Opera is deleting stuff and acting strange.

krissasaurus

krissasaurus

Continuation of: https://forums.opera.com/post/110991

Opera is deleting everything. Been broken since September. First got annoyed enough to post when it deleted my extensions. Topic above is related, but apparently it isn't. Sorry I am so abrasive, but I am really annoyed right now, and leocg is infuriating to deal with.

Also leocg, I need to know... Do you own opera? Do you work on it? Or are you just a hired help... because the fact that you exist makes me not want to use this product alone. I don't really like suporting companies with terrible customer service.

Also, I don't know why I am bothering posting a new topic, WHEN IT IS BASICALLY THE SAME ISSUE, and if I know leocg is just going to be the one to reply to it lmao. You don't help. I would rather someone else reply to me please. Thanks.

sgunhouse

sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer

He - and I, and a few others - are volunteers. We are here to keep order in the forums and remove spam and offensive material, and of course to answer questions if we can.

When you say "Opera is deleting everything" - what version of Opera, what is "everything", do you use extensions, do you have Sync enabled, ...?

In the other thread you said something about deleting settings - what sort of security software do you use (antivirus, etc.) Did Windows itself crash recently?

krissasaurus

krissasaurus

Thank you for a reply that actually feels like it wants to help. I appreciate it.

Version: 41.0.2353.56

Update stream: Stable

System: Windows 10 64-bit (WoW64)

Reiterating this all started around a September update.

If I think back, I first noticed it deleting settings. I noticed that flash wasn't working and that I needed to re-enable "plug-ins." It defaults to "Click to play" despite the setting I want saying it is "(recommended)." This happens a few times a week? I honestly don't know exactly how much because HTML5 is a thing now, so running into flash isn't as common as it used to be. (Also on that note, click to play doesn't actually work.)

I also noticed it would turn off the VNP setting, and sometimes it would turn on the ad blocker, which I do not want to use. It probably changed other stuff, but as it didn't cause inconvenience, I didn't notice.

My browser also started to freeze up. The scrollbar would randomly disappear. The screen would sometimes go all black. Sometimes when I would open a new tab the tab would be blank and I need to clone it to see anything else.

I use extensions, but opera deleted them all. This is what set me off to ask for help, although I admit I came of rude. This on top of the page freezing and settings issues.... I was frustrated, and the other users dismissiveness just set me off even further. I am sorry for that.

I have "Synchronization: You're currently signed in [...]" and "Background sync: Allow recently closed sites to finish sending and receiving data (recommended)" and am not aware of any other sync settings so... yes? I think i have sync enabled.

Today I woke up to find all of my bookmarks have been deleted as well.

I use Avast free.

Windows is working fine and I am on 1511. (I didn't like the Anniversary update so I rolled back. I don't believe these problems are related, though.)

Also my Opera menu bar just went red... so I guess there is an update. So I will probably click to install that later tonight unless you think I shouldn't.

Again, I am sorry I am so abrasive, but when a browser you love and trust starts to delete things, and just previously you were looking for a way to back up your data, only to find it doesn't have the option to do that natively.... It is pretty irritating. If I had the option to back everything up, I would have just done a clean reinstall.... And even if that didn't work... I wouldn't be in the position I am now having lost everything.

leocg

leocg Moderator Volunteer

Do you own opera?

Nope, Opera is owned by a Chinese group.

Do you work on it?

As already said, nope.

Or are you just a hired help

Nope, except for some Opera employees (identified by the Opera logo badge), all other moderators are volunteers as Sgunhouse said.

Also, I don't know why I am bothering posting a new topic, WHEN IT IS BASICALLY THE SAME ISSUE

Your other topic is about extensions. If another subject started to be discussed there, the topic would become a mess and unhelpful to other people and it simply would break the main point of a forum.

and if I know leocg is just going to be the one to reply to it lmao

It seems that you were right.

You don't help

If anyone's reply (including mine) aren't helpful for you, just ignore them. If you want you can just answer saying politely that what was said didn't help and, if possible and necessary, why.

Now, about your issue:

Version: 41.0.2353.56

Did you try to check with version 41.0.2353.69, which is the latest stable one?

Also my Opera menu bar just went red... so I guess there is an update. So I will probably click to install that later tonight unless you think I shouldn't.

It's always recommended to install the updates.

If I think back, I first noticed it deleting settings

Did you try a clean Opera profile? And what about a clean standalone installation?

A corrupted profile may be causing the issue.

and just previously you were looking for a way to back up your data, only to find it doesn't have the option to do that natively.

