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Enter key no longer working for URLs typed into address bar

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PetersT
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Enter key no longer working for URLs typed into address bar

Recently, I've lost the ability to type a URL into the address bar and press ENTER to go to that site. Instead, nothing happens, and I have to use my mouse to click the arrow to the right of the address field in order to get to the site. This isn't the only aggravation I've been dealing with lately, but I'll stick to one problem at a time. Is there anything in the configuration settings that could cause this behavior (not that I recall having changed anything of late).

John T. Haller
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Addons, Compatibility Mode

I know some addons in Firefox have caused this in the past. And I've seen references to running Firefox in Windows compatibility mode can cause it as well.

You can start Firefox Portable in safe mode from the command line by running FirefoxPortable.exe -safe-mode That will help determine if it is an addon causing the issue.

If it is not, ensure you haven't set a compatibility mode for FirefoxPortable.exe. Right click it in Explore, select Properties, and select the Compatibility tab. Nothing should be selected in this.

If that still doesn't solve it, try installing a fresh copy of Firefox Portable temporarily. Download a new one and install it right to your Desktop directory for instance. Does Enter work here? If not, then something else on your PC is interfering (possible an antivirus addon).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

PetersT
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Enter key no longer working

Hi John. I tried running in safe mode per your suggestion, but the problem persisted. I then checked the Compatibility settings tab on the .exe properties, and nothing was selected.

As soon as I've tried the last suggestion, to install a fresh copy, I'll let you know. Thanks.

PetersT
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Temporary copy worked - what next

I installed a temporary copy of FirefoxPortable on my C: drive (v53), and it ran fine from there. I'd like to uninstall and reinstall on my portable drive, but I've got a ton of bookmarks I don't want to lose, and both the backup and export to HTML functions also seem to be broken. Is there another way I can save my bookmarks?

John T. Haller
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Refresh

I'd suggest first making a copy of your whole FirefoxPortable directory. Then open that up and uninstall all extensions and themes. Then do a Refresh... click the menu icon, then the Help icon, then Troubleshooting, then click Refresh. That should reset most Firefox settings but preserve your bookmarks, passwords, etc.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

PetersT
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Uninstall extensions and themes

Made a copy of my FirefoxPortable folder, then opened up the source folder's app. Two of my add-ons don't provide an option to uninstall; they only have Enable or Disable. Is there a way to uninstall them?

John T. Haller
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Local

Those are locally installed then. Things like antivirus and the like. There is an about:config setting to turn off scanning for local addons I can't recall offhand. You can just disable them for the purposes we're working on here, though.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

PetersT
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Refresh - I can't seem to find it

Sorry for my inexperience. I'm on the Troubleshooting Information page, and I don't see any button or link for Refresh (I scrolled down the entire thing, but didn't see it). I restarted in Safe mode, but it's still not showing up.

John T. Haller
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Not Available

Sorry, I forgot it's unavailable when used with -profile (which is what portable does).

You could try copying the places.* files from your original profile to the new blank one. That should bring over your bookmarks and history.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

PetersT
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Copy places.* files

So, I should delete everything under the profile folder and then copy the places.* files from the folder copy I made? And, Firefox will recreate the rest?

John T. Haller
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Create First, Replace

Create a new profile first (by running it and closing it), then remove the places.* files from the new profile and copy the places.* files from the old one. That might do it.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

PetersT
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Still can't backup or export bookmarks

I recreated the profile folder, removed the places.* files and copied over the places.* from the saved folder. The backup and export options on the Library window still do not function. They don't throw any error; they simply do nothing. Any other way to get my bookmarks back before I uninstall or delete the entire Firefox folder and do a new install?

John T. Haller
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Addons

What are the addons you can't disable? Something is very broken in your old Firefox profile.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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