Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
mawipafl, I got mine fixed. The problem for me was the version of Firefox I had installed. Apparently the latest release required changes to Norton that were then incompatible with the earlier version of FF that I had installed. I don't know how software companies ever keep up with all the changes to programs they have to get along with!
I updated FF to version 16, let it ask for and install the plugins and restart (twice). It no longer exhibits the behavior.
Tek_Freek ... thanks - will give that a try. In the meantime I went to about:config and changed the string for plugins.update.url from the mozilla url to my homepage url - that didn't eliminate the extra tab that opens when I start FF, but at least I can dive in without the annoying extra steps of getting rid of the Mozilla insistence that I install plugins.
So did anyone actually find a solution ? The plug in check page that opens each time is rather annoying. Seem lots of people are posting but none of they actually had any answers or even knew what the problem was.
It's not how to stop plug-ins from installing, not how to disable a plug in and saying I dont know how to fix it so go back to using IE is not at all helpful either.
It's each time FF opens, it opens a new tab called plug-in check, where it lists all your plug-ins and says what ones need updating. That page is what we are trying to get rid of.
So did anyone actually find a solution ? The plug in check page that opens each time is rather annoying. Seem lots of people are posting but none of they actually had any answers or even knew what the problem was.
It's not how to stop plug-ins from installing, not how to disable a plug in and saying I dont know how to fix it so go back to using IE is not at all helpful either.
It's each time FF opens, it opens a new tab called plug-in check, where it lists all your plug-ins and says what ones need updating. That page is what we are trying to get rid of.
It doesn't seem to matter which version of FF one has or upgrades to. For me it also now affects Google streets - I can't use that feature of Google maps because I "need" to upgrade to Adobe Flash 10 or greater - I have that (version 11.something). Even when I'm here on city-data I get a yellow bar at the top telling me I have missing plugins - when I click it I go to a page to upgrade Adobe Flash (which I've done numerous times and yet the yellow bar keeps coming back).
I don't have any issues at all when using IE and Google streets or IE and city-data - obviously I really do have the most up-to-date version of Adobe Flash as far as Google and IE are concerned. So, I'm starting to think that there's some sort of incompatibility going on between FF and Adobe, that as each has come out with new versions some sort of "loop" has been created so that the FF plugin check can't seem to find Adobe Flash and suspects it's missing.
The only band-aid I've found to stop the plugin check page from coming up is to trick it and change the url string.
In your address window type about:config.
A page will come up that says This might void your warranty! Click the button I'll be careful, I promise!
You want to filter the list to just show anything to do with plugins. So, in that box type plugins.
Look for the Preference Name plugins.update.url. The value should read as a Mozilla url.
Double click on plugins.update.url and change the url string to your homepage's url (in my case it's Google). Click OK and then close the page.
Now that I've tricked the plugin check, when I open FF I get two tabs (my homepage and the renamed FF plugin check). Although it's still a wee bit annoying to have that extra tab, at least I'm on my merry way to do whatever it is I want to do on the 'net without having to dismiss that plugin check page.
So did anyone actually find a solution ? The plug in check page that opens each time is rather annoying. Seem lots of people are posting but none of they actually had any answers or even knew what the problem was.
It's not how to stop plug-ins from installing, not how to disable a plug in and saying I dont know how to fix it so go back to using IE is not at all helpful either.
It's each time FF opens, it opens a new tab called plug-in check, where it lists all your plug-ins and says what ones need updating. That page is what we are trying to get rid of.
I see the plug-in check thing pop-up for a second or two and then the browser opens. I don't see it as a tab like you seem to be seeing it. If there is a problem with a plug-in that box will stay up until I check for updates or cancel it. Then the browser will open up. I think that this is the normal behavior of FF. What you're describing seems very different. Why is yours doing this differently, and did you change some settings to make it work that way?
Mine centers around Norton Internet Security. I think there's an incompatibility that FF won't ignore even when I go through the pop up boxes that concern it. Dropping back to 15.0.1 fixed that. I am no longer getting the "older version" nag from FF either.
This is actually a real problem, and has deeper implications that are non-obvious.
Firstly, read this: [url=http://www.ghacks.net/2012/10/06/mozilla-to-notify-firefox-users-about-oudated-plugins/]Mozilla to notify Firefox users about oudated plugins[/url] October 6, 2012.
Got that? Mozilla recently decided to force this on people. This is NOT the same issue as occurred back in 2011 that also caused a similar-appearing unwanted tab when opening the browser.
For me, the unwanted extra tab with the plugins update nag started appearing on Oct 7. I had not changed anything. The behavior was due to Mozilla's policy change, and whatever they did to implement it.
Several issues:
1. I don't *want* to update some of the plugins. Never mind why, it's my computer and I'll run outdated plugins if I want. And I do have good reasons. I use different browsers for different things, and Firefox 3.6 is one. I don't want to have to give it up. But I'll have to unless this is resolved.
2. More importantly, how did Mozilla alter the behavior of my Firefox 3.6 install at will? I do NOT have auto-update enabled on anything, so far as I know. So, Mozilla can mess with my local config any time they like? And they have some mechanism in place in Firefox 3.6 to do it? This is not acceptable.
3. I also don't feel good about Firefox making any online checks of what plugin versions I have or should have. As far as I'm concerned a browser should fetch stuff from the urls I tell it to, and nothing more. Yes, I understand about ads, referals, etc, and can live with that. But having the browser decide on its own to get on my case about what plugins and versions I have... that's *way* out of bounds.
So far as I can see, no one has come up with a solution to the 'extra tab at startup' problem.
And no one has even touched the privacy and security issues raised. Effectively, Mozilla is now hijacking my computer to some extent every time I start Firefox. If I did this to a bank's computers, I'd be in gaol so fast. How does Mozilla get a pass on this?
One other thought that occurs to me - the instance of something similar that occurred back in 2011, that was discussed on the Mozilla forums (eg [url=http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/833459]How do I disable Plugin Check? | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support[/url] [url=http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/833760]whenever I open the browser, the check plugins page always opens in a second tab. How can I make this stop? | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support[/url] [url=http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/832793]Disable Plugin Check | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support[/url] ) might have been due to Mozilla working on the capability to implement this recent policy. In which case I'd be *much* more concerned about their motives.
I've found that I'm using IE more often now because of the FF constant notices that my plugins are either outdated or missing. For example, if I use FF to access city-data, there's a bar at the top that says "Additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page." I'm not sure what "media" are not being displayed for cryin' out loud - all looks fine to me. When I use IE, well, that browser seems to have no problems with whatever plugins I have or don't have -- city-data and everything else like google streets run just fine and I get no notices.
So, that's my solution -- use IE. (Mozilla and its advertisers - hope you're paying attention.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
