FF2 opens only a blank page when hyperlinks clicked in (say) mail client

Etal wrote in
:

I think i'd try a variation of this using whatever version of
Internet Explorer (IE) is currently installed.


I agree. I was just assuming that it might not have been, but it certainly
makes no sense to install one earlier than the last known. I was thinking
mainly of an attempt to replace the most likely file versions and registry
entries that may have been there, because trying to predict any other state
from here is a no-win.

You mention closing the program (FF) after changing the default status
switch. That might be vital, and I forgot to mention it. Many programs will
not write changes to the registry except when they get closed, so alternating
switches like this one may also require the full write-on-close each time, so
close... Rebooting is less likely to be needed. That normally only has to
happen if a file is loaded in RAM abd can't cleanly be unloaded. This can
happen with orphaned VXD's and DLL's, and is a standard case for shared files
where unloading them is unwise, and instead, WININIT.EXE and its INI file are
used to do the exchanges at boot time. I doubt borked registry entries for
URL linkage handling and OLE will be fixed that way unless there really is a
broken system file, in which case something else has to be expolored to make
sure it won't happen again, caused by some dodgy installer that doesn't play
nice when it comes to changing DLL's.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:19:52 +0200, Etal
wrote:

Lostgallifreyan wrote:


Another gambit is to install Internet Explorer v5.5, (or
v5.1), whichever version is supplied with W98's install CD.
You'll need to use FireFox to reset itself as default
afterwards, but as it inherited some support from Microsoft's
deliberate attempt to link the OS with IE, you might get that
support rebuilt by doing this.

I think i'd try a variation of this using whatever version of
Internet Explorer (IE) is currently installed.

(snip)

I had already tried that: shut down FF, start IE and set it to
default browser. Shut down IE, start FF and set it to default.

IE (5.00.whatever) happily responded to link-activation, which is why
I was at the point of stating that something broke FF (and/or its reg
entries).

who where wrote in
:

IE (5.00.whatever) happily responded to link-activation, which is why
I was at the point of stating that something broke FF (and/or its reg
entries).


You might have mentioned that before... Ò^O
It means that OLE and other OS stuff is likely fine.

I can't suggest a fix because I don't have enough info to limit the scope.
HAve you tried tests on links for email addresses, FTP, HTTP links, etc, in
several different programs, anything which makes such links active and not
just chunks of text? If yuo notice any unexpected redirections to other
programs or behaviour than those you want or had reason to expect, note them
and post the observations, you might get some very specific answer, maybe
from your own effort without extra help, but you'll have to be very
systematic about what you test.

Clearly (from your first post), the clicking of a URL in an email opens
FireFox, but from that all we can assume is that FF wasn't open so your not
using webmail... That's not a lot to go on.

who where wrote:

Etal wrote:

Lostgallifreyan wrote:

Another gambit is to install Internet Explorer v5.5, (or
v5.1), whichever version is supplied with W98's install
CD. You'll need to use FireFox to reset itself as default
afterwards, but as it inherited some support from
Microsoft's deliberate attempt to link the OS with IE, you
might get that support rebuilt by doing this.

I think i'd try a variation of this using whatever version
of Internet Explorer (IE) is currently installed.

(snip)

I had already tried that: shut down FF, start IE and set it
to default browser. Shut down IE, start FF and set it to
default.

IE (5.00.whatever) happily responded to link-activation, which
is why I was at the point of stating that something broke FF


Now other readers also know that and that we need to think more
to something specific wrong with Firefox, than a general
link-clicking misbehavior. Good.

And we know that it is something that survives an
uninstall/reinstallation of Ff. The settings may be kept if one
uninstalls i think, and probably different add-ins and their
settings.

Next step for me would be to start the Firefox Profile Manager

""[VolumeLetter]:\Path\to\Firefox.exe" -P"

Create a clean new Profile (TestProfile), Start Ff, exit, Start
Ff via a normal Shortcut (Desktop or start Menu) to make sure it
starts into the TestProfile, Exit again, and then try clicking a
HTTP-URL from inside the email program again.

If the problem still exists, i'd suspect it might be a add-in
(Plugin / Extension) causing the problems.


(and/or its reg entries).

(Firefox on its own store next to nothing in the registry. It
stores the program-files where you install it, the browser-cache
in one directory location and its settings as files under a
"Profile Directory".

I have Ff 3.x here. See if the following works under Ff 2.x:
Open "about:support" in Ff address-bar, and if it does, the page
should give the location of the Profile Directory.


--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.

Lostgallifreyan wrote:

You mention closing the program (FF) after changing the
default status switch. That might be vital, and I forgot to
mention it. Many programs will not write changes to the
registry except when they get closed, so alternating switches
like this one may also require the full write-on-close each
time, so close...

