For those two things:

(1) You need a real bookmarks menu button (2) You don't like the new New Tab page, and you can't tweak it to your liking using the "gear" or "sprocket" icon on the right side

You can:

Bookmarks Menu Toolbar Button

... add it from Customize, or use the "Library" button as described in the article linked below:

• Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars - look for

• Bookmarks in Firefox - section entitled: How do I add the Bookmarks Menu button to the toolbar?

New Tab Page

... disable the new Activity Stream design and revert to the earlier design.

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

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste newt and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.enabled preference to switch the value from true to false

Better? Next problem?

I'm sorry you having this problem. Have you checked your home page is still the same and not using yahoo? Click the hamburger link at the top right, click options. About half way down you'll see home page. It should say mozilla page or your webpage you've set. If it says yahoo then choose a new webpage. Does that help?

Good for those items, after all that fiddly-effing around.

Now, although I realize it's not Mozilla's, how do I get back Download Them All, and other disabled add-ons?

I greatly appreciate the feedback and assistance. But I'd more appreciate that every time there's a noob on the crew, they don't decide that the bread section needs to be moved to a different place in the store.

Ardently said

Have you checked your home page is still the same and not using yahoo?

Click the hamburger link at the top right, click options. About half way down you'll see home page. It should say mozilla page or your webpage you've set. If it says yahoo then choose a new webpage. Does that help?

Completely unacceptable. Completely against all that Firefox has ever been.

Hello, to open a new tab and have Google appear -- use this add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-homepage/

Did this solve your problem? If so mark as solution.

Please understand that I truly appreciate everyone's input and suggestion. Hobby or not, it's still burning some of your time.

An addon to get my homepage back? Truly? How about the update doesn't mess up what I'd set a decade ago, and just installs transparently?

I'm sorry, but it more and more appears that my "solution" is to retain the older version of Firefox as long as I'm able, and the, more than likely, to migrate to a different browser. The situation as-is in untenable and intolerable.

However, and again, thank you all for trying to help out the grouchy old man.

It should not have gone back to Yahoo. Stopped the agreement with Yahoo.

You have gone into and added your Homepage in the usual palce is that correct ?

You have checked in Programs and Features that there is not a Yahoo Toolbar installed and if there was you deleted it ?

You have done a Malware scan with at least 2 programs https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware ?

Fyi : Firefox is being forced updated so you may find yourself back on 57.0.1

Now those are all the basics to check and they were done ?.

Going back : unfortunately 56.0.2 and below is no longer safe to use for every day use do to secuity issues, but 52.5.0 ESR is. It will continue to get security updates until May 2018, and you can download and install it from this page: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/ Note : Legacy Extensions will be deleted or removed in any version update after May 2018.

You should make a backup of your Profile before going back and just because: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

I understand how fustrating it is, I have certain addons that don't work in version 57 so I had to stay on 56 for a while longer while everything was being sorted out. Have you updated to firefox 57.0.1 ?

although it's not ideal to stay on 56, it might help you a little bit.

We would love for you to carry on using firefox, please bear with us while the developers of firefox and all addons work tirelessly to work out the glitches.

Thing with coding is 1 small piece of code can throw everything out. It's like a lose nut on a car can throw everything off just by being lose. There many nuts to investigate and is time consuming to find the problem. Hope the illustration helped?

Pkshadow said

It should not have gone back to Yahoo. Stopped the agreement with Yahoo.

Wow. I never expected confusion like this, and least of all here.

I do not have Yahoo. I loathe with foamy lips the idea of Yahoo.

What I stated, and what I meant, was that the "open new tab" brings up some garbage-festooned page THAT IS AS BAD AS YAHOO WAS: all kinds of windows that are of no use nor interest to me. All I want is my clear, empty, gloriously unadorned Google page, as I've always had on Firefox.

No, I don't want to alter the about:config file, I don't want another addon which will supposedly "fix" it (until another "update" to FF scraps that, too) because I HAD IT FIXED.

I do not expect, nor will I tolerate when an update essentially makes me start all over again and re-set many features about it that had never been an issue in the past, through probably a dozen updates by now.

I didn't come in here seeking patches nor fixes nor band-aids. I am here to tell Mozilla you've done a horrid job, and an axe-job on previously-satisfied users, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

And as for "safety", I'm sorry, but I don't buy into what a scary and threatening place the internaweb is. And the kicker to that? If I'm defrauded, or the bad guys find a way in to pilfer my $300 bank account, that'll be the bank's problem. In the meantime, I'll rely on the schooling-fish method of defense.

You reap what you sow!

Your condescending attitude might be dissuading the more experienced contributors from trying to help you, especially the way you seemed to ignore the help that jscher2000 provided. Sharp retorts to other contributors, but yet you you failed to respond to the one direct, serious response from him.

I'm a bit nonplussed by the apparent lack of reading comprehension on the part of some members of this thread, having so horribly perplexed them by what was an apparently ill-advised mention of Yahoo.

As for my "condescending attitude", I am, or am trying to be a 'CUSTOMER' here, and I thought this might be the place to try and air several grievances regarding this latest "upgrade".

Again, although jscher2000's "help" may partially correct the issues I have with this update, I didn't start my thread asking for how to fix things that I didn't break, nor do I plan on incinerating a Sunday trying this and that and the other "fix". I SHOULDN'T NEED TO FIX ANYTHING.

This "update" is a complete disaster to seasoned Firefox users.

Perhaps you would like to try 52 ESR, which will allow you to use old add-ons and will be supported with security backports until May 2018?

You can get it here: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Thanks, I've retro-graded to 52.5.0 (32-bit), and suppose I'll run it until it dies. Or, is killed.

If it solved your problem, mark as solution.