hello, could you go to the firefox menu ≡ > help ? > troubleshooting information, copy the contents of that page and paste them here into a reply on the forum? this might give us a clue what is going on...

Raw data or complete text? That's a lot of stuff.

use complete text - that's a bit easier to read for a human :-)

Version: 44.0.2 Build ID: 20160210153822 Update Channel: release User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:44.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/44.0 Multiprocess Windows: 0/1 (default: false) Safe Mode: false

Name: Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant Version: 1.2.1 Enabled: false ID: {20a82645-c095-46ed-80e3-08825760534b}

Adapter Description: NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Adapter Drivers: nv4_disp Adapter RAM: Unknown Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: none Device ID: 0x0ca3 DirectWrite Enabled: false (0.0.0.0) Driver Date: 2-29-2012 Driver Version: 6.14.12.9610 GPU #2 Active: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 Direct3D 9 (OMTC) Subsys ID: 00000000 Supports Hardware H264 Decoding: No; Failed to create H264 decoder Vendor ID: 0x10de WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Direct3D9 vs_3_0 ps_3_0) windowLayerManagerRemote: true AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureContentBackend: cairo AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 1048576 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 3 browser.display.background_color: #C0C0C0 browser.display.use_system_colors: true browser.download.importedFromSqlite: true browser.download.manager.alertOnEXEOpen: true browser.download.manager.closeWhenDone: true browser.download.manager.showAlertOnComplete: false browser.history_expire_days_min: 5 browser.history_expire_days.mirror: 180 browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20160210153822 browser.startup.homepage: https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=cr&ei=11-sUs6XI4rqyQGR8IGgBA browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20160210153822 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 44.0.2 browser.tabs.drawInTitlebar: false browser.tabs.warnOnClose: false browser.urlbar.default.behavior: 1 browser.urlbar.userMadeSearchSuggestionsChoice: true dom.apps.reset-permissions: true dom.max_script_run_time: 0 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 44.0.2 font.default.x-western: sans-serif font.internaluseonly.changed: true general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet: ( .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0E) gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.appVersion: 44.0.2 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.deviceID: 0x0ca3 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.driverVersion: 6.14.12.9610 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.feature-d2d: true gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.feature-d3d11: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.direct3d11-angle: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-d3d11: false gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-warp: false gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-try-d3d11: true gfx.crash-guard.status.d3d11layers: 2 gfx.crash-guard.status.glcontext: 2 gfx.driver-init.appVersion: 42.0 gfx.driver-init.deviceID: 0x0ca3 gfx.driver-init.driverVersion: 6.14.12.9610 gfx.driver-init.feature-d2d: true gfx.driver-init.feature-d3d11: true gfx.driver-init.status: 2 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.abi: x86-msvc-x86 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1455308191 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.5.3 media.gmp-manager.buildID: 20160210153822 media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1456321055 media.hardware-video-decoding.failed: true media.webrtc.debug.aec_log_dir: C:\DOCUME~1\User\LOCALS~1\Temp/ media.webrtc.debug.log_file: C:\DOCUME~1\User\LOCALS~1\Temp/WebRTC.log network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.dns.disableIPv6: true network.dnsCacheEntries: 200 network.dnsCacheExpiration: 240 network.http.connect.timeout: 60 network.http.keep-alive.timeout: 300 network.http.max-connections: 48 network.http.max-connections-per-server: 8 network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy: 12 network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server: 4 network.http.pipelining: true network.http.proxy.pipelining: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1456097529 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 80508 places.history.expiration.transient_optimal_database_size: 128811498 places.last_vacuum: 1324684258 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf,application/vnd.adobe.xfdf,application/vnd.fdf,application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xml plugin.importedState: true plugin.state.np32dsw: 0 plugin.state.npadobeaamdetect: 0 plugin.state.npctrl: 0 plugin.state.npdeployjava: 0 plugin.state.npdivx: 0 plugin.state.npdrmv: 0 plugin.state.npdsplay: 0 plugin.state.npgeplugin: 0 plugin.state.npgoogleupdate: 0 plugin.state.npitunes: 0 plugin.state.nppdf: 0 plugin.state.npqtplugin: 0 plugin.state.nprjplug: 0 plugin.state.nprpjplug: 0 plugin.state.npsibelius: 0 plugin.state.npwmsdrm: 0 plugin.state.npwpf: 0 print.print_printer: HP Officejet J4500 Series print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_bgcolor: false print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_bgimages: false print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_command: print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_downloadfonts: false print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_edge_top: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_evenpages: true print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_footercenter: print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_footerleft: &PT print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_footerright: &D print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_headercenter: print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_headerleft: &T print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_headerright: &U print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_in_color: true print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_margin_bottom: 0.5 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_margin_left: 0.5 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_margin_right: 0.5 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_margin_top: 0.5 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_oddpages: true print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_orientation: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_pagedelay: 500 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_paper_data: 1 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_paper_height: 11.00 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_paper_size_type: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_paper_size_unit: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_paper_width: 8.50 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_reversed: false print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_scaling: 0.70 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_shrink_to_fit: true print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_to_file: false print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0 print.printer_Bullzip_PDF_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_bgcolor: false print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_bgimages: false print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_command: print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_downloadfonts: false print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_edge_top: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_evenpages: true print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_footercenter: print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_footerleft: &PT print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_footerright: &D print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_headercenter: print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_headerleft: &T print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_headerright: &U print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_in_color: true print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_margin_bottom: 0.5 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_margin_left: 0.5 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_margin_right: 0.5 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_margin_top: 0.5 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_oddpages: true print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_orientation: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_pagedelay: 500 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_paper_data: 1 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_paper_height: 11.00 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_paper_size_type: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_paper_size_unit: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_paper_width: 8.50 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_reversed: false print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_scaling: 0.70 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_shrink_to_fit: false print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_to_file: false print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0 print.printer_hp_officejet_4200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_bgcolor: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_bgimages: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_colorspace: print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_command: print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_downloadfonts: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_duplex: 159297824 print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_Series.print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_J4500_S

