what is firefox web ide and why is it all of a sudden stopping me from working
all of a sudden this morning, whenever i touch the shift key, a window pops up that, when i expand it, says it is firefox web ide. what the blank is this and why is it coming up. i am a simple user, not a developer and have no interest in nor need for developer tools. i can't make it go away or disable it. i finally figured out i could get into my email by choosing my email address from a drop down--can't hit the at-sign without the shift key--and putting in the caps in my password by turning on-off the caps lock key. but, this makes firefox worse than utterly useless.
i assume this is related to the firefox update that automatically downloaded yesterday or that this is some kind of virus, though i am very careful about virus protection.
i have used firefox for years and, until now, it is fine, but this is hopeless and, if i can't solve this immmediately, will make firefox totally useless for anything.
Solution choisie
Thank you for the quick reply (happy to see the capital T at the beginning of this sentence). I was never typing the F8 key (I almost never use any of the function keys, I am an old Digital Equipment developer/manager and once in a while, for old time sake, open a DOS window and rename files using the RENAME command...i.e., a dinosaur) so there is no reason why it should have been stuck. The problem seemed to occur whenever/every time I used the <Shift> key.
But, for other reasons, I rebooted my computer and the problem is gone.
Since I can think of no reason why a reboot would have affected the behavior of Firefox, I don't see why this helped. But, I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth, just happy with the outcome.
Should it reoccur, I will review/implement your response info.
In any event, thanks for your speedy, thorough and understandable response.
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Sorry you are having problems. I am not certain it is related to the update. I am not sure I understand why you have problems or exactly what is happening. All I can do is offer a few suggestions that may help or help troubleshoot the issue.
Stuck F8 Key ?
Have you got a stuck Keyboard key F8 ? Any chance you could try with a different keyboard. I note the Windows calculator in Windows 7 and 10 uses the shortcut F8 to select the Binary ( Bin ) mode. So maybe opening the calculator and seeing if it sticks in Bin mode is an indicator that you have a sticky F8 key.
WebIDE & turning it off
WebIDE is a built in feature of Firefox, but is not causing me any problem similar to yours. Some background information
- WebIDE Lands in Nightly https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/06/webide-lands-in-nightly/
- MDN https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Tools/WebIDE
I did consider as a workaround turning off the WebIDE tool. Its probably an option in the developer tools options, but is controlled by the pref
devtools.webide.enabled
but that may not help you, because when I turn it off it does come up as soon as I press F8 although it still may be worth trying.
To toggle the pref off you use about:config as follows
- Key in to the address bar about:config & press the Enter Key
- Accept any warning given.
- Look for the pref devtools.webide.enabled by using the search filter. Key it in in full or just ide.en
- Highlight the line containing devtools.webide.enabled & right click to get the options.
- Toggle the value to false. (If the WebIDE icon is visible it should then be hidden)
Note also all Shift F8 does for me is opens the WebIDE page. It does not cause me problems in using Firefox.
Malware ?
In case you do have a malware issue it is worth scanning with all the tools mentioned in the article
Resetting Firefox
Note that you will lose Firefox extensions when you do the Refresh. It would be a good idea to bookmark their home/download pages before you do the Refresh
- See Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings
At present that article even has a clickable button to use from Firefox to do the Refresh - but that button may be temporarily removed shortly.
Workaround for now try Firefox ESR Portable
If your problem is a stuck F8 key this is not going to help.
You will need a working Firefox. There is a third party build, and a version of that intended for Institutions and Businesses with their own IT departments. It is however simple to install on Windows. either on the hard disk drive, or even on to a memory stick. It installs as a separate Firefox browser, and with any luck will work out of the box so to speak.
- Mozilla Firefox ESR, Portable Edition your browser, to go™
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox-portable-esr
Please post back to say how you get on and what you tried.
Solution choisie
Thank you for the quick reply (happy to see the capital T at the beginning of this sentence). I was never typing the F8 key (I almost never use any of the function keys, I am an old Digital Equipment developer/manager and once in a while, for old time sake, open a DOS window and rename files using the RENAME command...i.e., a dinosaur) so there is no reason why it should have been stuck. The problem seemed to occur whenever/every time I used the <Shift> key.
But, for other reasons, I rebooted my computer and the problem is gone.
Since I can think of no reason why a reboot would have affected the behavior of Firefox, I don't see why this helped. But, I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth, just happy with the outcome.
Should it reoccur, I will review/implement your response info.
In any event, thanks for your speedy, thorough and understandable response.
Glad you fixed the problem, and thanks for posting back.
I remember DOS well and still use it occasionally when on Windows machines, I never bothered learning about PowerShell.