Instead of depending on every single program to implement a backup tool, wouldn't be more easy to do some research and learn how to backup almost all data of all programs in your computer by doing a copy of Windows'%appdata% ?

blackbird71

blackbird71

When problems like freezing, disappearing scrollbars or black windows occur, what if anything seems to clear them (new page, reloading the page, restarting the browser, rebooting the system, etc)?

Also, you indicated in an earlier thread that disabling the GPU doesn't seem to help. What graphics system are you using and which driver version?

Have you ever completely removed your Opera profile files/folders and started with a completely fresh Opera installation since the problems began?

Finally, you noted in the prior thread that neither Opera or Firefox 'work right' for you. Are there similar problems to Opera's occurring with Firefox?

krissasaurus

krissasaurus

Oh my god leocg should not be a mod. His lack of effort is a joke. That on top of bad advice..... To even suggest backing up %appdata% when you want to do a clean install instead of having opera give you the option to backup your bookmarks??? I mean... if anything... a browser should have it's own backup feature. But okay I will humor you lmao. Fill me in how how replacing an appdata folder would fix a broken profile when you are trying to do a clean install. (Hint: It won't!!)

Anyway blackbird71, thank you for taking the time to actually reply.

The freezing issue fixes when I close the browser, but usually I have to manually close it with the task manager. The black screen covers the whole browser, as seen here. The top part is the address bar.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 with, as of a few days ago the most recent drivers (clean install). The problem has been happening before and after I updated them.

No, I haven't messed with profiles as there is no backup feature in opera but I guess theres no harm in that now. Tho I am kind of scared to use Opera now though. I really wish there was a backup feature. (that wasn't appdata as thats solves nothing with issues like mine...)

No. Firefox just... lags weird? and the browser actually crashes and just... closes? Opera... is different.. It's hard to explain. Chrome is the best bet I guess right now.... but tabs in Chrome crash. Up until an update in September Opera ran fast and perfectly for me.

I don't know. I really love Opera despite all my anger towards it right now.. So I am sure I will keep trying to use it hoping it will work again. I will try to do a clean install tomorrow, and report back in a week or so? Feel free to shoot any other ideas you have my way though.

A Former User

Finally, you noted in the prior thread that neither Opera or Firefox 'work right' for you. Are there similar problems to Opera's occurring with Firefox?

There are sorts of general software that can mess things up to deleting important components and grinding the system to a halt.

NB: Don't you know the difference between corporate technicians and forum moderators?

krissasaurus

krissasaurus

If you meant me, yes, I know the difference. I just wanted to clarify that that users isn't actually connected to the company officially, because yikes.

blackbird71

blackbird71

An ordinary uninstallation of Opera, like with a variety of other browsers, does not remove certain of its files/folders that contain personalized data or settings. The good news with this uninstall approach is that this allows a later re-install of the browser to automatically access the user's customization and personal data, assuming the browser is reinstalled to its 'ordinary' folder-name location. The bad news is that there are various browser settings and data files that, if they had become corrupted or became hopelessly entangled with conflicting settings in the prior installation, will automatically carry over into the new installation - as will some or all of the previous problems.

The best approach I've found to get a truly clean installation is generally, with the browser off, to backup the browser's profile folders as a unit into a unique-named folder by copying. Then uninstall the browser and delete all the folders that are related to the browser (except the newly-created backup folder). This will assure nothing is carried over from the prior install into the new installation while preserving a copy of the previous user files. Perform a new, fresh install of the browser and test it to verify the previous problem(s) have departed. If any of the problems recur at this point, then the problem cause resides in something else on the system or, indeed, in Opera itself in the way it is installed on that system. Finally, start applying customization of the browser. I usually begin with my customization of the browser's internal settings, check for problem recurrences, then add extensions one at a time, testing for problems after adding each one. In my own case, I then re-import my bookmarks from a single reference bookmarks html file I maintain for use with all my different browsers, kind of like a personal sync function. Other users have their own methods and preferences for setting up the new installation to one's personal taste.

The point of creating a copy of the user profile folders/files is that one will always have a path back home to the state of the previous installation (and perhaps its problems) if that becomes necessary for whatever reason. Simply install the browser to its original location, turn it off, and copy the backup folders/files to their original locations in place of the new installation's files.

Finally, just a few words of advice on posting etiquette in a volunteer forum. First, keep an attitude of humility and respectfulness when posting about problems involving software you've paid nothing for and whenever asking for help from others who are also paid nothing for their time, knowledge, and effort. Second, remember that responders are human - their wording, detail level, or phrasing may not be clear or seemingly responsive at first. So always dialogue with an open mind toward getting to a useful solution without alienating or criticizing the person who's trying to help.