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After upgrade, why are websites (ex. Amazon, Ebay) placing images over text?

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by sqrl999

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Started two or three upgrades ago - this is only on my HP laptop, haven't had a problem with our desktop computers. Websites will display graphics/ads on top of text or overlap text so it's unreadable. Being forced to use other browsers which all work fine.

Started two or three upgrades ago - this is only on my HP laptop, haven't had a problem with our desktop computers. Websites will display graphics/ads on top of text or overlap text so it's unreadable. Being forced to use other browsers which all work fine.

All Replies (6)

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Screen shot of the error with blacked out private info so we can see what is happening.

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This is an Amazon search on "Vitamin C" if you want to do a comparison. One screenshot has images rendering on top of the left-hand menu. The other shot appears to be rendering two or three images on top of each other in an area that only has text when viewed in my other browsers.

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Hi sqrl999, one possibility is that those extra items are part of the page but they are being displayed in the wrong place for some reason. Another possibility is that they are being injected into the page by malware to divert you away from the products Amazon is displaying.

One possible culprit would be an extension. You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything suspicious or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Any improvement?


If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are standard suggestions to try when it stops working normally:

Double-check content blockers: Firefox's Tracking Protection feature and extensions that counter ads and tracking may break websites that weren't built to operate normally without the blocked components.

Do you see a shield icon toward the left end of the address bar, near the lock icon? More info on managing the Tracking Protection feature in this article: What happened to Tracking Protection?.

Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix should provide toolbar buttons to manage blocked content in a page. There may or may not be a number on the icon indicating the number of blocked items; you may need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.

Cache and Cookies: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

(1) Clear Firefox's Cache

See: How to clear the Firefox cache

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, try either:

  • right-click (on Mac Ctrl+click) a blank area of the page and choose View Page Info > Security > "Clear Cookies and Site Data"
  • (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "Clear Cookies and Site Data"
  • click the padlock or "i" icon in the address bar, then the ">" button, then More Information, and finally the "Clear Cookies and Site Data" button

In the dialog that opens, you will see one or more matches to the current address so you can remove the site's cookies individually without affecting other sites.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?

Testing in Firefox's Safe Mode: In its 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. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • (menu bar) 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?

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It was an extension. I don't have a bunch loaded, but removed them all and started adding them back one at a time. - isolated the offender. Thank you so much!

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Thanks for reporting back, and if you don't mind, feel free to "name names" on bad extensions.

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Well, I've already removed it and it's no longer listed as an extension at Mozilla. But the first of it was "One-Click Youtube" and the rest of the name was roughly "Video Downloader" or "Video Download Helper". If that info is of any use.