Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All of them.

What is the other page that shows up? An ad? What is the web link?

You may have ad / mal-ware. Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

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

After the issue is fixed;

Bookmark and use this; 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.

Settings Guard for Firefox {web link} Detects and resets changes to settings that are frequently done by add-ons and application installers.

Fred, hi.

Sorry about the delay in replying.

Firstly, I have two homepages one of which always opens, whilst the other - Gmail log-in - is often replaced by a new page tab; I am not getting any ads popping up or anything else that should not be there.

Secondly, I do not use toolbar addons, ever, so this will not be an issue. Neither do I strictly speaking I think have an anti-virus add-on: my Avast! anti-virus does add a webrep to the browser, but I have been using this for years without any issues and certainly not the one in question.

Thirdly, as a reminder, I had not installed any new plug-ins or extensions at the time the problem began several Firefox versions ago.

When I first looked in FF help for a solution, or at least an explanation of this problem, I did locate several similar references explaining an issue with the appearance of a new tab page rather than the expected one, although they were not identical; when I looked the second time I could not find even those references. The problem is not serious, but it is annoying though not enough so as to reset my browser.

Thanks for replying and I will consider any further solutions.

Ian.

Please follow these instructions carefully;

Type about:config<enter> in the address bar. If a warning screen comes up, press the Be Careful button. At the top of the screen is a search bar. Type browser.newtab.url Right click and select Copy. Then Paste it below/ Do the same thing with browser.startup.homepage.

Fred, hi.

I am not quite sure what you are asking me to do here: both the strings that you have asked me to copy and paste already exist; the first, browser.newtab.url, is set to default, whilst the second, browser.startup.homepage, is user set and shows both of my homepages.

Can you clarify?

Ian.

That was very good.

Ian.F said

browser.newtab.url is set to default whilst browser.startup.homepage is user set and shows both of my homepages.

Does browser.newtab.url say default? There should be a value here. The reason I asked you to do this was to check these entries because some programs are known to change these without the user knowing.

Now then, you say the first home page opens fine, but the Gmail log-in does not. Does the page load or start to load? And then this page goes somewhere else? Not another window / tab opening? Is that page the same all the time, or does it change?

Please paste the browser.startup.homepage here as I told you. Also paste the link of the unwanted page(s).

Fred, hi.

Here is what I think you want from about:config including information on status and type:

1) browser.newtab.url default String about:newtab

2) browser.startup.homepage user set String http://sci.esa.int/home/|https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=mail&passive=true&rm=false&continue=https://mail.google.com/mail/&ss=1&scc=1&ltmpl=default&ltmplcache=2&hl=en-GB

To be clear, these are the web links that should be there.

The Gmail homepage does not always get replaced with the new tab page - sometimes it opens first time, on startup - but when it does there is no evidence of the Gmail page or any other web page trying to load; there is no adware here trying to get my attention. As I said in my first post, however, if I then click on the home icon both homepages always open; since the ESA page is already open at this point I just close the second copy that has been opened with the home icon. So, the problem is related to some issue related to the loading of the browser.

Oh, to answer your other question, the Gmail page - other than for occasional design changes made by Google - never changes.

Thanks,

Ian.

When you reopen some tabs from the previous session then sometimes you might get an empty tab. I've seen this as well in some cases. As long as the correct URL still shows in the location/address bar then you can easily reload the tab. Maybe the best way to do this is to set focus to the location bar and press the Enter key or click the Go button. I've seen cases when clicking reload or using F5 or Ctrl+F5 cleared the address in the location bar and changed it to about:blank causing the original URL to get lost.

I'm not sure what triggers this behavior.

Try to make it a habit and use "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit) to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox title bar.

Ian.F said

browser.startup.homepage user set String http://sci.esa.int/home/|https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=mail&passive=true&rm=false&continue=https://mail.google.com/mail/&ss=1&scc=1&ltmpl=default&ltmplcache=2&hl=en-GB

I noticed that the "accounts.google" link is two links combined. Is that as it should be? I do not have an account so I can't check it.

Fred, hello.

