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After a stuck Windows key, text cannot be entered in either the address or the search spaces on the Firefow home page

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

jackduggan
jackduggan
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The above problem occurred after I was typing in a mail client and apparently the Windows key was stuck. After unsticking the Windows key, I restarted the PC with no effect. I then set Firefox to the default setting with no effect. I next uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled the most recent version with no effect. The newly installed Firefox cannot view the Bookmarks, Tools, etc. options and the add-ons (NoScript and Adblockplus) are gone. The bookmarks are accessible, however, by left-clicking the bookmarks icon in the upper right area. The Chrome browser is functional and addresses and search terms that are copied from Chrome and pasted to the appropriate spaces in Firefox work properly. As it stands the Firefox browser is out of commission. Any ideas? I'm stumped.

The above problem occurred after I was typing in a mail client and apparently the Windows key was stuck. After unsticking the Windows key, I restarted the PC with no effect. I then set Firefox to the default setting with no effect. I next uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled the most recent version with no effect. The newly installed Firefox cannot view the Bookmarks, Tools, etc. options and the add-ons (NoScript and Adblockplus) are gone. The bookmarks are accessible, however, by left-clicking the bookmarks icon in the upper right area. The Chrome browser is functional and addresses and search terms that are copied from Chrome and pasted to the appropriate spaces in Firefox work properly. As it stands the Firefox browser is out of commission. Any ideas? I'm stumped.

All Replies (2)

Snowydogs
Snowydogs
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Hello,

Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes).

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:

  • In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button New Fx Menu, click Help Help-29 and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
  • In previous Firefox versions, click on the Firefox button at the top left of the Firefox window and click on Help (or click on Help in the Menu bar, if you don't have a Firefox button) then click on Restart with Add-ons Disabled.

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

  • On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
  • On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
    (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".

Safe Mode Fx 15 - Win

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.

Cheers,

Snowydogs

FredMcD
FredMcD
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Look on your desktop. Do you see a folder called; Old Firefox?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles