Clicking the scroll wheel does not open a new firefox window
I'm running Windows 7 x64 SP1. I use the scroll wheel to click items in the task bar to open another instance of those items. Eg I scroll-click a Firefox or Excel or Explorer or whatever item in the taskbar, and it opens another instance of that program. I use this feature to open a new instance of FireFox rather than switching to the FF window, then using control-n to open a new window.
I just upgraded to FireFox 6 from FF4.x. Since doing so, scroll-clicking the FF item in the taskbar does not open a new FF window. It does, well, nothing.
I installed FF6 on a clean Win7 x86 (RTM) build in a VM. When I use the scroll-click feature in the taskbar, it works as expected: it opens a new FF window.
Things I have tried: A different mouse; updating video drivers (I doubted this would make a difference, but it needed to be done anyway, so I thought I'd mention it); running FF in safe mode (ie with all plugins etc disabled).
I'm doing a little experimentation right now with respect to x86/x64, RTM/SP1, clean FF6/upgrade from 4.x and other differences that might highlight why it works as expected in my VM but not on my physical machine.
I'm curious to know if anyone else has experienced this problem since upgrading to FF6.
Max
All Replies (6)
An update on this post. I tried various combinations of x86/x64/RTM/SP1/upgrade/clean install of FF6. All of them worked on my VMs. The problem seems to be unique to my particular configuration.. which doesn't really help me!
A bit of trawling on the internet and I discovered that if I pin the firefox app to the taskbar, I can then middle-click to open new instances of firefox. But I don't want to pin the damn thing to the task bar! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Max
windows 7 normal behavior is [shift]L.click taskbar icon to open new instance
Respectfully, that answer isn't particularly helpful. I have already demonstrated that middle-clicking (mouse wheel click) will open a new instance of FF, and other programs. This was true before the upgrade from FF4 to FF6, and is true on all my VM builds (Windows 7 default install with nothing but FF installed).
Nevertheless, I've tried shift-left-click, and it does not open a new instance. It will only open a new instance if I pin FF to the taskbar, which I have already stated I do not want to do. This new behaviour is unique to FF. Other applications (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, whatever) all behave as expected. It is only Firefox that is misbehaving, and it is only misbehaving since the upgrade.
My issue is that FF has changed its behaviour with respect to middle-clicking since upgrading from 4 to 6. I'd welcome helpful comments about getting FF to behave.
Max
I thought perhaps a video might help for those who are having trouble visualising the problem I'm describing. Have a look at this YouTube (sorry, no audio, but you wouldn't want to hear my Aussie accent anyway!).
I'm hoping someone else has experienced this problem too. Since I posted my original fault description, I mistakenly clicked "yes" to upgrading my laptop's FF from 4 to 6, and now it is exhibiting the same behaviour.
More troubleshooting: I tried running FF with a new FF profile, still no luck. I tried running it under a new windows user account, no change in the behaviour. The only way I can make it behave the way I expect it to is by pinning it to the taskbar. Yes, I know it's a minor annoyance in the great scheme of things, but it's an annoyance nonetheless. I'd welcome any advice on how to fix this.
Max
Modified by maxxxie
I initially had this same problem, but after a reboot it went away.
Oh, and while it was happening, Shift-LeftClick wouldn't work either.
Modified by DPeichl
Unfortunately, this problem persists across reboots, and it is affecting FireFox only. In the end, I just ended up pinning FF to the taskbar. I didn't want to do that because it gets in the way, but it's less irritating than not being able to middle-click to open a new instance. Oh well!
Max
Modified by maxxxie