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Help! The newest version of Firefox is not working for me! What do I do?

Faolan
Faolan
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I just don't understand what's going on! I just followed these steps:

1) Open the about:config page via the location bar 2) Type in the Filter bar: mstone 3) Right-click the browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone line and select: Reset 4) Close and restart Firefox

I got my Google and bookmarks back.

However, since I updated the Plugin for Adobe Reader, everything's changed again!

I CAN'T type a question in the URL bar anymore to be directed to the Google search engine with a list of possible links. When I try to type a question or a set of words in the URL bar I either...

a) Get taken to a website that's been predetermined by Firefox itself depending on the word(s) I've typed in or

b) Get this following error:

The address isn't valid

The URL is not valid and cannot be loaded.

Web addresses are usually written like 

http://www.example.com/

Make sure that you're using forward slashes (i.e./).


I tried typing the following question in the URL bar as a test: What's the difference between a smooth and a wire hair Fox Terrier? and got the above URL isn't valid error.


Also, I no longer have Google as my search engine. I have Yahoo. I hate Yahoo. I love Google. How do I get that back? D:


Please...someone...HELP!!! D:

I just don't understand what's going on! I just followed these steps: 1) Open the about:config page via the location bar 2) Type in the Filter bar: mstone 3) Right-click the browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone line and select: Reset 4) Close and restart Firefox I got my Google and bookmarks back. However, since I updated the Plugin for Adobe Reader, everything's changed again! I CAN'T type a question in the URL bar anymore to be directed to the Google search engine with a list of possible links. When I try to type a question or a set of words in the URL bar I either... a) Get taken to a website that's been predetermined by Firefox itself depending on the word(s) I've typed in or b) Get this following error: The address isn't valid The URL is not valid and cannot be loaded. Web addresses are usually written like http://www.example.com/ Make sure that you're using forward slashes (i.e./). I tried typing the following question in the URL bar as a test: What's the difference between a smooth and a wire hair Fox Terrier? and got the above URL isn't valid error. Also, I no longer have Google as my search engine. I have Yahoo. I hate Yahoo. I love Google. How do I get that back? D: Please...someone...HELP!!! D:

All Replies (6)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Make sure that you still have the location bar and aren't typing in the search bar.

Make sure that toolbars like the "Navigation Toolbar" and the "Bookmarks Toolbar" are visible.

  • Firefox menu button > Options
  • View > Toolbars (press F10 to display the menu bar)
  • Right-click empty toolbar area

Use Toolbar Layout (Customize) to open the Customize window and set which toolbar items to display.

  • check that "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is on the Bookmarks Toolbar
  • if "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is not on the Bookmarks Toolbar then drag it back from the toolbar palette into the Customize window to the Bookmarks Toolbar
  • if missing items are in the toolbar palette then drag them back from the Customize window on the toolbar
  • if you do not see an item on a toolbar and in the toolbar palette then click the "Restore Default Set" button to restore the default toolbar setup

You can check for problems caused by a corrupted localstore.rdf file if the above didn't fix it.

Faolan
Faolan Question owner
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But that's not what I was asking. I'm wondering why I can't use the URL bar as a search bar. Why am I no longer able to to type a word or a phrase or a question into the URL bar and then be directed to my search engine?

Also, how do I revert back to the Google search engine instead of Yahoo?

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If Yahoo is used then this may have been changed by an extension.

Try to use the SearchReset extension to reset some preferences to the default values.

Note that the SearchReset extension only runs once and then uninstalls automatically, so it won't show on the "Firefox > Add-ons" page (about:addons).

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.

See also:

gardensheila
gardensheila
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I am having the same problem with the URL line--used to be able to search from it, now can't. I ried the "searchreset add-on" but it didn't help. I'm going to have to go back to Chrome without this option to search! But I had too many crashes of Flash Player in Chrome that never got resolved. IHowever, that isn't as frequent a problem as this. Too many steps to put google in the URL line and then do my search.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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The search engine that is used on the location bar and on the about:home page is the search engine that is selected in the search Bar on the Navigation Toolbar.

You can install the Keyword Search extension to specify with search engine to use for the location bar and which search engine to use for the about:home page via the Options/Preferences windows of this extension, accessible via the about:addons page.

gardensheila
gardensheila
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the only option for the search engine appears to be gogoduck or something like that that I've never heard of. And it doesn't apply to the URL bar.