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Firefox issues with multiple users on a single computer.

  • 6 replies
  • 12 have this problem
  • 36 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I have an issue with Firefox and multiple users on my computer. There are two users setup and I'm running Win7 Ultimate x64. When the other user logs in, my settings in Firefox get screwed up somehow. Even if that user does not open Firefox.

Examples of problems this causes:

Gmail - Cannot load the standard interface, however it will load the HTML only interface.

Facebook - Cannot post anything.

vBulletin Forums - Some forums will no longer normally load - a text-only version loads as if I was browsing from a mobile device.

There may be other issues, but these are the main ones. If I clear my cookies, cache and browsing and download history, then restart Firefox, everything works again.

This seems to happen most often when the other user logs in, and uses Firefox to log on to their Gmail account.

How can I fix this?

I have an issue with Firefox and multiple users on my computer. There are two users setup and I'm running Win7 Ultimate x64. When the other user logs in, my settings in Firefox get screwed up somehow. Even if that user does not open Firefox. Examples of problems this causes: Gmail - Cannot load the standard interface, however it will load the HTML only interface. Facebook - Cannot post anything. vBulletin Forums - Some forums will no longer normally load - a text-only version loads as if I was browsing from a mobile device. There may be other issues, but these are the main ones. If I clear my cookies, cache and browsing and download history, then restart Firefox, everything works again. This seems to happen most often when the other user logs in, and uses Firefox to log on to their Gmail account. How can I fix this?

All Replies (6)

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Check the pref dom.storage.enabled on the about:config page and make sure that the pref is set to true.

To open the about:config page, type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key, just like you type the url of a website to open a website.
If you see a warning then you can confirm that you want to access that page.

See also http://kb.mozillazine.org/about%3Aconfig

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This is already set to true. I tried to recreate the issue, and found that I can.

To be more specific. The problem occurs when the "Switch User" function is used and Firefox remains running in the other users session. I am going to attempt to recreate this issue with Firefox closed in the other session and see if it has the same effect.

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Okay that is how to recreate it. This problem only happens if one user is logged in, and has Firefox running. Then another user uses the "Switch User" function to go to their account and then opens Firefox there. This causes the problem.

If Firefox is not running in the first users session, the second user can use Firefox and it does not cause this problem.

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Having the same problem....ever find a solution?

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Nope. Other than to have the other user use Chrome or some other browser.

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Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile

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

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

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox