Maybe xulstore.json got damaged? If you shut down Firefox, move that file out of the profile, and restart Firefox, are the tabs, etc. normal again?

Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Plug-ins

Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 12.1.7.157 Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 12.1.6.156

Having more than one version of a program may cause issues.

Grab the uninstaller from here: Uninstall Flash Player | Windows Uninstall Flash Player | Mac Then reinstall the latest version.

Flash Player Version 16.0.0.305
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html Shockwave Director Version 12.1.7.157 http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

Delete or rename the xulstore.json file.

Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.

Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Locate the file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox.

finitarry said

Maybe xulstore.json got damaged? If you shut down Firefox, move that file out of the profile, and restart Firefox, are the tabs, etc. normal again?

finitarry, your advice is good, but don't stop there. Tell the user what needs to be done and how.

Are you sure that this wasn't caused by Tab Mix Plus?

Your System Details list shows a lot of disabled extension with only TMP enabled.

Did you check for code in userChrome.css if you are using this file to customize the user interface?

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

In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

• all extensions are disabled (about:addons)
• default theme is used (no persona)
• userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored (chrome folder in profile folder)
• default toolbar layout is used
• JavaScript JIT compilers are disabled
• hardware acceleration is disabled (Options > Advanced > General)

• plugins are not affected
• preferences are not affected

finitarry said

Maybe xulstore.json got damaged? If you shut down Firefox, move that file out of the profile, and restart Firefox, are the tabs, etc. normal again?

Neat -- there are 3 files of that name under the Windows user Mozilla profile -- I renamed then all and restarted Firefox ... and BAM, I got TALL Menus, Tabs and Toolbars!

At least I know how to make it happen on demand.

Okay then, Help, Troubleshoot..., Refresh, back to normal, and try something else.

FredMcD said

Separate Issue; Your System Details shows; Installed Plug-ins Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 12.1.7.157 Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 12.1.6.156 Having more than one version of a program may cause issues. Grab the uninstaller from here: Uninstall Flash Player | Windows Uninstall Flash Player | Mac Then reinstall the latest version. Flash Player Version 16.0.0.305
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html Shockwave Director Version 12.1.7.157 http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

---

Delete or rename the xulstore.json file. Type about:support in the address bar and press enter. Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox. Locate the file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox.

---

finitarry said

Maybe xulstore.json got damaged? If you shut down Firefox, move that file out of the profile, and restart Firefox, are the tabs, etc. normal again?

finitarry, your advice is good, but don't stop there. Tell the user what needs to be done and how.

Thanks for the pointers.

Deleting profile altogether and restarting Firefox got TALL Menus, Tabs, and Toolbars.

Here's the contents of the FRESH

C:\Users\1st-user\AppData\Roaming\... ...Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\pbznt0kr.default\xulstore.json

{"chrome://browser/content/browser.xul":{"PersonalToolbar":{"collapsed":"false"},"navigator-toolbox":{"iconsize":"small"},"main-window":{"width":"1024","height":"555","screenX":"4","screenY":"4","sizemode":"normal"},"titlebar-placeholder-on-menubar-for-caption-buttons":{"width":"53"},"titlebar-placeholder-on-TabsToolbar-for-captions-buttons":{"width":"53"},"sidebar-title":{"value":""}}}

Chrome, Opera, even IE and Tor Browser are working, so I have plan B.

Good challenge, though, and helpful exploration.

How about permissions -- could something be written or created once that then gets disconnected and can't be read or updated?

The file and all Mozilla Firefox have full controls handed over to

[ Local account ],

[ 1st-User ],

[ SYSTEM ], and

[ Administrators ].

==

I'm still checking things as I write ...

==

AHAH!

Microsoft Windows 7's own

Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Personalization -- [ Window Color and Appearance ]

was MISSING font names in the fields, like for

[ Inactive Windows | Title Bar ]

[Active Windows | Title Bar ]

[ Menu ]

... as soon as I put something like

Font: [ Tahoma ]

Size: [ 8 ]

in there,

ALL IS PEACHY, the Menus, tabs, and toolbars are back to normal size!

Perhaps Firefox went into an illegal or maximum state when no font was inherited from Windows?

Bad design!

So, the PROBLEM is ... ever depending on Microsoft settings, argh!

Never, never, never depend on anyone else's settings, dynamic link libraries, drivers, whatever, or you end up troubleshooting stuff you have no control over when it changes outside your program.

Too bad Mozilla does not perform an inventory of dependencies needed outside for proper Firefox behavior,

"... would you like me to set all external dependencies for optimum Firefox performance?" ..."

YES!

Thanks for your responses, folks, very savvy, and now we're all smarter!

Love and hugs, Peter Blaise

peterblaise said

Menu, toolbars, and tabs suddenly TALL, have to reset Firefox, not fixed by eliminating add ins, only a reset works -- help!

==

Problem was missing fonts names in Window's own

Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Personalization

[ Windows Color and Appearance ]

settings, like for Title Bar, Menu, and so on.

Once set, Firefox settled down.

Funny, I have lockups from too many add ons, but nothing as bas as mis-setting Microsoft components.

How did the settings get blank?

Who knows?

Thanks, gang -- great responses, reveals a lot about how Firefox inner guts work.

It's fine now.