Dear Dropa,

I have saved this info for the time being and as yet not doing anything. I am terrified. I can work out how to save current bookmarks and have done this to my desktop. I can also see how to import bookmarks to the new Firefox installation

Just uncertain at this stage about backing up my profile which will save all my passwords etc.

Thank you so much for your reply. I do appreciate it.

Anthony

Dear Dropa,

I forgot to ask:

I have seen how to log into my Firefox profile from this link https://accounts.firefox.com/signin

Will this not automatically then mean all my passwords are saved and I don't have to save my current profile and the other things I read about going to help and then troubleshooting information and open profile in the line for profile folder. That is where i have got lost so far about saving that to this line "Go to one level above your profile's folder, i.e. to %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\" Sorry for the questions.

Dear Dropa,

Thanks again. It is only Firefox to reinstall not Windows. So do I still have the big problem with saving my Firefox profile? If so I will get someone in to help me. It is all beyond this old man who is certainly no computer genius. Even your mention of the word "sync to other devices" leaves me confused and frightened.

Anthony

Dear Dropa,

So because i am only going to reinstall Firefox (and not Windows) I have exported my current bookmarks to the desktop and I know how to import them back when I reinstall.

But do i still need to save profile. I got lost completely with the instructions... "Go to one level above your profile's folder, i.e. to %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\"

So if I simply log back in from the link https://accounts.firefox.com.au will everything be OK?

This will save me calling in a technician to help.

Thanks, Anthony

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data#w_how-do-i-find-my-profile

Your settings are not in the Firefox program folder but in a separate place so if you did a uninstall and reinstall of Firefox then your settings should should still be there, including Bookmarks and such. However backing up your Profile(s) or at least things like Bookmarks, Passwords etc is to be safe.

You can do a malware scan just to be sure.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware

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

See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-remove-switch-firefox-profiles

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.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

Dear James and Cor-el,

Thank you both for your replies. I appreciate advice about backing up your Profile(s) or at least things like Bookmarks, Passwords etc is to be safe. But not sure how to do this. I am old and not at all computer savvy. Dropa earlier suggested I back up the profile which led me to "Go to one level above your profile's folder, i.e. to %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\" and at that stage I completely panicked and went no further. Then Cor-el asks me 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. I wouldn't know how to any of this. My problem with Firefox is twofold: First (a minor issue) when I hit reply to an email on my desktop the original message appears underneath twice. Secondly, when I type something into the google search box at the right of the address bar sometimes it just hangs until I change to a bing search and then it works fine when i do it again with a google search. Otherwise my passwords have been saved by the profile (I guess that's where it was saved?) and there is no problem. So Unless I am sure I won't muck things up I thought I would just export current passwords to a desktop file (which I have done), reinstall Firefox, sign on again to my Firefox, import the passwords and hope all is well.

But now I am frightened to do anything. Firefox is fabulous. have used it forever. But this old man is not computer savvy. Nevertheless I thank you all so much for your time. It is so appreciated. Cheers, Anthony

Hi Anthony, let's start with the Google search problem. If you try these two tests, what happens?

(1) Go directly to Google (https://www.google.com/). Does their home page load? If so, can you submit searches through their search box? The point of that is just to confirm that Firefox is able to connect to Google successfully.

(2) If #1 is okay, what happens when you try searching in the address bar (main bar, not the optional short search bar)? Normally as you start typing, Firefox will show something like this and you can submit your search using either the Enter key or clicking on the button at the right end of the address bar:

Dear jscher2000,

Thank you for your very quick reply. My reply is going to cause you, like me, to wonder why it is not going properly.

I did the following in this order: 1. As you suggested I typed https://www.google.com directly into the address bar and nothing happened. 2. I now went to the little optional search bar at the right side of the address bar and typed in a few odd things such as dogs images, giraffes images, beta blockers and they all worked instantly. 3. I then went back to the main address bar and retyped https://www.google.com an it instantly worked and brought up Google.

4. I am now frustrated as to why it works sometimes and not other times.

Incidentally the second problem I had of replies to emails showing the original twice did not happen when I used google chrome or even Microsoft Edge.

Because of the intermittent problem when searching this is why I thought maybe reinstalling Firefox might be the answer as the problems do not exist with other search engines and my problem is I want Firefox!

Again, I thank you for your help and now wonder if you are as frustrated as I am? Thank you, Sir. Anthony

Hi Anthony, I don't think reinstalling Firefox would resolve this issue because it is so intermittent.

Some users have reported delayed access to Google because of a proxy or some other kind of filter. Although most people are not intentionally using a proxy server, Firefox may discover one set up in your system settings. Sometimes forcing Firefox to ignore those settings helps with weird connection issues. Here's how:

Open the Settings page using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > Settings
• (menu bar) Tools > Settings
• type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the very tiny search box at the top of the page, type proxy and Firefox should filter to the "Network Settings" section of the page.

Click the Settings button, change the top setting to "No Proxy" and then click the OK button at the bottom of the dialog to save your change.

Any difference?

Dear jscher2000

I told you I was slow and no good and had trouble doing but managed to do so.

The bit you said about typing about:preferences I didn't need to do as it automatically came up in the address bar. So I continued with what you said and changed the top setting to no proxy.

When I went back to check the first thing I put in the little google search bar on the right of the address bar nothing happened again. It just hang. Then when I out in something else it worked perfectly and did so for the next few attempts.

So permit me to see how things go for the next day or so and get back to you. I promise to do so. Will you please keep monitoring my question. I will definitely keep you updated.

Again, I thank you so much for your time and help and hope that this solves the problem, It was so comforting when I read that this may be the answer and it is not necessary to reinstall Firefox.

I am in your debt, Sir. Thank you. Anthony

Dear jscher2000,

Regrettably it didn't solve the problem. Once again searching on the google search bar at the right of the address bar usually works at least 50% of the time. When it doesn't, I just drop down to the big search button at the bottom. Then next time I use the google search it comes up instantly.

Re the proxy and change to no proxy which I did. I have never previously altered this and have been using Firefox for years and years. It is only the last 6 months there has been a problem.

I agree with you. I don't think reinstalling Firefox will work except to cause me more stress so I shall just leave things as they are.

Thank you again for your time. I would really like to know that you have gone back to see this acknowledgement. Thank you again, Anthony

Hi Anthony, these intermittent problems are always a puzzle.

Some users have experienced a problem where in the middle of their session, Google, Gmail, or YouTube simply stops responding. Sometimes you see a lost connection error. Traditionally, users had to close and restart Firefox to work around it. It seems to be linked to the "zero round trip resumption" feature, intended to speed up website reconnections, but somehow not completely compatible. You can disable the feature under the covers and see whether that helps:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox. The moderators would like us to remind you that changes made through this back door aren't fully supported and aren't guaranteed to continue working in the future.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste security.tls.enable_0rtt_data and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the preference to switch the value from true to false

Any improvement over time?

Dear jscher2000,

Again I thank you for your time and help.

As the problem is intermittent and I am so stressed about computers I have decided for the time being to put up with it and not do anything.

If I change my mind I will de exactly what you have said above.

I do hope you understand and do not feel I have wasted your time and help.I am so grateful to you.

Many thanks, Anthony