Previous Tabs Open Empty as New Tab
I had some opened tabs and everytime I was opening Firefox, all of those tabs were opening without problems. I am on windows 10. Since this morning, when I open Firefox the tabs open but they are all empty (New Tab). Also Firefox does not work properly - I cannot open a new tab, and when I click on one of the old tabs that says "New Tab", it doesn't open. Only the first tab is usable. I also receive a message in a popup "A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, open the script in the debugger, or let the script continue".
Script: chrome://global/content/bindings/tabbox.xml:713
When I stop the script, Firefox will NOT resume opening anything. I have copied the old previous.js file to a new sessionstore.js file, and it still has the same problem. I even tried to get Firefox to open with the sessionstore.js file from a couple of days ago (that was a good file), and I get the same problem. I have even removed Chrome from my computer, and I get the same problem. How can I get my previously opened tabs to work again?
thanks
Chosen solution
It's good that you backed up the available session history files.
Before we address the tab problem:
Do you know whether your Firefox updated from 49 to 50? That should be indicated in the Windows Control Panel "Uninstall a Program" or on the Troubleshooting Information page, either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
Your current version number would be in the first table on the page.
Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.
If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.
If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
- Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).
Any improvement?
What address does the dialog list? For example:
- addresses starting with the name of the site usually are features/functions of the page
- addresses from other sites often (but not always) are advertising networks - using an ad blocking extension can help address issues with slow or dysfunctional ad network scripts
- addresses starting with chrome:// usually are part of Firefox or of an extension you installed - the Skype extension sometimes causes this problem, for example
We have a general support article addressing potential solutions to the script issue: Warning Unresponsive script - What it means and how to fix it.
Another common cause of unresponsive script errors on Windows 7-10 is the protected mode feature of the Flash player plugin. That feature has security benefits, but seems to have serious compatibility issues on some systems. You can disable it using the Add-ons page. Either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Plugins. On the right side, find "Shockwave Flash" and click the More link. Then uncheck the box for "Enable Adobe Flash protected mode" and try that for a day to see whether it helps.
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Chosen Solution
It's good that you backed up the available session history files.
Before we address the tab problem:
Do you know whether your Firefox updated from 49 to 50? That should be indicated in the Windows Control Panel "Uninstall a Program" or on the Troubleshooting Information page, either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
Your current version number would be in the first table on the page.
Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.
If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.
If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
- Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).
Any improvement?
What address does the dialog list? For example:
- addresses starting with the name of the site usually are features/functions of the page
- addresses from other sites often (but not always) are advertising networks - using an ad blocking extension can help address issues with slow or dysfunctional ad network scripts
- addresses starting with chrome:// usually are part of Firefox or of an extension you installed - the Skype extension sometimes causes this problem, for example
We have a general support article addressing potential solutions to the script issue: Warning Unresponsive script - What it means and how to fix it.
Another common cause of unresponsive script errors on Windows 7-10 is the protected mode feature of the Flash player plugin. That feature has security benefits, but seems to have serious compatibility issues on some systems. You can disable it using the Add-ons page. Either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Plugins. On the right side, find "Shockwave Flash" and click the More link. Then uncheck the box for "Enable Adobe Flash protected mode" and try that for a day to see whether it helps.
That did it - the secret was letting the script run longer by choosing "continue", whereas previously I always tried to stop the script. Thanks for your help!