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Firefox starts up in different tab with a different website

  • 9 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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Occasionally Firefox starts up in a tab and website that are different from the last time I closed it. For example, last night I closed it facing the second tab with a given website, and then today, when I started it up, I was on the fifth tab, with facebook's homepage on it. It doesn't happen everyday, it just comes and goes, it happens for 2/3/4 days straight each time with different tabs and different websites and now it's starting to get on my nerves. What could it be?

Occasionally Firefox starts up in a tab and website that are different from the last time I closed it. For example, last night I closed it facing the second tab with a given website, and then today, when I started it up, I was on the fifth tab, with facebook's homepage on it. It doesn't happen everyday, it just comes and goes, it happens for 2/3/4 days straight each time with different tabs and different websites and now it's starting to get on my nerves. What could it be?

All Replies (9)

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There is software like Advanced SystemCare with its Surfing Protection feature that can protect files in the Firefox profile folder against changes. If you have such software then check the settings or uninstall this software.

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I don't have that software installed in my PC.

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Are the pages that you see from that previous session or from even older days?

You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files in the Firefox profile folder that store session data and try to remove these sessionstore files.

  • Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).

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What is on those other pages? If they are adds, you may have mal-ware.

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@cor-el: They're from older days. What was happening to my browser happened since Sunday, with yesterday and Monday being repeated. Today, for some reason it didn't happen.

@FredMcD: I use ad-block, but I'm running a Malware scan right now.

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Run most or all of the listed malware scanners. Each works differently. If one program misses something, another may pick it up.

Troubleshoot Firefox Issues Caused By Malware {web link}

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Did you check the sessionstore files in the Firefox profile folder?

What sessionstore files do oyu see and what are the date/time stamps of those files?

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Sorry, I forgot to answer one that one.

So, the.js one is dated 16-07-2014-16:24

and one of the .bak ones says 15-07-2014 23:45, while the other that has "-20140605174243" added next .bak says 18-06-2014 21:01.

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The one with the date stamp appended gets created when you update Firefox.

Firefox copies the sessionstore.js file from the previous session to sessionstore.bak on each Firefox start to make it possible to restore the previous session.