Debug mode is just to point out errors in the site. It doesn't fix anything for you its simply just a tool to point out what isn't working properly!

I know that but in this case it is doing something beyond just debugging. I was getting a blank screen after a user had registered and if they refreshed their browser then the dashboard page would load. I was told to use the dev and debug modes to narrow down the problem. After changing these values to true in the config file it started working okay. The I put them back to false and the problem returned. Next I just put just dev mode to true and it did not fix it so then I only put the debug mode to true and it did fix the problem. During this time no errors showed from debug.

So you tell me.. why is the debug mode fixing the problem?

Laura, 

Have you made any custom code modifications or have you used any plugins related to the Dashboard?

Nothing new since this problem started. But the real question is why the debug mode corrects the problem? Is it because it refreshes each page before loading to accommodate the error reporting? That is all I can figure.

So when your not in debug mode and you register it brings you to a blank page instead of a page asking you to confirm email? and when you are in debug mode it brings you to the confirmation page?

Close.. since at this time I am not confirming email address, it just loads the user dashboard. The page that is blank is the submit action page right after they click the button. I have had many users abandoned the registration process but yet their info did make it in the database.

Try and add the confirmation just to see if it happens both ways. 

Laura, are still experiencing the problem?

If I set debug to false, yes.