could occur with any software install or uninstall) (2) Conflict between 64-bit Firefox 97 and Webroot security software (started yesterday)

Details on each:

VC Runtime Issue

Sometimes program installers and uninstallers mess with certain shared Microsoft files. You may or may not see a message related to a missing VCRUNTIME140_1.DLL file. That can cripple Firefox. To rule out that issue, you can (re)run Microsoft's installer for the VC Runtime files:

(A) Open https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-160#visual-studio-2015-2017-2019-and-2022

(B) In the "Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022" section of the article, download the installer for your system:

  • 64-bit Windows: the "X64" download
  • 32-bit Windows: the "X86" download

(C) Run that installer and restart Windows.

Any improvement?

Webroot Conflict

If you have Windows 10 or 11, and Webroot security software, and 64-bit Firefox 97, there is an incompatibility which cripples Firefox. People are working with Webroot to issue an update.

A couple users confirmed that uninstalling and reinstalling WebRoot resolved the issue. If you can't do that or it doesn't work, several other users confirmed that one temporary workaround is to run Firefox 97 in backwards compatibility mode. Here is how you would set that up:

(1) Open the Properties dialog for your Firefox shortcut. Either:

  • right-click a Desktop shortcut, then click Properties
  • right-click a pinned Taskbar icon, then right-click the Firefox (or Mozilla Firefox) item, then click Properties

(2) Switch to the Compatibility tab

(3) Check the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode for"

(4) If the selector for that option is not set on Windows 8, switch it to Windows 8

(5) Click OK and then start Firefox (if Firefox won't start because it is already running, you might need to restart Windows)

As a result of this change, you may notice that some Windows 10-specific features and styling are disabled. However, I am not aware of any major changes. If you experiment with this, let us know your experience.

more options

Thank you very much, (2) Conflict between 64-bit Firefox 97 and Webroot security software (started yesterday) was the issue.

It was strange as was working just fine and then it suddenly just crapped out. I un-installed webroot and it seemed to make it issues go away.

Will monitor for repeats.

more options

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/97.0.1/releasenotes/

Fixed Works around problems with WebRoot SecureAnywhere antivirus rendering Firefox unusable in some situations