If you do not keep changes after a restart or otherwise have problems with preferences, see:

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

I appreciate your referring me to an article, but I did not understand any of the computer language in the article . I don't know what or where a preferences file is; what a prefs.js is; what a safe mode is; what a mozilla cfg file is, etc. It would be really helpful if someone could tell me in plain, simple English why setting my homepage in the Tools/Options and clicking on OK doesn't really set it, and how to make it work. BTW, I never had any trouble with Firefox before. I think this only happened after a Firefox automatic update.

Does the home page setting change when you check that in "Options/Preferences > General"?

No, it doesn't. I have to write Yahoo in the address bar and click on Return for it to go to my homepage.

Again, when I change the homepage to Yahoo on the General Options window and click OK, Firefox does not go to Yahoo. I have to write Yahoo in the address bar and click return every single time I open Firefox. Can someone please help me figure out why it does this and how to fix it?

This is a dumb question, but in the General tab of the Options window, are you typing yahoo or yahoo.com as your homepage? You must type the actual address (yahoo.com).

For Yahoo, I suggest copying the following and pasting it into the Options dialog, General panel, for your home page:

https://www.yahoo.com/

The reason is that Firefox will need to redirect to that secure page anyway, so it saves a few milliseconds.

After making that change and OKing out of the Options dialog, go back in and confirm that it was saved.

If Firefox won't let you save a new home page, there may be a problem with one of your settings files, or you might have a malware program named SearchProtect on your system.

If Firefox lets you save the change, then you should get Yahoo if you do any of these:

• click the Home icon on the toolbar
• press Alt+Home on the keyboard
• launch a new window by pressing Ctrl+n

Do those work?

If Firefox "forgets" your preferred home page the next time you exit out and start it up again, there are several possible causes. You saw the article cor-el mentioned. It's a bit technical, yes.

In addition to that, some utility programs like Advanced SystemCare and some security suites have a "home page" or "browser" or "surfing" protection feature that will protect you against unwanted browser settings changes. They do it by just rolling back the changes, since they don't have a way to determine what you wanted and what you didn't. You may need to turn off this feature until you have Firefox set up the way you want it and can shut down and start up again without losing your changes.