See this KB article - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/why-do-i-have-click-activate-plugins

Java and JavaScript are different languages. To avoid confusion, see:

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

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

• Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
• Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

That setting in the Java control panel doesn't apply to Firefox. If under the security tab "Enable Java content in the browser" is selected then that is enough and because the Java plugin shows in the System Details list then this is likely the case.

needfixin1004 said

I've recently gotten a new Windows 8 computer. Ever since, I've tried accessing certain websites (like www.cnet.com) and can't get the java scripts to load like for the drop down menus. When I hover over them they don't do anything.

www.cnet.com doesn't use Java. JavaScript is not Java. See:

• How is JavaScript different from Java?
• JavaScript settings and preferences for interactive web pages.

Do the problem websites work in Firefox Safe Mode?

1. Click the menu button , click Help and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
2. When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".

If the site works in Safe Mode, try disabling added extensions like NoScript or Ghostery that block JavaScript.

How to disable individual extensions Disabling an extension will turn it off without removing it:

1. Click the menu button and choose Add-ons . The Add-ons Manager tab will open.
2. In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Extensions panel.
3. Select the extension and click the Disable button.
4. Click Restart now if it pops up. Your tabs will be saved and restored after the restart.

If you need more help, please post back.

Referring to the Java/JavaScript confusion, I wasn't aware of that, thanks for the clarification.

It still doesn't work in Firefox Safe Mode. Nothing happens when I over over the menu options.

You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

• Hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
• Press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
• Press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the cache and remove cookies only from websites that cause problems.

"Clear the Cache":

• Firefox/Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"

"Remove Cookies" from sites causing problems:

• Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy > "Use custom settings for history" > Cookies: "Show Cookies"

Also make sure that your security software isn't blocking content.

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

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/

For clarification, www.cnet.com menu still doesn't work when I hover over it in Firefox Safe Mode.

I tried all the above and no luck.

I should also say that it works fine in Internet Explorer, but as a habit I don't like using that and would hate to have to go back to that.

To find the correct solution to your problem, we need some more non-personal information from you. Please do the following so that we can check for modified preferences (specifically, javascript.enabled)

1. Open the Firefox Troubleshooting Information page: Click the menu button , click on help and select Troubleshooting Information.
2. At the top of the Troubleshooting Information page that comes up, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
3. Now, go back to your forum post, right-click in the reply box and select Paste from the context menu (or else click inside the reply box and press the Ctrl+V keys) to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.

If you need further information about the Troubleshooting information page, please read the article Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Could you try disabling the McAfee plugin? Safe Mode disables extensions, but does not disable plugins.

You can open the Add-ons page using either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Plugins. Then change the permission for the McAfee plugin to "Never Activate".

You might also consider disabling other plugins that do not have an immediately obvious benefit for viewing web content.

Such changes might not have any effect in the current window, but if you launch a new window (Ctrl+n), the plugin should be disabled there. Any difference?

Thanks for the reply back.

I actually tried from scratch with a brand new download of Firefox (no extensions or plugins) and it still didn't work. I did try your suggestion about disabling McAfee and it also still didn't work.

I am leaning more towards that this is a problem with Windows 8 since I have the same extensions and plugins on my computers with Windows 7 and they work just fine. I just have no idea what it could be on Windows 8 that would be causing the problem.

Does your Windows 8 system have a touch screen? Users occasionally have reported issues where some features you would expect could be accessed by mouse only worked by touch.

Here are some past threads about this:

• mouse hover drop down menu not shown - resolved by disabling touch at the Windows level
• Javascript menus don't work. - similar problems in Google Chrome and Firefox with HP All-in-One system, resolved by disabling touch at the Windows level
• When trying to click on menus on USAA, it shows "javascript:;" in the bottom left hand corner and the menu won't work in FF 21. - resolved by disabling a preference in Firefox

jscher2000 - it is a touchscreen computer.

I tried what you suggested and it works if I disable the touch screen function on the computer level.

Makes no sense whatsoever - especially since it works fine on IE without having to disable it.

I tried disabling the preference in Firefox but that didn't work apparently. So I'm not sure if I should call this one "solved" or not - that seems asinine to me but I guess it's a workaround. I appreciate the help, I would never have gotten that far.

You can try to modify these prefs on the about:config page:

• dom.w3c_touch_events.enabled = 0
• dom.w3c_touch_events.expose = false

The dom.w3c_touch_events.enabled tri-state preference can be used to disable (0), enable (1) and auto-detect(2) support for standard touch events; by default, they're on auto-detect(2). After changing the preference, you must restart the browser for the changes to take effect.

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

cor-el -

The dom.w3c_touch_events.enabled was already set to 0.

I don't have a "dom.w3c_touch_events.expose" line. Is that something I should?