I THINK I've got this fixed!   So far, so good.  

I keep a log of changes I make to the system and ran across a note where I turned off Windows Explorer's access to the internet (via ZoneAlarm) and tested it by opening a link from a folder, which worked.  It never occured to me that a SECOND window would behave differently from the first one!!!

So, I had ZoneAlarm set to refuse Internet Access to Windows Explorer.  I changed it to "ASK" and it seems to be working now.  Although WHY it WOULD open a firefox window UNLESS a firefox window was already open is a stumper.  You would think either it HAS access or it DOESN'T!!   It also doesn't explain why IE worked and Firefox didn't.  Do Microsoft products somehow silently slip thru/around ZoneAlarm?

Anyway, it seems to be working now - I guess you have to learn to accept unanswered questions when dealing with Microsoft products (& products from vendors with no tech support) - very hard for me to do.  

I did find a number of other people with the same problem - I wonder if their solution is the same.  It's just really strange that with Windows-Explorer disallowed internet access by ZoneAlarm, IE would continue to open windows from shortcuts in folders/desktop and Firefox would open ONE window/tab from a folder/desktop link, but NOT a SECOND one - very illogical.  

Thank you everyone for your efforts,
AnnaSummers



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avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 000764-2, 2007-08-08
Tested on: 2009-05-24 3:48:41 PM



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