InformAction Forums

I tried to browse several fora but could find no reference to my problem.

I use Firefox 3.6.9
Noscript is automatically updated.

This afternoon when I got on my system I found a complete change in the behavior of NoScript.
First of all, the icon does not show up at all on some websites (Google, for example.)
When it does show up it is in the lower left corner, instead of the right, where it used to be.
Second, and certainly more importantly, clicking on the icon does not bring up a list of options to allow or temporarily allow sites involved in the webpage.

I can use Ctrl-Shift_\ to toggle between totally forbidding and partially allowing. When it is in the partially allowing state it will tell me what is partially allowed out of how many total.
However, there seems to be no way to temporarily allow any which remains forbidden (does not even tell me what those are), nor to block any that it includes in the partially allowed ones.

I used to tailor allowing on every website I visited and depending on what I wanted to do. I know that took some extra time, but I wanted to be in control.

I rebooted, no change. I deleted NoScript and downloaded it again, no change.

What is going on ? Please advise.

Update NoScript to the most recent development build at http://noscript.net/getit#devel, then try these steps, in order, until NoScript is working right again.

- If you have any Firefox extensions called HP Smart Web Printing, Skype, .NET Framework Assistant, or McAfee Site Advisor, then uninstall or disable them. They're buggy and known to cause problems with the status bar icon.

- The NoScript settings became messed up somehow. Reset the NoScript Options by pressing Reset at the bottom of the Options dialog. Export your whitelist before doing that if you've added any trusted or untrusted sites you'd like to restore after NoScript is working again.

- The extensions database is corrupted. Exit Firefox, delete the files mentioned here in this linked article, restart Firefox. Uncorrupted versions of the files will be automatically regenerated. Corrupt_extension_files

- There might be an extension conflict. Use the Add-ons manager to temporarily disable any other Firefox extensions you have installed, except for NoScript.

- Perform a Standard Diagnostic. If NoScript isn't working by the time you get to the "Create a new profile" step, a new profile with no other extensions besides NoScript should work right.

Hope this helps. Please let us know whether it does.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I did the steps recommended up to, but not including, Corrupt extension files. (The problem did not disappear up to this point).
There I got bogged down.
I found "Open containing folder", but the instructions call for "Open containing folder show in finder".
Clicking on "Open containing folder" brings up a popup window called 8v6rmxdu.default
There are a bunch of file icons in this window, but the instructions call for "From the menu at the top of the Firefox windowbar, select FileFirefox and then select the ExitQuit FirefoxQuit menu item. ". I am confused as to where I find this.

Also, the window that popped up contains none of the files that I should delete.

Sorry, but it seems like I got confused for some reason.

Should I just use Windows to search for the files and delete them that way ?

Thanks again.

You're welcome. Before we continue, would you reboot your computer? Sometimes display problems are caused by Windows and can only be fixed with a reboot.

GSG wrote:Should I just use Windows to search for the files and delete them that way ?

No. 8v6rmxdu.default is the correct folder. But your setup has at least a couple of other problems.

1) "Open containing folder show in finder" and "From the menu at the top of the Firefox windowbar, select FileFirefox and then select the ExitQuit FirefoxQuit menu item." aren't displayed unless something is corrupting the display of the web page. The instructions for Firefox on Linux and a Mac are being appended to those for Windows. Here's what they should say:
"Open containing folder"
"From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Exit menu item."
(The second one here is instructing you to completely exit Firefox by selecting File > Exit.)

I hope the page display problems will be fixed at the same time as your other display problems.

2) The three files you should delete are
extensions.ini
extensions.cache
extensions.rdf
(It's safe to completely delete these three. When restarted, Firefox will automatically regenerate uncorrupted versions of them.)
They are there in all Firefox 3.6.9 profiles. Change your Windows view of the containing folder as follows:
- Select View > List from the menu for the window which is displaying the icons. This should change it to a list of just file names, which is easier to read.
- Make sure the file extensions .ini, .cache, and .rdf aren't being hidden by Windows. Select Tools > Folder Options > View from the menu for the window which is displaying the icons to popup the Folder Options dialog. Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types", click OK.

Sorry this isn't as easy as we may have hoped, but that's to be expected sometimes. Follow the instructions, i.e.
- Open the folder containing your Firefox profile, 8v6rmxdu.default in your case. (Mine is different. Firefox randomizes part of the folder's name to help foil malware.)
- Quit Firefox completely with File > Exit.
- Delete extensions.ini, extensions.cache, extensions.rdf
- Restart Firefox. Uncorrupted copies of the three extensions files are automatically generated.

If the problem still persists, continue on starting at "- There might be an extension conflict..."

Good luck. With any luck, I'll be back in about twelve hours to see how you're doing.

Thanks, again.

I rebooted Windows, no improvement.
Your description of what should be done is better than those on the referenced pages. I will try them tomorrow morning - I am having a busy day, and weekend, taking a visitor around.

Thanks to you the problem is solved.
Your description of what had to be done was clear.

The NoScript icon is still in the lower left corner and it is not clickable (vs. what is used to be). However, there is an Options button in the lower right corner which allows me to tailor the prohibitions.

When Firefox came up after finishing the fixes all the add-ons I used to have (close to 15) were gone, except for the Java ones (4 of them). Not much of a problem, I downloaded and installed the ones (5 of them) which I remembered and use most often. I figure if I do not remember the others I must not have had much use for them.

Thanks again.

You're welcome.

GSG wrote:When Firefox came up after finishing the fixes all the add-ons I used to have (close to 15) were gone

Yikes! But I'm glad to hear it's working satisfactorily for you now.