can you put in the second part that got cut out there as well? thanks

privacy.clearOnShutdown.cache false privacy.clearOnShutdown.cookies false privacy.clearOnShutdown.offlineApps true privacy.clearOnShutdown.sessions false privacy.cpd.sessions false privacy.donottrackheader.enabled true privacy.popups.showBrowserMessage false privacy.sanitize.migrateClearSavedPwdsOnExit true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs true privacy.sanitize.timeSpan 0 security.disable_button.openCertManager false security.disable_button.openDeviceManager false security.tls.version.max 1 security.warn_viewing_mixed false storage.vacuum.last.index 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite 1453924579 user.js Preferences

Your profile folder contains a user.js file, which includes preferences that were not created by Firefox. Important Locked Preferences Name Value JavaScript Incremental GC true Accessibility Activated false Prevent Accessibility 0 Library Versions Expected minimum version Version in use NSPR 4.11 4.11 NSS 3.21 Basic ECC 3.21 Basic ECC NSSSMIME 3.21 Basic ECC 3.21 Basic ECC NSSSSL 3.21 Basic ECC 3.21 Basic ECC NSSUTIL 3.21 3.21 Experimental Features Name ID Description

thanks a lot, so there seem to be some issues at play here. please go through all the following steps:

• enter about:config into the firefox address bar (confirm the info message in case it shows up) & search for the preferences beginning with network. or security. - right-click and reset all those prefs with a custom value (=displayed in bold).
• go to the firefox menu ≡ > help ? > troubleshooting information > profile folder - "show folder", then a new window will open up. in this window look out for a file named user.js (it might be used to overwrite your custom settings). in case it is present , delete or rename this file and restart firefox afterwards.
• finally run a scan of your system with the free version of malwarebytes and adwcleaner.

Please clarify the part about resetting preferences. There are quite a few and I'm not sure what to change and what to change them to. Please be aware I am not comfortable with the inner workings.

in particular, you should right-click and reset the following preferences - they will then be restored to their default value automatically:

• security.tls.version.max: 1
• network.dns.disableIPv6: true
• network.dnsCacheEntries: 200
• network.dnsCacheExpiration: 240
• network.http.connect.timeout: 60
• network.http.keep-alive.timeout: 300
• network.http.max-connections: 48
• network.http.max-connections-per-server: 8
• network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy: 12
• network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server: 4
• network.http.pipelining: true
• network.http.proxy.pipelining: true

The very first line fixed the problem. It reset to "3". After that I thought I would try and it worked.

What user_pref lines are in the user.js file in case you decided not to delete this file?

The user.js file is read each time Firefox is started and initializes preferences to the value specified in this file, so preferences set via user.js can only be changed temporarily for the current session. You can delete the user.js file if you didn't create this file yourself.

I had already deleted the file as per your previous instructions.