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Firefox (still) opens multiple tabs when I open any PHP file

  • 2 replies
  • 6 have this problem
  • 235 views
  • Last reply by jimmyturnip

I tried all suggested fixes in your article, including deleting mimeTypes.rdf, changing the default browser for PHP files, and scanning my PC for malware. The problem is still ongoing. Any ideas? Thanks.

I tried all suggested fixes in your article, including deleting mimeTypes.rdf, changing the default browser for PHP files, and scanning my PC for malware. The problem is still ongoing. Any ideas? Thanks.

Chosen solution

Thanks very much for the response, cor-el. I've been teaching myself PHP for the last month or so, so I have Apache downloaded on my home PC, and the PHP files are my own. Actually, the multiple tabs problem started just after I updated Firefox to the latest version earlier this week. The strange thing is that the same PHP files opened perfectly well before the update.

Anyway, I found a temporary fix on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Instead of double-clicking on the PHP file, which causes the multiple tabs problem, I type the path of the PHP file (e.g. localhost/index.php) into Firefox's URL bar. The file works as before without opening the tabs. It's not an ideal solution, but it'll do for now.

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All Replies (2)

You need to run a local server if you want to process PHP files and send the processed PHP file as an HTML file to the browser, Firefox can't do this. If you select Firefox to open PHP files and tick the box to do this automatically then you get tab opening endlessly. So never select Firefox as the application to handle a file if you get the "Open with" dialog.

Deleting the mimeTypes.rdf file should fix this, otherwise you need to check the .php file extension in the registry (HKCR\.php and possibly the MIME database HKCR\MIME\Database\Content Type).
If the file is already a processed HTML file then try to add a .html file extension.

Chosen Solution

Thanks very much for the response, cor-el. I've been teaching myself PHP for the last month or so, so I have Apache downloaded on my home PC, and the PHP files are my own. Actually, the multiple tabs problem started just after I updated Firefox to the latest version earlier this week. The strange thing is that the same PHP files opened perfectly well before the update.

Anyway, I found a temporary fix on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Instead of double-clicking on the PHP file, which causes the multiple tabs problem, I type the path of the PHP file (e.g. localhost/index.php) into Firefox's URL bar. The file works as before without opening the tabs. It's not an ideal solution, but it'll do for now.