Interestingly and unusually, Firefox has a user-accessible
setting to regulate this (not that it write its setting to the
Windows registry). I have the non-default:
'browser.preferences.instantApply' (boolean) 'true'


Rebooting is less likely to be needed. That
normally only has to happen if a file is loaded in RAM abd
can't cleanly be unloaded. This can happen with orphaned VXD's
and DLL's, and is a standard case for shared files where
unloading them is unwise, and instead, WININIT.EXE and its INI
file are used to do the exchanges at boot time.

I probably reboot much more then needed when troubleshooting
because it is difficult to know when it *is* necessary and when
it is not. So just to take that nagging uncertainty out of the
equation.
In this case. i's thinking that the setting of the default
web-browser might be read only at login, and that a file such as
[URLMon.dll] might have been in play and as part ms' blur of what
is a 'web-browser' and_or what is the 'file hierarchy browser'
and_or what is the 'OS' might be loaded/read only at boot.


--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.

Etal wrote:


Next step for me would be to start the Firefox Profile Manager


""[VolumeLetter]:\Path\to\Firefox.exe" -P"

Create a clean new Profile (TestProfile), Start Ff, exit,
Start Ff via a normal Shortcut (Desktop or start Menu) to make
sure it starts into the TestProfile, Exit again, and then try
clicking a HTTP-URL from inside the email program again.


Addendum:
A very annoying thing with Firefox is that if one uses multiple
profiles there is no obvious easy way to tell which one is in
use. By default each profile stores its own independent bookmarks
and a new profile comes with only a few bookmarks.

So if you have added bookmarks to your old usual profile,
checking under the 'Bookmarks' drop-down menu is a quick way to
see which profile is active. If you had never added any bookmarks
yourself, add a bookmark to one of the profiles to be able to
tell them apart.

Also, don't delete your old profile before you've backed up your
old bookmarks. Also logins/passwords, cookies you may want to
keep are store in under the profile, so to make sure you don't
loose anything important archive a copy of the whole
profile-folder before deleting it in from the Profile Manager.


--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.

Etal wrote in
:

I probably reboot much more then needed when troubleshooting
because it is difficult to know when it *is* necessary and when
it is not. So just to take that nagging uncertainty out of the
equation.


I think the main subject has gone beyond my reach but I can comment on this
bit. I used to do all the reboot thing to eliminate doubt but in the long
run I had another accumulating doubt. As it's nice if I don't have to reboot,
it eventually paid to test each system or program to see if I could manage
without. The extra time spent later saves time in repeated installs, cloning,
and in understanding some patterns of shared DLL behaviour.

My X98 (which I should soon work on instead of just mentioning in passing) is
a W98 install part-based on 98-Lite and NUSB, with a very easy and fast
install of modularised subsystems, and an extremely reduced set of files and
registry entries for default installs. One nice upshot of this is that there
is no requirement for reboot during initial install, and subsequent hardware
install! At the end of that, there is, but far less than most W98 users would
be used to. I ended up realising that being able to NOT have to reboot was a
pretty good measure of things being added in the right order.

Etal wrote in
:

Addendum:
A very annoying thing with Firefox is that if one uses multiple
profiles there is no obvious easy way to tell which one is in
use. By default each profile stores its own independent bookmarks
and a new profile comes with only a few bookmarks.


When I used it, I noticed that. I did give it a profile with a name (I forget
exactly how, some refence I added to a file in its base dir I think, plus a
new subdir for the profile), and it worked fine for many months. Then one day
during some OS cloning or restore, I saw the weirdest FF error I ever saw. I
forget most of that too, because it finally motivated me to find a new
browser (I settled on OperaUSB v10.63). What I do remember is that it screwed
with the entire frame rendering of FireFox (as in its entire window, never
mind displayed content), and was so incalculably strange that for once I
didn't even try to understand it. I spent a while trying to eliminate it
without success before I decided that adapting to a version of Opera that
actually worked for me (at last) was easier. NOT an Opera plug, this was
mainly anecdotal stuff about FFv2 which had unsettled me for a while even
before I managed to irrecoverably bork it.

Mr. Franc Zabkar

NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:13:40 -0500
@ netscape.public.mozilla.browser




--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

In message , Hot-Text
writes:
Mr. Franc Zabkar

NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:13:40 -0500
@ netscape.public.mozilla.browser




--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to
---

(eh?)

Back to the subject question: when FF opens with this blank page, does
it have the URL originally clicked on in its URL bar, or does it have
something else? If it does have the right URL, does clicking
reload/refresh do anything, and if it has something else, what?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If a cluttered desk is characteristic of a cluttered mind, what does an empty
desk mean ?