https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-to-fix-preferences-wont-save

Note: Some software, like Advanced SystemCare with Surfing Protection, can protect files in the Firefox profile folder against changes. If you have such software then check the settings or uninstall this software.

Thank you, I checked but i do not have such program. I did try to go to about:config but am at lost as to what i have to change or look for.

I called for more help.

Double-click to toggle that pdfjs.firstRun pref to false and then restart Firefox.

And if that isn't the extension that is causing your issue, you need to find the correct pref for the extension. But not all extensions have that pref and some that do aren't as easy to discover - with that firstRun suffix in the pref name.

What is the current home page setting?

Does the home page setting change after a restart of Firefox or reboot of the computer?

Did you check for issues with the prefs.js file?

Delete possible user.js and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename/remove the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in current Firefox releases.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Resetting_preferences

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

• Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
  Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

I did this Double-click to toggle that pdfjs.firstRun pref to false and then restart Firefox. and here is a screen shot of the first run "stuff" do I have to change any of these? I thank you all for your help as I work my way through this maze.

Your screenshot shows the home page (browser.startup.homepage) as set as default (about:home).

Did you already changed the home page during that session?

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

See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues

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.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

Thank you all for your support! I did changes one by one and hopefully this time it will work. At each step I took a screen shot and wondered if I have to change the following to make it permanent. Hopefully 3rd day is a charm after each step I restarted Firefox and took a screen shots here attached First I 1- Double-click to toggle that pdfjs.firstRun pref to false and then restart Firefox. 2-changed again the browser.startup.homepage from about:home to https://www.bbc.com 3-QUESTION? startup.homepage_welcome_url still appears as user / string/ http://www.mozilla.org/%LOCALE%/firefox/%/VErSION%/firstrun can I either safely a) delete the line? or b) change it to https://www.bbc.com? 4- and finally in the last screen shot do you see anything else that needs to be changed? much appreciate your input and patience