Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

When opening firefox I get, Can't connect to server on my homepage, but I can then open websites from my bookmarks. How can I resolve this?

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 35 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

I get a long load time when I open firefox 35. Then cannot connect to server, however i can then open websites fine via my bookmarks list. Tries reinstalling, did not help, made google my homepage in options, does not help.

I get a long load time when I open firefox 35. Then cannot connect to server, however i can then open websites fine via my bookmarks list. Tries reinstalling, did not help, made google my homepage in options, does not help.

Chosen solution

It is possible that your security software (firewall, anti-virus) blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.

Remove all rules for Firefox and the plugin-container from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full, unrestricted, access to install for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.

See:


Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

See also:


Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.

If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

  • Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure NOT to remove personal data when you uninstall Firefox as that will remove all Firefox profile folders and you lose your personal data.


Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (3)

more options

Does this happen every time? Or is it only when your computer is first turned on/waken up?

If you open another browser (Internet Explorer/Chrome/...) does it do the same thing?

I might be that your computer takes a few seconds to (re-)establish its network connectivity after sleeping. Try this

  1. Click Start
  2. Type Computer Management
  3. Click the first result or push enter
  4. Click Device Manager
  5. Expand network adapters
  6. Right click on your network adapter then click Properties
  7. Click on Power Management
  8. Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
more options

Check your Home and NewTab settings:

Type about:config<Enter> in the address bar. If a warning screen comes up, press the Be Careful button. This is where Firefox finds information it needs to run. At the top of the screen is a search bar. Type browser.newtab.url This tells Firefox what to show when a new tab is opened. If you want, right click and select Modify. You can change the setting to;

about:home (Firefox default home page), about:newtab (shows the sites most visited), about:blank (a blank page),

or you can enter any web page or about: page you want.

The same instructions are used for the new window setting, listed as browser.startup.homepage.


Bookmark and use this; Download the Mozilla Search Reset {web link} This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.

more options

Chosen Solution

It is possible that your security software (firewall, anti-virus) blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.

Remove all rules for Firefox and the plugin-container from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full, unrestricted, access to install for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.

See:


Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

See also:


Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.

If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

  • Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure NOT to remove personal data when you uninstall Firefox as that will remove all Firefox profile folders and you lose your personal data.