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Unable to open new tab with center click after updating to Firefox 4

  • 7 replies
  • 10 have this problem
  • 13 views
  • Last reply by mike_r-e

mike_r-e
mike_r-e
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I'm running Windows XP on a Sony Vaio Laptop. Before updating to Firefox 4.0, I was able to open new tabs by center clicking on a link (both buttons at same time, or the equivalent to clicking the click wheel on a mouse). Since updating to Firefox 4, I've been unable to easily open tabs this way. Instead scroll arrows show up, then I center click again and they go away, and then on the third center click I'm finally able to open the link in a new tab.

The same thing also happens when trying to close a tab with center clicking, where the scroll arrows show up, then go away, then finally closing the tab.

I'm running Windows XP on a Sony Vaio Laptop. Before updating to Firefox 4.0, I was able to open new tabs by center clicking on a link (both buttons at same time, or the equivalent to clicking the click wheel on a mouse). Since updating to Firefox 4, I've been unable to easily open tabs this way. Instead scroll arrows show up, then I center click again and they go away, and then on the third center click I'm finally able to open the link in a new tab. The same thing also happens when trying to close a tab with center clicking, where the scroll arrows show up, then go away, then finally closing the tab.

Modified by mike_r-e

All Replies (7)

cor-el
cor-el
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Make sure that you click the link properly.

You can disable auto-scrolling to prevent that from happening.

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > General: Browsing: "Use autoscrolling"
mike_r-e
mike_r-e Question owner
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Just tried that. It didn't make a difference, I still have the same problem with both links and closing tabs.

cor-el
cor-el
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Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.

  • Use "Disable all add-ons" on the Safe mode start window to disable all extensions.
  • Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")

In Firefox 4 you can use one of these to start in Safe mode:

  • Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • Hold down the Shift key while double clicking the Firefox desktop shortcut (Windows)
mike_r-e
mike_r-e Question owner
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I'm now in Firefox Safe Mode, and there is no change to the problem.

cor-el
cor-el
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You can check the settings in Control Panel > Mouse and make sure that the middle mouse button is set to default

mike_r-e
mike_r-e Question owner
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I shut my computer down, and the next it's suddenly working ok, so it might have been something else related to my computer.

mike_r-e
mike_r-e Question owner
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The problem reappears when I have Adobe Photoshop or Acrobat open at the same time.