Firefox has stopped displaying correctly for User2

[Daxter]

Good thing i'm a Firefox volunteer, Press Win + R. This will bring up a run dialog. Close firefox and type Firefox.exe -P Delete all profiles and make a new one. Also, when you have a new one, don't forget to sign into sync!

 

[Geeky]

I've been searching the registry for clues and can't say I've found anything, although I'm a bit lost in the registry anyway. However, I have found a couple of things that seem odd. For instance, while looking for and finding entries relating to User2, I also found references to User25 or _User25. I also found references to firefox.exe, 0 and firefox.exe, 1. Can anyone tell me if these are legitimate items?

Does the fact that this phenomenon occurred suddenly and has persisted, despite all the deletions and registry cleaning suggested by Edwin, make it more likely that it is a bug in Win 8.1 rather than FF? Running SFC achieves nothing and running online virus scanners has found nothing, with the exception of ESET, which seems to find and quarantine things like InstallCore.D at every scan.

 

[Geeky]

Good thing i'm a Firefox volunteer, Press Win + R. This will bring up a run dialog. Close firefox and type Firefox.exe -P Delete all profiles and make a new one. Also, when you have a new one, don't forget to sign into sync!

The only profile there is Default.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Hi there, Geeky. Just to let you know that since I don't use FF I'll have to hand the baton off to these others. However, I will keep an eye on this thread and help where I can.

I've been searching the registry for clues and can't say I've found anything, although I'm a bit lost in the registry anyway.

Perhaps I can offer some reading on the subject: Registry (Windows)

One thing I do know that before making any changes to a system is that we need to back items up. A system mirror ultimately, but in your case here, the Registry. As it states in Brink’s tutorial for 7 (will work in 8.x): Registry - Backup and Restore - Windows 7 Help Forums is to create a Restore Point: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4690-restore-point-create-windows-8-a.html

Good luck in your endevour.

 

[Geeky]

Just an update to say that I have now tried a clean boot and the problem still persists. Furthermore, I downloaded Opera and also checked out IE, both of which worked fine for User2.
If it wasn't for the fact that Firefox worked fine for a couple of weeks, I would think this is a Firefox problem but as it developed and retained this problem, despite totally eradicating all traces of FF and reinstalling, I am left thinking that that there is some other file causing this to happen.
Even User3 has the same problem but not User1, so what in Win 8.1 could cause FF to become a single-user app?

 

[Geeky]

Could this problem be related to the fact that I am using Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit whereas Firefox is only designed for 32-bit use?
Even so, all the literature suggests that it should work in the 64-bit environment. However, if that is so, why is there so much talk about the need for a 64-bit version of FF and why has Cyberfox 64-bit been developed. This is all very confusing for those of us who have a limited knowledge of modern IT.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

No. 32 will run on 64 bit systems, but not vice versa. I have Office 32 bit running great on my 64 bit system.

We might conclude from your description that it's an account thing going on, but that's beyond me.

Anyone else have a clue?

 

[Geeky]

No. 32 will run on 64 bit systems, but not vice versa. I have Office 32 bit running great on my 64 bit system.

We might conclude from your description that it's an account thing going on, but that's beyond me.

Anyone else have a clue?

Why then does anyone bother to develop 64-bit versions of apps, like Cyberfox?

 

[HippsieGypsie]

No. 32 will run on 64 bit systems, but not vice versa. I have Office 32 bit running great on my 64 bit system.

We might conclude from your description that it's an account thing going on, but that's beyond me.

Anyone else have a clue?

Why then does anyone bother to develop 64-bit versions of apps, like Cyberfox?

Not a coder nor a developer to be qualified to answer that. Perhaps someone qualified will.

However, I can tell you that I'm a "MS purist". I use as much MS software on my system as possible. Hardly ever have problems. e.g. Some were having great difficulties with the recent updates and having to uninstall them. They are still installed on my system and not having a bit of problems.

Hang in there. I'm sure a solution will come along.

 

[Geeky]

Just to let you know - I installed Cyberfox and it behaves exactly the same way. Hardly surprising as the architecture is basically the same as FF.
I know what you mean about MS but I have my reasons for avoiding several of their peripheral products.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

I found this that may help you.

Firefox Safe Mode: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/k...e?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Safe+Mode

 

[Geeky]

Thanks for the tip but I did already try all of those ideas, including FF reset, without achieving anything.

 

[elbmek]

Opera

 

[Geeky]

Yes, tried that and it works fine. However, there were aspects of its use I did not like, one being that it converted my ip address to that of the Opera administrators.

 

[oneeyed]

This sounds a lot like a permission problem. FF tries to load resources, which it doesn't have access to, resulting in the weird problems you get (UI elements not showing up).
Is User1 an administrator account ?

To test my theory you can try Firefox Portable. It doesn't install/load any resources other than from its own directory. If this version works for all your accounts then it's probably a permission problem.

Here is the link to FF Portable :
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives

And its wiki page for more info :
Firefox Portable - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Geeky]

This sounds a lot like a permission problem. FF tries to load resources, which it doesn't have access to, resulting in the weird problems you get (UI elements not showing up).
Is User1 an administrator account ?

To test my theory you can try Firefox Portable. It doesn't install/load any resources other than from its own directory. If this version works for all your accounts then it's probably a permission problem.

Here is the link to FF Portable :
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives

And its wiki page for more info :
Firefox Portable - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I appreciate your interest but this was suggested by another contributor and it produced exactly the same result. Just to be sure, I have tried again, working entirely as User2 so that the download file and the installation are kept apart from the User1 environment. FP opens exactly the same way as FF with no response to a left-click on the Menu button and no toolbar retention.
Something is disrupting FF but it is not affecting IE nor Opera.

 

[Geeky]

A step in the right direction - at last - or is it!
This morning, I found the Win 8.1 Troubleshooter, tried Programme Compatibility Issues>Mozilla Firefox>ticked 'Does not display correctly' and 'Requires extra permissions'. I was then asked to enter my administrator password and 'Test the program' and it worked correctly. So I accepted 'Apply these settings to the program' and it continues to work.
The only trouble is that I am now asked to enter the admin password every time I open FF.
Is there any way around this?
In fact, I have now found that I am simply getting access to the User! copy of FF, which rather defeats the objective of user independence. If I make a change to the bookmarks as User2, that is reflected when signing on as User1. This is evidently not the breakthrough that I had hoped for.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Well, it is step in the right direction, for you found the issue, although it seems that it doesn't affect everyone. Now to correct it.

Have you fiddled with UAC at all? Folder permissions? Anything like that prior or after FF install?

 

[Geeky]

Well, it is step in the right direction, for you found the issue, although it seems that it doesn't affect everyone. Now to correct it.

Have you fiddled with UAC at all? Folder permissions? Anything like that prior or after FF install?

No, I've kept well away from things I don't understand.
Further to earlier advice, I did try 'Run as admin' but that did nothing. That why I was so surprised that the 'Troubleshooting' routine did at least give me access to the User1 copy of FF. There seem to be several tick boxes for 'Run as admin' and I guess I didn't find the right one.

 

[Geeky]

I've made a further attempt to clean out the Win 8.1 user profiles, firstly by deleting User2 and choosing the 'Delete files and folders' option. However, I again found that the empty folders remain in 'C:\Users' and the only way I have found to get rid of them is to delete step-by-step from the bottom of the folder chain upwards. Even so, when I go to the registry, I find that there are still several references to User2 as well as several to '_User25'. What on earth is that?
I'm no expert in registry editing so I'm not sure what to do with those entries. Any suggestions?