Firefox problem

bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,406
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I'm using Firefix more and more now (in place of IE9), but it has this incredibly annoying behaviour:

If I click a link on a page (eg. a Daily Mail link in a DS post), so that it opens a new, separate window (not a tab), then when I close that new window, the original is shut down too!

What do I need to do to change that? Or is this just how Firefox works: if you've got 20 windows open, closing any one of them will close all the rest too? (This is Windows 7.)

(BTW, while composing the first version of this post, I started a separate version of Firefox to see if using right click and 'open link in a new window' made a difference. It didn't, and not only closed down those two windows, but also the one I was using to type this post! That, surely, can't be right? It should at least ask, as it does with multiple tabs.)

Comments

  • moonlilymoonlily Posts: 7,864
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    Hmm- seems strange, when I'm using FF and click on a link it opens another tab, and only shuts down all of them if I click the cross at the far right of the screen, and it warns me I'm about to close however many tabs. I close each tab individually if I need to or more often just navigate between them.
  • albertdalbertd Posts: 14,334
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    One of the Options (Tools-Options) under the Tabs section should be "Open links that open in a new window in". If you select "New Tab" that ought to sort it.
  • bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,406
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    albertd wrote: »
    One of the Options (Tools-Options) under the Tabs section should be "Open links that open in a new window in". If you select "New Tab" that ought to sort it.

    Yes, but then I have to use tabs instead! I don't like tabs (Sessions launched from outside will have OS toolbar tabs, and each of those will have a varying number of tabs of their own. All the pages currently open will be untidily scattered all over the place; how are you supposed to find any of them?!)

    Given that opening a link in a new window is a definite feature of Firefox, why does it behave in such an unintuitive manner?
    When someone opens a link in a separate window, it's because they want to continue working with the old one! Not have it closed unceremoniously.
  • call100call100 Posts: 7,262
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    See Here for help organising your tabs......It doesn't stop you selecting any link you want to open in a new window if you would prefer, at any time, Just right click the link and see the options for opening......:)
  • albertdalbertd Posts: 14,334
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    Yes, but then I have to use tabs instead! I don't like tabs (Sessions launched from outside will have OS toolbar tabs, and each of those will have a varying number of tabs of their own. All the pages currently open will be untidily scattered all over the place; how are you supposed to find any of them?!)

    Given that opening a link in a new window is a definite feature of Firefox, why does it behave in such an unintuitive manner?
    When someone opens a link in a separate window, it's because they want to continue working with the old one! Not have it closed unceremoniously.
    Sorry, I didn't fully understand the problem. I am using Firefox under Vista and it definitely does not do what you are describing. If I open a link to a separate window and then close that window again the original remains.

    As this is being observed whilst using Windows 7, I wonder if this problem with a recent Windows Update has anything to do with it.
  • bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,406
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    If I click a link on a page (eg. a Daily Mail link in a DS post), so that it opens a new, separate window (not a tab), then when I close that new window, the original is shut down too!

    Now the problem seems to have disappeared (?).

    The only change has been that I switched temporarily to using Tabs following a suggestion, and have just turned them off again.

    But I expect the bug will soon be back, doubtless when it it will cause the most inconvenience (on page 6 of 7 of a complicated on-line application for example!)
  • bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,406
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    Now the problem seems to have disappeared (?).

    I think I know now how this happens. (There might be people suffering the same problem where closing one Firefox session closes others too.)

    It seems to be connected with how a Firefox session is closed (this will be on Windows 7, and not using tabs).

    If it's closed by clicking the X button at the top right of the window, or by pressing Alt F4, or by clicking Close window under its taskbar tab, then there's no problem; just that window is closed.

    But if it's closed by clicking Exit (under the Firefox pulldown menu at the top left), then all currently open Firefox windows are closed!

    A bug, or a feature?! If it's a feature, I wish they'd tell us first!
  • Smiley433Smiley433 Posts: 7,836
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    But if it's closed by clicking Exit (under the Firefox pulldown menu at the top left), then all currently open Firefox windows are closed!

    What were you expecting to happen when you select Exit? To me, Exit and Alt-F4 and clicking the Close box in top-right are all the same so I'd expect the whole application to terminate regardless of how many tabs were open.