I too noticed the apparent 'combo' web address for my Gmail home page, but checked it out on the actual Gmail page where I found it to be the same. I also opened the page from a search engine - try it yourself - which though on the search results page gives a shorter address the page itself when it opens gives the address you have seen above. I have just found, however, that in two different search engines two different addresses are given for the same Gmail login page. Here is the other shorter one that I have just replaced the longer one with: https://accounts.google.com/servicelogin?service=mail. I would be surprised if this makes a difference to the problem as I have been using the same address for a long time without problems, but I don't mind trying.

I repeat, I never had the problem here discussed until several FF versions ago at which time I had not installed any new plugins or extensions and I have not done so since. So, I am still inclined to believe the problem lay with the browser, but then I would have expected other people to have been highlighting the same problem, which currently does not appear to be the case.

All the best,

Ian.

Use the shorter address. Long addresses, like that, have been known to open ad pages.

If you open https://mail.google.com/mail/ then the sign in button links to this URL:

• https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=mail&continue=https://mail.google.com/mail/

Cor-el, Fred, hi.

I did not reply sooner because I wanted more time to assess whether or not the different web address that I am trying out for my Gmail home page - which does not go to the longer one I previously used without any problems - would make any difference to my current problem.

After first switching to the new address and re-booting my browser the new tab page again replaced the Gmail page, but since then the Gmail page has either opened or sometimes tried to open leaving me with a blank page that I refreshed to bring up the Gmail page; the blank page possibly occurred due to a poor internet connection.

Intermittent problems - as the new tab issue has been for me - are very difficult to diagnose and I still do not know why since about Firefox 31.0 this problem has occurred, but over the last few days it has not. I cannot say the problem is solved and if it begins again I will let you know, but for now I will hope for the best. Thanks for your thoughts guys, Ian.

Hello All.

Just to say, the New Tab problem is still here after all.

Ian.

Hi,

It sounds like a setting was changed on your new tab page. These changes are usually caused by third-party toolbars or add-ons. I understand that you would like to know how to change it back. Not a problem, please follow the steps below:

1. In the Location bar, type about:config and press Enter. The "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear.
2. Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue to the about:config page.
3. Type browser.newtab.url in the search box to find it on the list.
4. Double-click on browser.newtab.url and type in about:newtab in the window that pops up.

Restart Firefox and open a new tab to make sure the change was made. If there is any issues with plugins please also see: Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems

Please post back with your results, we are happy to help.

Voodoo, hi.

Your suggestion was made by FredMcD in an earlier post; everything was as it should be.

Thanks,

Ian.

Hi Ian, Do you have more than one Email account logged into gmail? And do one of them require an SSO to login (a login outside of gmail)?

guigs2, hello.

I use only one e-mail account with Gmail, but if I am logged into it I could go directly to, for example, Google webmaster tools without logging in again - I think that is what you mean by an SSO, which is just how Google works now; I keep my different e-mail accounts, however - hotmail, yahoo, gmail - quite separate.

Ian.

Hello All.

I cannot be sure if it is related, or indeed is the cause of the problem with the new tab, but in the last couple of days it has become evident that Google has been modifying some pages, including the Gmail logon page.

1) Yesterday I found that on the logon page the field for the password had gone; the username field was there with a blue button below it saying 'Next', which I had to use to bring up the password field;

2) Today, after attempting to login to my e-mail, I was taken to a security checkup/update page for my account, which I completed - except for providing a 'recovery phone number' - but I was given no way of getting into my e-mail; if I logged out and in again I was again taken to the same security update page. Eventually, I went to a google support page via a search engine and saw a link for Gmail that took me straight into my e-mail - I was still logged in - and I replaced the Gmail address for my Firefox homepage again and now I can get into my e-mail. (Part of my problem here may have been that I refused to give a phone number; the form asked me to complete it by adding a number, which I would have to have verified so I could not fake it, i.e. 01234...)

Given how long I have had the new tab problem - since at least FF32.0 - Google may not be the problem, but changes such as I have described do sometimes take some time and can clearly cause problems. Are any of you Gmail users?

Ian.