What's going on with my computer?

Methinks your cookies are being deleted when you close Firefox. I know there’s a checkbox option in the settings menu somewhere that does exactly this (something along the lines of “Delete my cookies when I close Firefox”), so maybe this has been checked on for some reason.

@dynamicduo

I double-checked my cookies, and they aren’t set to be cleared when I close Firefox, so I don’t know what the deal is…

Hmm. The reason I say it’s the cookies being deleted is because the behaviour is happening across multiple sites, which indicates the issue is on your machine versus the servers.

If it’s not Firefox deleting the cookies, maybe it’s some other program set to empty the Temp folder, or maybe an anti-virus is set to delete all cookies when it does its scan.

Are your passwords only gone when you restart your computer, or are they gone when Firefox closes and reopens without a comp reboot?

@dynamicduo

They’re gone every time I close the Firefox window.

Perhaps then, the issue is that Firefox is simply not creating the cookie when you log in, instead of deleting the cookie when you close the browser.

My next step in troubleshooting Firefox is to create a new profile and see if the error continues to exist. Here is the official documentation for this feature. You can do this by (on Windows), starting up Firefox in profile mode. Make sure Firefox is closed to start with. Go to Start, Run, then type without the quotes “firefox.exe -p” with the dash-p at the end. This will open up the Profile manager. Click the “create profile” button, hit Next until you are back at the Profile manager, then click the Start Firefox button. Then try and reproduce the error – go to a login page, login, close Firefox, open it again [it opens to the last used profile by default, but you can manually ensure you are loading the new profile by using Run, firefox.exe -p, then skipping the steps to create a profile and click the Start Firefox button].

If your brand new profile remembers your password, then we know it’s an issue with your other Firefox profile, and the best solution is to export your bookmarks, delete the old profile, and use a blank one.

If your brand new profile does not remember your password, there is something seriously fishy going on. Try logging in and closing the window in another browser, IE or Google Chrome.

You can be logged out periodically even though you checked the box. Are you running Vista? If this is the reason it is normal. Is this a new problem? Did you just get a new computer or operating system?

@steve6

I’m running windows XP on this laptop, have been for the last 2 years.

@Foolaholic – Have you not tried a new profile, or even using another browser? That’s really the next troubleshooting step to follow, is to determine if it’s the Firefox installation or your OS/another program that’s causing the problem.

Alright, I reinstalled Firefox last night and tried to completely start over. It turns out the AVG free edition was having issues with the cookies saving my login information, so as long as I label it an exception, I think my problem is fixed.

Hah! I knew it!

Score one for me for troubleshooting a computer problem over the web, without even knowing any details about your computer, your setup, or even you. And this is why everyone calls me for tech support.

You’re a legend in your own mind!

Well it’s not like I really care about anyone else’s mind, so I’ll take that as a nice compliment :)

You nailed the answer!