hello, please Update Firefox to the latest release (that's firefox 18.0.2 at the moment) - this should already fix the problem.

This page reminds me why I left microsux products. If I want to update my plugins etc I will but I do not need to be reminded like an imbecile. I don't need firefox to think or anticipate for me. I want one freakin tab to open when I open firefox and that is MY HOMEPAGE I don't want to have to deal with closing a tab I didnt ask for. so Mozilla firefox HOW DO I STOP IT FROM HAPPENING?? OR DO I LEAVE YOU LIKE MICROSUX????

Hi NCGrandma, which version of Firefox are you running? You can check the current version under Help > About Firefox. This was supposed to have been turned off in Firefox 18, so some time ago.

Never mind, I have left firefox and its bs for chrome. If firefox ever goes back to unobtrusive not thinking for me browser I may retry it but for now I have moved on and I suggest to anyone else having the same problem try google chrome.

oh and btw I was using the latest version of firefox 19 and it was doing this i went back to version 8 it did it too. Just to clarify that I answered that question and didn't refuse help although after many years of using firefox it is too late I am off to google chrome

if this is happening in firefox 19 then you probably just have to set the right homepage.

How to set the home page

No my homepage was opening along with the plugin check in a second tab. Since all this happened I researched and google chrome requires less hard drive space and less memory than firefox without all the hassles. It also allows me to do private browsing, not accept third party cookies, stop pop ups etc. It is well worth looking into as it runs faster with less hard drive space less memory and less bs its a clean easy to use web browser without a bunch of buttons and bars.

Hi NCGrandma, the problem you have with the plugincheck page opening on its own is extremely rare and doesn't affect most users.

To clarify the above reference to the home page, Firefox allows you to set multiple tabs to open as your home page. The suggestion was to check or update your home page in case the plugincheck page was set as a second home tab.

You are free to use the browser you like best. I'll be curious to hear how you compare Chrome and Firefox after 6 months.

You can get a plugin check on startup if you have plugins (Tools > Add-ons > Plugins) that are blocklisted by Mozilla, either because of security vulnerabilities or by causing excessive crashes and thus are disabled.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/

No problem. You have to rename/move some files AFTER unchecking the auto-update feature in tools-options-advanced-updates. For Win7 they are here:

C:\Users\AWK\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox\updates\0 (I just renamed the parent folder from updates to this) C:\Users\AWK\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox\00_updates\0

and

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox I just moved these files to another folder

   maintenanceservice.exe
   maintenanceservice.exe_installer

I am using Firefox 21 because Firefox 22 will not allow some plugins to work, specifically "Plain Old Favorites" which is MISSION-CRIITICAL for me and mine. "Bookmarks" is lame. When Mozilla releases a version that works, I will download it, but I own this PC. Not Mozilla. Not Microsoft. Me.

Hi pcbest, I believe you are thinking of extensions and themes, which update from addons.mozilla.org. The Plugin Check page is something users can visit on demand here: https://www.mozilla.org/plugincheck/

OOPS - You are so right. I answered the wrong post. LOL. I was having problems with the AUTO update - even after disabling it. After searching for an answer here I gave up and tracked down the offending files and dealt with them. Then I decided to go back to the support forum and share the knowledge. Oh well...at least someone with this issue should be able to find my reply by searching.

To stop the plugincheck in firefox type in URL: "about:config" (without quotes), find the line "plugin.scan.plid.all" and doubleclick it to become false. That should fix the problem!

Hi makgrs2, you suggested setting "plugin.scan.plid.all" to false. However, I think you are confusing two different scans. This preference determines whether Firefox will look for updated plugin listings in the Windows registry so that it can detect plugins installed by new programs. This preference is not related to the plugincheck website.

Your version of Firefox that you are running is out of date. Try updating to Firefox 22.0.

Also try checking to see your homepage is set to the plug-in checker page.

I WAS TALKING ABOUT FIREFOX UPDATE. I originally posted to this thread by mistake - too many tabs open LOL - I refuse to use Firefox 22. I am using Firefox 21 because the add-on "Plain Old Favorites" will not work in 22. It has worked since I started using it in ver 10. In TOOLS...Advanced...UPDATES you can disable the updates, but it really doesn't fix it unless you also delete the maintenance service and maintenanceservice_install executables in the Mozilla folder. Also, be sure that you choose custom install so you won't have the maintenance service installed. I really like Firefox, but this is a slight hassle since I have to do this for all of my clients since we all rely on Windows Favorites instead of bookmarks. I will try ver 23 and then 24, but I will keep using 21 until they fix this issue with that particular add-on.

Hi pcbest, the developer of "Plain Old Favorites" posted an update yesterday. It still is under review by the Addons team before hitting the extension's main page, but if you want to try it now, you can pick it up on the versions page here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/plainoldfavorites/versions/

Running old versions of Firefox can be unsafe because they can present security and stability issues. It is your choice to run Firefox 21, but since Firefox 22 is the most recent version I would recommend using it.