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tabs not successfully loading, at least not on the first, second, third, or fourth tab

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I checked and it is a similar problem to only one tab loading a web site, or blank. But, to be clear, the when I try opening a new tab, it is not blank exactly, it just fails to load my default page, it never finishes. At least, I may have to try opening a second, third, or fourth tab, and one of those will probably work, but the other tabs, will just keep trying to load forever, and it's pretty much the same when the home page does open, and I click a tab, say in my toolbar, it won't open it, at least not in the the first tab.

I'm using firefox 66.0.3 64 bit, Windows 7 professional. Maybe it has to do with an update. Also, I switched from an ethernet cable connecting directly to my computer from the FIOS modem/router (combination) to a wireless USB adapter connected to it, but I don't recall this starting to happen immediately after I did so.

I checked and it is a similar problem to only one tab loading a web site, or blank. But, to be clear, the when I try opening a new tab, it is not blank exactly, it just fails to load my default page, it never finishes. At least, I may have to try opening a second, third, or fourth tab, and one of those will probably work, but the other tabs, will just keep trying to load forever, and it's pretty much the same when the home page does open, and I click a tab, say in my toolbar, it won't open it, at least not in the the first tab. I'm using firefox 66.0.3 64 bit, Windows 7 professional. Maybe it has to do with an update. Also, I switched from an ethernet cable connecting directly to my computer from the FIOS modem/router (combination) to a wireless USB adapter connected to it, but I don't recall this starting to happen immediately after I did so.

All Replies (7)

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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I started it safe mode and I was still having the problem, but I noticed that one of my extensions, the shockwave flash was old and needed to be updated. I just opened about 10 tabs and they all opened to the sites immediately, but this problem is intermittent and I should keep seeing if it stays that way.

Anyway, if I have to reinstall firefox, is there a way to back everything up I want to save?

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A reinstall won't help if this would be an issue with your current profile folder. The profile folder is stored in a hidden location in "AppData\Roaming".

You can create a new profile to test if your current profile is causing the problem.

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.

Modified by cor-el

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Well, it is still happening even in safe mode, I'm in safe mode right now actually. What about trying to use each plugin individually alone to see if those are causing it, or would you think it would be better to try this with a whole new profile instead?

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If you use the Profile Manager to create a new profile then you can easily switch back and forth between the two profiles.

A Refresh creates a new profile and moves the current profile to the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop and also imports data from your current profile and thus can in principle transfer the problem to the new profile.

If it happens in Safe Mode then it is not likely that an extension is causing it, but it might still be profile related and a new profile can confirm this.

Can you reload the tabs manually or is the URL missing?

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I'm using a new profile right now, two of the sites I tried to load had the same problem, they never opened when I tried to open them, yet they did a second time, when I did it about a minute later, guess at this point, it must be an extension, right?

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guess I'll look up how to remove all extensions.