FireFox 18 update, homepage, themes not working, strange startup issue
My FF17 recently updated to FF18. My first issue was that there was a 6 pixel white bar on the right side of the browser, running in safe mode showed that it was due to an extension, which I removed. That was the only problem solved by that means.
My remaining issues are that while the start-up homepage is the Google that I set it to, the regular "New Tab" page is some Delta search stuff. Also, my theme won't work, and the default theme is killing my eyes. Going into the themes section of my add-ons shows my theme is selected and the default disabled, but it's not true. I tried other themes and none are working.
Most annoying, each time I start FF18, the homepage for all my add-ons open, like they're fresh installs. Very annoying.
I must say, certain small issues have been fixed with this update. Plus it starts up faster and there's no lag at all when my connection drops. Performance-wise this update is great, when these issues are fixed it'll feel just as amazing as FF3 did way back when.
Thanks for reading.
All Replies (2)
Could you try disabling graphics hardware acceleration? Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.
You might need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.). Then perform these steps:
- Click the orange Firefox button at the top left, then select the "Options" button, or, if there is no Firefox button at the top, go to Tools > Options.
- In the Firefox options window click the Advanced tab, then select "General".
- In the settings list, you should find the Use hardware acceleration when available checkbox. Uncheck this checkbox.
- Now, restart Firefox and see if the problems persist.
Additionally, please check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in the following Knowledge base articles:
Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems
Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL
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In order to change the default search engine or the order of search engines in the top right search box in Firefox, please perform the following steps:
- Move the mouse cursor inside the search box at the top right of the Firefox window and click the down arrow next to the provider's logo.
- If you would like to select another search engine, simply pick the engine from the dropdown list.
In order to change the order of the search engines, do this:
- From the dropdown list, select Manage Search Engines....
- In the upcoming window, you have all your search engines listed. To change the order, simply click one search engine and then select Move up or Move down from the buttons on the right side in order to change the order of the search engines.
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, Open websites, and some Preferences.
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.
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