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After 9/6 update, Firefox opens to Free Live Radio, and all my link boxes are gone, replaced by stuff I don't want, eg Walmart & ESPN

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  • Last reply by Filatura

Filatura
Filatura
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Have used Firefox for years. Opened it this morning, after the 9/6 update, and there was a totally different page. All my regular links (which I believe you guys call the Awesome Bar) were gone, replaced by a row of links to sites I don't use, didn't ask for, and consider garbage. (Also a cluttered line of linkslot of links that looked legit, like YouTube and Spotify.) I checked, and the url was NOT Firefox but something called Free Live Radio. WHAT? No way I could reach genuine Firefox, and I tried everything on the menu and in Settings. Thinking this must be some kind of malware, I uninstalled Firefox and defaulted to Chrome, which I don't much like. I want my old Firefox back. If I install a new copy, will it be Firefox again? And will I be able to retrieve my history, awesome links, etc? Thank you.

Have used Firefox for years. Opened it this morning, after the 9/6 update, and there was a totally different page. All my regular links (which I believe you guys call the Awesome Bar) were gone, replaced by a row of links to sites I don't use, didn't ask for, and consider garbage. (Also a cluttered line of linkslot of links that looked legit, like YouTube and Spotify.) I checked, and the url was NOT Firefox but something called Free Live Radio. WHAT? No way I could reach genuine Firefox, and I tried everything on the menu and in Settings. Thinking this must be some kind of malware, I uninstalled Firefox and defaulted to Chrome, which I don't much like. I want my old Firefox back. If I install a new copy, will it be Firefox again? And will I be able to retrieve my history, awesome links, etc? Thank you.

Chosen solution

If you go ahead and reinstall Firefox, unless you scrubbed all your Firefox data off the system, hopefully your bookmarks, etc., will still be there.

You can download a fresh installer here (scroll down to your preferred language):

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/

Once Firefox will run, we can look at what might have changed.

The most likely explanation for a weird home page is an add-on or a settings change. You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. The culprit might not mention an affiliation with a particular website. Anything suspicious or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Next, you can check whether your home page settings needs to be updated. This article has tips on that: How to set the home page.

Any improvement?

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jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

If you go ahead and reinstall Firefox, unless you scrubbed all your Firefox data off the system, hopefully your bookmarks, etc., will still be there.

You can download a fresh installer here (scroll down to your preferred language):

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/

Once Firefox will run, we can look at what might have changed.

The most likely explanation for a weird home page is an add-on or a settings change. You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. The culprit might not mention an affiliation with a particular website. Anything suspicious or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Next, you can check whether your home page settings needs to be updated. This article has tips on that: How to set the home page.

Any improvement?

Filatura
Filatura Question owner
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Thanks, so much, J Scher-- That's worth a try. I haven't recently added any extensions or add-ons (I keep those at a minimum -- I'm a very very basic old-lady user), and didn't scrub anything before uninstalling. I was just so flustered by what felt like an alien taking over my trusty Firefox that I just wanted to get it off my computer ASAP. (In truth, I'm finding that Chrome is working well enough in the hour or two that I've been using it. But I'd rather deal with Mozilla than have Google kidnap another part of my 80-year-old brain.)

ETA: Several hours later. I followed your link and, after several tries, which kept bringing me to the rogue url, I finally succeeded in re-installing Firefox, clear out all extensions and add-ons (didn't even look; just dumped them all) and did the Refresh thing, which seems to have restored my Awesome Bar and bookmarks. For the record, the url that kept popping up instead of Firefox was: https://search.hfreeliveradio.co/?uc=20180906&ad=appfocus1&source=d-lp0-bb9&uid=159da094-7aee-46d9-94dc-4e20b16c15cb&i_id=radio_100.7&page=newtab&

Thanks again for your help; the Mozilla Community is great.

Modified by Filatura