Usually if you click in the field, Firefox will interpret the typing correctly. Could you check to see whether you have this feature turned and, if you do, turn it off: orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced > General mini-tab > "Search for text when I start typing" If that was on and you turn it off, does that fix the problem? If not, could you try the same pages in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues using Safe Mode]]. You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (''not'' Reset) Any difference?

See also: *http://kb.mozillazine.org/Find_bar_opens_when_typing_in_textbox * searchhotkeys: http://nic-nac-project.de/~kaosmos/index-en.html#searchkeys