Proxy not working - allways direct connection

hi all

hope someone can help me as i am going nuts.

currently using v 3.0.6 portable. in the past proxies used to work fine, but now when i set firefox to use proxy it never uses the proxy settings even though they are activated and stick.

connection is allways direct as if there is not proxy set.

i checked prefs.js and looks good - has to be anyways as settings stick even when restarting firefox but just dont work i.e. are ignored.

hope anyone experienced the same and has a solution.

lookinf forward to any hints - tks

PS: i disabled switch proxy tool just in case this is the source of problem but no help