New Blank Tab Opens When I Open A Text File

Check your windows default file - extensions list isn't corrupted. No other ideas atm, soz

 

Hmm, check Firefox' Options > Applications for text files, if it's present, delete it. This might take a browser restart to set it, some changes do, some don't.

 

Okay, maybe something's upset the download mechanism, usually, there's a brief flash of an new tab as the handover to the download happens, could be an Add-on clashing with a new FF feature or fix, perhaps your Profile is buggy, how old is the Profile?

Clicking on a text file on the PC opens it correctly, yes?

No clue what that is, Em... <shrug> LOL, you obviously visited somewhere/something with that name in the past!

 

For the Refresh Firefox, it stores your old data in a folder on the Desktop, this can be selectively imported (copied over, use the minimum needed for best chance of avoiding bugs) into the new folder with FF closed: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/k...ta?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Profiles

Try starting FF in safe mode first, hold down Shift while you click the shortcut, the next test would be a new Profile using the Profile manager: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles - if these both work fine, perhaps it's an Add-on, check them for updates.

 

No worries, Emma.

The only thing there I'd feel the need to check (unless one of the others was updated yesterday?) would be ABP, not used it for years but I was never entirely happy with it, been using uBlockO (checking manually for updates daily) for some time now, very pleased with it. Still, the safe mode test should eliminate the Extensions and Plugins (not 100% sure with the latter) the new Profile test (it's non-destructive via the Profile Manager) would also block a slightly different combination, if it works correctly with one and not the other, that might help us to pinpoint the problem.

 

Whatever it is, it doesn't belong there.

Close Firefox, open the folder Users, and search for mimeTypes.rdf.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/k...dow+-+Applications+panel&utm_source=inproduct

Here's more info about Refresh Firefox.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

 

The GUI for file types (mime) doesn't have txt (Post #4), so deleting the mimeTypes.rdf isn't likely to be of any help. It can be opened in Notepad to check for txt, I don't have it in my FF Profile, neither does my current Pale Moon Profile.

 

Deleting the mimeTypes.rdf file is to get rid of whatever is first in the Applications list.

 

That's a one-off, not likely to be an issue.

 

Those 'Extensions' are 'Add-ons'. Not sure why they use two different names.

I see that you have two PDF viewer plugins, Adobe Acrobat and Foxit Reader.
Unless you have some need for both of those, you can remove both and just use the Firefox built-in PDF viewer.
I'm no longer using a plugin for that.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/k...redirectslug=Opening+PDF+files+within+Firefox

You could also remove the "Logitech Flow Scroll" extension, since it's disabled anyway.
Have you tried the Firefox Use smooth scrolling option?
From the menu bar, just go to Tools > Options > Advanced > General tab.
You may have to restart Firefox after you set it.
=

 

You're correct.
As per my link...
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/k...dow+-+Applications+panel&utm_source=inproduct

BTW Did the strange entry disappear?

 

You could try editing the mimeTypes.rdf with Notepad (it's readable, see #12), with Firefox closed to take out that errant entry.

No clue what those add ons are but I'd not be best pleased if Avast was cleaning them out due to crowd rating being low, wth does the crowd know about your specific browser needs and usages...

Enabling Avast's Browser Cleanup here to test...

EDIT: Avast uses the terms 'untrustworthy and malicious' in their description of browser cleanup in Avast Free, which doesn't sit right with your screenshot. Once installed/activated, it shows 'Customise', where the only option is that crowd-based? reputation thing, do you really want some crowd of strangers removing your choice of add ons? Seems a bit strange to me.

 

(too late to edit)

I can't see anything listed in the current Mozilla Add ons site that fits the names given in that screenshot, again, that feels odd to me, like Avast is getting something wrong and flagging a built-in FF feature (hardware acceleration = D3D9 acceleration?) instead of something similar that's been crowd flagged as 'bad'.

 

I use Avast but I have the 'Browser Cleanup' component turned off.
I would rather disable or remove any unwanted add-ons myself.

 

For the things listed in your Avast screenshot, this is what they are and they are a vital component of Firefox's underbelly.

Asynchronous Plugin Rendering enables asynchronoous plugin rendering in Firefox 49. The Patch is designed to improve the performance of Adobe's Flash Player in Firefox, and to reduce the likelihood of crashes.

The patch flips the switch dom.ipc.plugins.asyncdrawing.enabled to true on Firefox 49 and Firefox 49.0.1. This fixes an issue that 64-bit users of Firefox experienced. Mozilla calls these issues "functional", and mentioned that it also caused issues with scrolling for e10s users and Flash content.

Mozilla will integrate the change in Firefox 49.0.2 which will be out soon. If you don't want to wait for the system add-on to be pushed to your copy of Firefox, flip the preference manually instead to resolve the issues:

1. Type about:config in the Firefox address bar.
2. Confirm that you will be careful if the warning prompt spawns.
3. Search for dom.ipc.plugins.asyncdrawing.enabled.
4. If the preference's value is set to false, double-click it to set it to true instead. This enables asynchronous plugin rendering in Firefox.

The D3D9 Acceleration Fallback system add-on on the other hand deactivates Direct3D9 fallback if hardware acceleration is enabled in Firefox. This should fix graphics artifacts issues that some Firefox users are experiencing currently. The patch will land in Firefox 49 and Firefox 50.

Source - http://www.ghacks.net/2016/10/20/firefox-49-two-new-system-add-ons-to-fix-flash-and-graphics-issues/

 

Thanks, GI, that makes sense (looks like ABC took them out because they were delivered as .xpi's?).

 

You can find out if the system add-ons are already (re)installed on your version of Firefox. Simply load about:support in the Firefox address bar and scroll down to the extensions group on the page.

There you find all user installed and Mozilla installed Firefox add-ons. If you find the two system add-ons mentioned above, then they are installed and enabled. If not, there is little that you can do but wait for them to (reinstall?) in the next update?

As for the .xpi -
XPI modules (so called "Bundles") are employed to install a wide variety of software, including Plugins, Extensions, Themes, and Thunderbird dictionaries.

An XPI contains installation instructions (install.js or install.rdf) as well as the actual software to install, which is often itself packaged as a JAR file. When downloaded or dropped into an extension manager, XPInstall automatically interacts with the installation instructions contained in the XPI, and installs the contained software.

 

Since today's release of Firefox has enabled Asynchronous Plugin Rendering by default, perhaps the upgrade will patch that back in and maybe the D3D9 as well, Em.

New
Asynchronous rendering of the Flash plugins is now enabled by default. This should improve performance and reduce crashes for sites that use the Flash plugin. (Bug 1307108) Fixed
Change D3D9 default fallback preference to prevent graphical artifacts (Bug 1306465)

More... : https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/49.0.2/releasenotes/

 

Grabbing a fresh copy of Firefox and doing an over the top install might be a better way to fix any damage.

 

I'm starting a thread in the Software forum about Avast.

 

No, that should preserve your settings and refresh the base FF files.

Also an Avast! topic on the same issue: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=192117.0

Considering the latest FF version takes several days to get rolled out, I'm guessing the problem's gonna run for a while