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Weird behavior in form fields

brianj
brianj
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I have a problem when trying to enter text in a form (on any webpage) or enter text in the Google search bar embedded in the top section of my Firefox browser. This also happens in a form field if I hit the <Enter> key.

When I start typing sometimes the Firefox "Find bar" opens or I get other strange behavior and am not able to type in the form. Several times when I try to start entering text in a form random text on the webpage is highlighted and the browser freezes up.

I confirmed that "Search for text when I start typing" is unchecked as is explained here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Quick%20find%20bar%20opens%20when%20typing%20in%20text%20fields?esab=a&as=aaq.

Any ideas what in the world could be going on and how I can fix this issue?

System information: Firefox 16.0.2 Windows 7

Thanks much.

I have a problem when trying to enter text in a form (on any webpage) or enter text in the Google search bar embedded in the top section of my Firefox browser. This also happens in a form field if I hit the <Enter> key. When I start typing sometimes the Firefox "Find bar" opens or I get other strange behavior and am not able to type in the form. Several times when I try to start entering text in a form random text on the webpage is highlighted and the browser freezes up. I confirmed that "Search for text when I start typing" is unchecked as is explained here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Quick%20find%20bar%20opens%20when%20typing%20in%20text%20fields?esab=a&as=aaq. Any ideas what in the world could be going on and how I can fix this issue? System information: Firefox 16.0.2 Windows 7 Thanks much.

All Replies (5)

brianj
brianj Question owner
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I forgot to mention, if I hit <Esc> after the "Find bar" opens I'm then able to type in the form.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Find_bar_opens_when_typing_in_textbox

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).

  • Do not click the Reset button on the Safe mode start window or otherwise make changes.
brianj
brianj Question owner
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Thanks for the suggestion, cor-el. I still have the problem in Safe Mode. Bummer... I was hoping Safe Mode would help identify the issue.

Any suggestions what else I can do to identify the issue?

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.

You can also try to reset Firefox:

trainerdave
trainerdave
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New profile helped NOT A BIT. Very frustrating, coming on the heels of malware search ad infinitum, 2 FF reinstalls, etc. Form-filling works for a few rounds of entry, then it quits - for every entry field in a window - address field, seaerch field, fields within the pages. The cursor blinks, but keyboard doesn't connect. NOTE - I had been having problems two days ago with FF launching and then jumping to the "find" dialogbox yet that stopped happening.