    Did this behaviour not happen with previous versions?
  • 1saintly1saintly Posts: 4,197
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    Smiley433 wrote: »
    What were you expecting to happen when you select Exit? To me, Exit and Alt-F4 and clicking the Close box in top-right are all the same so I'd expect the whole application to terminate regardless of how many tabs were open.

    Did this behaviour not happen with previous versions?

    Its not the Tabs the OP is/was having problems with.

    Its when the OP had 2 or more 'sessions?' of Firefox running, closing 1 session would end all sessions, thats not right, it should only close the selection you are asking it to close.

    i can have as many 'sessions' of Firefox open, each with several Tabs. All the sessions work independent of each other.
  • Smiley433Smiley433 Posts: 7,836
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    Ah right, I see now. I can start two "separate" (only one Firefox.exe process is running however) Firefox sessions and selecting Exit on one window will close both.
  • albertdalbertd Posts: 14,334
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    I think I know now how this happens. (There might be people suffering the same problem where closing one Firefox session closes others too.)

    It seems to be connected with how a Firefox session is closed (this will be on Windows 7, and not using tabs).

    If it's closed by clicking the X button at the top right of the window, or by pressing Alt F4, or by clicking Close window under its taskbar tab, then there's no problem; just that window is closed.

    But if it's closed by clicking Exit (under the Firefox pulldown menu at the top left), then all currently open Firefox windows are closed!

    A bug, or a feature?! If it's a feature, I wish they'd tell us first!
    Yes, I can confirm this diagnosis. The "Exit" option in the File menu does indeed act in a different way and closes both windows in Vista as well.

    I have never even considered using that round-about method, even though it is available; I always use the top right hand "X" as it seems the most obvious.

    As you say, Alt-F4 and the task-bar drop down also close only the one, it is only the File menu "Exit" which closes both.
  • bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,406
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    albertd wrote: »
    Yes, I can confirm this diagnosis. The "Exit" option in the File menu does indeed act in a different way and closes both windows in Vista as well.

    I have never even considered using that round-about method, even though it is available; I always use the top right hand "X" as it seems the most obvious.

    I use whichever corner is nearest and happens to be unobscured; on most other applications, double-clicking the icon in the top left will do the same as clicking the 'X' in the other corner. (In fact in Windows 3, the buttons at the right didn't exist.)

    Firefox doesn't allow this; clicking the icon once shows a more elaborate version of the system menu that is usually obtained by right-clicking it in other apps.

    But however it's accessed, it doesn't change its odd behaviour. I've been using Windows for twenty years, and clicking Exit in one instance of an application, doesn't usually close all the other instances; especially not without asking first!
  • albertdalbertd Posts: 14,334
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    Actually, I have just tried the same thing with two documents open in MS Word 2007, and if you select "Close" from the main dropdown (top left button) it only closes the document you have selected it from, but if you select "Exit Word" it closes both.
  • bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,406
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    albertd wrote: »
    Actually, I have just tried the same thing with two documents open in MS Word 2007, and if you select "Close" from the main dropdown (top left button) it only closes the document you have selected it from, but if you select "Exit Word" it closes both.

    Yes, I've just tried Word 2010, and there's a similar 'feature'. If you click File: Exit (shown against an 'X' icon, but the actual 'X' button works differently), then it also tries to close all instances. That was a surprise. The difference however is that if those other instances contain any unfinished or edited work, they will show a warning and ask you to confirm.

    Not so with Firefox! Those other windows could represent a lot of work of form-filling or navigation or text entry (eg a long DS post!) or any number of things you don't suddenly want to lose. Without a confirmation popup, it is a very bad feature imo.

    Edit: But Word still allows you to double-click the top left icon to close; if Firefox had that, the problem would never have arisen in the first place!
  • NewWorldManNewWorldMan Posts: 4,885
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    The difference however is that if those other instances contain any unfinished or edited work, they will show a warning and ask you to confirm.

    Not so with Firefox! Those other windows could represent a lot of work of form-filling or navigation or text entry (eg a long DS post!) or any number of things you don't suddenly want to lose. Without a confirmation popup, it is a very bad feature imo.

    Try using Textarea Cache. It's a useful extension in any case, say if Firefox crashes or you just accidentally close a tab that's being edited.
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