Copy/cut doesn't work on Windows 8.1
I upgraded from Windows 7 (where FF worked fine) to Windows 8.1 a few months ago. After the upgrade FF stopped functioning well enough for me to use. I switched over to Chrome/Opera but I'm tired of those and want to come back to FF but am finding it very hard. The issues are
- I can't copy/cut anything via either Ctrl+C or the context menu. The context menu rarely will show Copy/Cut/Paste and if they are shown they do nothing. One time I pressed crtl+C a lot ina row and Copy worked for that session but when I restarted the browser it stopped working again.
These may or may not be related the copy/cut issue but certainly are not working as well.
- Sometimes the context menu will show every possible menu item ever available in the OS. I'll right click and I need to scroll and scroll to find copy/paste. They still don't work when I find them. - I can't highlight text and have the context menu show the "search google" button. Nor can I take that highlighted text and drag it to the URL bar/search bar. - If a video is playing (youtube/comedy central...) and I drag that tab out to make a new window this creates a blank "New Tab" in the original window and make it look like the video tab is moved to a new window but the video won't play any more. Nor can I stop it. and I can't close that tab by right clicking. But I can Ctrl+W it but that doesn't stop the audio. The audio will continue until I close FF entirely. - Middle click used to not work but now usually works. i.e I used to not be able to close tabs or open links in new windows with middle click. But FF 28 seemed to fix that. Again mayeb/maybe not related.
I'm currently running FF 29 but these issues were all present for the past ~4 versions at least (whatever was out last fall). I use FF sync and everything works fine on all my synced devices which run W7. This is the only computer i have W8.1 on so I can't test another 8.1 setup. I've uninstalled and reinstalled a few times but I don't think I've removed all my personal setting from the computer. I have some extensions (Adblock plus 2.5.1, All-in-one genstures 0.26, Rainbow 1.6, Smartest Bookmarks bar 1.11, Stumbleupon and TiddlyWiki 1.0alpha18). These are all also synced on my other computers.
Any ideas?
Chosen solution
Hello,
The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information.
Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions and some Preferences.
- Open websites will not be saved in Firefox versions lower than 25.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
- Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
- Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
- Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Thank you.
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (6)
Chosen Solution
Hello,
The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information.
Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions and some Preferences.
- Open websites will not be saved in Firefox versions lower than 25.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
- Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
- Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
- Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Thank you.
That appears to have worked except now all the fonts are really pixelated. it seems like the pixelation will go away if I highlight the text, minimize the window and restore, or anything that forces a repaint (move the window off then back on screen). Edit: Actually, scrolling can make fonts more and more pixelated to the point of some large fonts become unreadable.
The other question is how is this different from uninstall/reinstall?
Modified by bhandziuk
That's odd.
Can you try to start Firefox in Safe Mode to see if Firefox works properly with no error? You can start Firefox in Safe Mode below:
- Windows/Mac: Go to Help > Restart with add-ons disabled
- Linux: Run firefox -safe-mode in the Terminal/Konsole
If Firefox opens up fine with no problems, it's probably one of your extensions that's causing the issue. You can re-enable your add-ons one by one until you find the one that causes the issue upon being re-enabled.
bhandziuk said:
The other question is how is this different from uninstall/reinstall?
Resetting Firefox doesn't erase your personal data (bookmarks, etc) but just restores your factory settings.
@Moses, before I tried Varun Kaushik suggestion of Resetting FF I opened in safemode and the problems were all the same. Resetting seemed to have fixed those problems above but introduced the font-pixelation problem.
None of my extensions carried over through the Reset so the pixelation thing was happening with just bare-bones FF.
I added my old extensions back in one at a time and the copy/paste issue did not come back. One extension however if no longer available for FF 29, Smartest Bookmarks Bar. Although strangely I wasn't told it was not compatible after 28-->29 update, just after the reset. i.e. it still was performing correctly after upgrade but once gone I couldn't reinstall. But then again maybe it was the problem(?)
See pixelation below
Modified by bhandziuk
The pixelation can be solved by disabling hardware acceleration. I forgot I had disabled that many moons ago.
Here we go again. Every time Firefox makes another cock-up, they have the same old default, standby, "I don't know or don't give a damn" response i.e. Reset Firefox.
It's like bringing your car back to the shop you bought it from shortly after it malfunctions and the mechanic says, "I aint got a clue. We only buy the parts and stick them on. We don't know how they work, so you gotta go to the manufacturer".
This is why Freezefox has only a Forum as so-called support, so that they don't have to deal with their own mistakes and avoid communications with the customer.