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Weird blank popup box on start, refuses to work

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by farraman

farraman
farraman
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As soon as firefox starts up, an odd box appears in the center of the screen consisting of only a blank grey button, a checkbox, and a question mark next to the checkbox as seen. When the cursor hovers over the question mark, a balloon pops up, but it is completely blank. Started a day ago, but not sure the exact circumstances it started. Firefox will not respond to anything. checkbox can be checked and unchecked, the button can be pressed, but nothing happens. Any click outside the box results in an error 'ding' and nothing else. Not sure if the problem is firefox or something else. Hard to search for answers when there is no error code to search for.

As soon as firefox starts up, an odd box appears in the center of the screen consisting of only a blank grey button, a checkbox, and a question mark next to the checkbox as seen. When the cursor hovers over the question mark, a balloon pops up, but it is completely blank. Started a day ago, but not sure the exact circumstances it started. Firefox will not respond to anything. checkbox can be checked and unchecked, the button can be pressed, but nothing happens. Any click outside the box results in an error 'ding' and nothing else. Not sure if the problem is firefox or something else. Hard to search for answers when there is no error code to search for.

All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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That irritating box has been linked to an AOL add-on. In order to remove the problem extension, you probably need to start Firefox in its Safe Mode so that it doesn't run.

You'll have to shut down Firefox any way you can, for example:

  • Alt+F4
  • right-click its tile on the Taskbar > Close all windows
  • Task manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc)

To start Firefox in its Safe Mode, hold down the Shift key while double-clicking the shortcut.

A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Then you can go to the Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then on the right, look for AOL.

Any luck?

farraman
farraman Question owner
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Thank you for your quick reply. I thought it would be something like that, but I really have not had time yet to actually do much troubleshooting. I do not have access now, but will try this when I get home and let you know if it was successful.