Hello,

The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions, Open websites, and some Preferences.

To Reset Firefox do the following:

1. Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
2. Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
3. Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
4. Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.

Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

Hello and thanks for the prompt answer.

Unfortunatelly I've already tried that (forgot to mention) and didn't solve the problem.

Try to boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.

Try a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before reinstalling a fresh copy of Firefox.

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

• Firefox 20.0.x: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html

Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible, to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

• Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you will also lose your personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

• It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox

Your bookmarks and other profile data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.

If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Clean_reinstall

Booting in safe mode does not make any change. It's obviously something having to do with firefox itself.

Concerning re-installing, I've already done. Actually I've tried it twice with both options: 1. keeping the "personal data" and 2. removing everything including personal data. As I've already pointed out in the original post (question) in both cases the problem seemed to have been solved (even after installing from scratch all add-ons) but after a couple of restarts the problem was again there: add-ons not actually working (apart from ad-block) and not being able to open new windows, but just new tabs

Did you delete the Firefox program folder before reinstalling Firefox?

You need to do this because issues with the current Firefox installation are usually caused by a broken installation that can only be cured by making sure that there are no leftover files, so you need to delete the Firefox program folder if this folder is still present after uninstalling Firefox.

I'm having a similar problem too. Only, when I right click Firefox will not open a new tab or open a new window. However ctrl+n does work.

I've uninstalled some add ons, and I am about to try the fixes listed.

This has been a problem since yesterday, when I updated to 20.0.1

Resetting seemed to fix the problem for me. Maybe it was an Add On issue. THe screen cap below is what was installed when the problem occurred.

I've tried ALL the above referred options, including deleting program folder etc. No change at all. I've tried to find out what EXACTLY is going on, thus define better the problem.

It seems that after installing a second add-on (whichever, apart from ad-block) the problem starts. Then whenever pressing ctrl+N, or clicking the new window option, or a window tries to generate a pop-up window this does not happen. However it seems that, somehow, the "new" windows are generated but they do not appear. This means that when you close the present window the firefox process does not dissapear. It keeps running and you have to kill it in order to restart firefox. When on the other hand you click restart with all extensions disabled, then firefox shutdowns normally and restarts.

Moreover when making a clean installation of Firefox all seems to be working well. After installing the 2nd add-on things seem OK at first, but after a couple of firefox or computer restarts things get back to not normally working.

What's more peculiar is that sometimes when restarting firefox the add-on functionality as well as new window possibility come back. But after a new restart all get back to not working. Also the browser in its worst state cannot open a new tab with installed add-ons. The only way to "see" them and disable uninstall some of them is restarting firefox with add-ons disabled.

All these describe the problem. Any help could be usefull, because I can not decently use firefox anymore. I am, somewhat, addicted to the use of a couple of add-ons and I cannot use any of them (apart from adblock!!!). The only solution seems to be switching to another browser, which I do not want to do!