Why does my google page keep changing?

[ImnoGuru]

Just a quicky today. I'm curious why my google page keeps changing?

Have they changed the way they provide the pages?
My pages, when I do a search, come up with a list of potentials for me to choose and the google word down the bottom with the numbers 0123456789, so on, to click on to get to the next page.

Then on other days maybe other laptops/computers, I get the list of searches in a continuous length, with a page 2 separator, then page 3, page 4 and so on & I just scan down down down for as many pages I like.

Oh and another quick question with the Firefox most used website pages, ( you know the 9 boxes you can pin and lock), is that just an add-on to FF & how come this computer doesn't have it. I have automatic updates. It should have added it to this one too by now surely? This one uses FF 21 and Vista home, and the others would probably be about the same I assume at this point in time.
Each of my laptops seem to provide a different set up.

Thank you for your input. ImnoGuru.

[soybean]

Just a quicky today. I'm curious why my google page keeps changing?

Have they changed the way they provide the pages?
My pages, when I do a search, come up with a list of potentials for me to choose and the google word down the bottom with the numbers 0123456789, so on, to click on to get to the next page.

I believe you mean the modified Google logo at the bottom of the search page, the logo with a string of 10 instances of letter o and numbers, WITH SPACES, 1 2 3 4 ... 10.  Right?

Then on other days maybe other laptops/computers, I get the list of searches in a continuous length, with a page 2 separator, then page 3, page 4 and so on & I just scan down down down for as many pages I like.

Hmm, let's see here.  I just did a search on early+vintage+farm+tractors and the results page says it found about 5,480,000 results.  Each page only displays 10 results plus a few sponsored results.  So, if I divide 5,480,000 by 10, I get 548,000, i.e. 548,000 pages.  So, what you're telling me is that you would see 548,000 pages all at once, with the pages merely separated by a horizontal line.  Is that correct?   

[patio]

Waaay too many variables to list here why this is occurring...
Each PC would have to:
Have the same ver. of FireFox
Have the same extensions/themes etc. installed
Have the User accounts/preferences setup identically
Have the Google Search page settings set identically...

Etc. etc. etc.

[Calum]

Ah, I know what you mean in regards to seeing endless pages separated by lines - they don't all display at once, they load as you scroll down, correct?  That used to be a setting on the Google search page, but I don't see it any more, which is very odd, so I can't really help on that I'm afraid.

As for Firefox's recently visited pages, I'm unsure why it is disabled as it's been a feature for a while now.  You could try the following: type in about:config into the Firefox address bar and hit enter, continue past the warning if it appears.  Type newtab into the filter bar, then you'll see a preference named browser.newtab.url - this should be set to about:newtab for that page to display when you open a new tab.  That setting may have been changed by an extension or just not set properly in an update, but check it and see.

[patio]

Soybean...Google Search maxes out at 100 results per page now...

[soybean]

Soybean...Google Search maxes out at 100 results per page now...

It does IF you are logged in and you have set your search settings for a display of 100 results per page.  And, in order to change from the default of 10 results/page to a higher #, you have to turn off Google Instant Predictions, a condition some users might not want to accept.   

[patio]

Gotcha...Thanxx for the info.

[ImnoGuru]

soybean, yes that's right. The "Gooooooogle" is on one computer and then on another it is an ongoing list of pages when you scan down.

And on the second part yes also.... I get on ((Hmmm I just found out that that laptop has win 7) , Ah, someone changed the drive. That's not my original drive, this one is only an 80 Gb)).

I agree with patio that there would be too many variables.

That's why I was confused. I bought three laptops for the business, they go out, they come back. Mine of course stays with me always. They were all the same/(ish), as in had vista, FF and so on & regularly get back to me for checking for infections, backups and other details. As Admin I get to set it the way I like it, sometimes they add different extensions, but thats OK. I can deal with a bit of individuality.

I have never seen someone knock off a hard drive. Hahahaha. (Too easy to find out who that was.)
I like a bit of consistency in things like this so I can go from one computer to the next and use the exact same (or close to it) profile.

Calum has it. Google loads the pages in an almost endless list.
Interesting Calum, that you dont see that any more and here am I asking about exactly that??? I wonder if Windows has something to do with that?

As for the second part. Thank you for your instructions for newtab.
Mine has a value of, about:blank.
Is there a way to edit it or is that done in FF somewhere?

Thanks ImnoGuru.

[Calum]

Calum has it. Google loads the pages in an almost endless list.
Interesting Calum, that you dont see that any more and here am I asking about exactly that??? I wonder if Windows has something to do with that?

I think it's probably a Google change, I don't see it on my work or personal laptop as an option any more.

As for the second part. Thank you for your instructions for newtab.
Mine has a value of, about:blank.
Is there a way to edit it or is that done in FF somewhere?

Just double click on it and change the value to about:newtab within Firefox