Your "More System Details" didn't include information on your extensions, but one of those could be responsible.

Could you check for unrecognized extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt that something is valuable and useful, disable it.

Usually a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.

Does that change how Firefox behaves?

Actually, to quickly assess whether one or more of your extensions is the culprit, you could try the same sites in Firefox's Safe Mode. That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled (Flash and other plugins still run)

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Any difference?

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).

• Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.
Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
  http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
• AdwCleaner:
  http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
  http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml
• SuperAntispyware:
  http://www.superantispyware.com/
• Microsoft Safety Scanner:
  http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
• Windows Defender: Home Page:
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx
• Spybot Search & Destroy:
  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
• Kasperky Free Security Scan:
  http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

• Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
  http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446

See also:

• "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked

jscher2000: Boy, did it ever! In safe mode, all the little ads stopped. But I still get the "suggested" other pages opening and then getting stopped by the malware stoppers. PS. How do I automatically start in "safe" mode?

You might not want to autostart in safe mode, but remove the addon that is causing the problem.

SEE: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode and Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems articles for more.

Hi engrbill47, as noted above, you can manually review and clean up extensions that you do not want.

Regarding other pages opening, these could be generated by malware outside Firefox. Please see all the above advice on malware cleanup options.

jscher2000: I'm a very old school programer type; the last time that I wrote was back when the punched cards were submitted to the PC (HA, HA) that filled the room. What are extensions and where do I find them. And when I start Firefox in the "normal" mode, the malware does interrupt the "new & exciting" unwanted page. But I still have to close it down to see the page that I originally wanted.

Hi engrbill47, I mentioned the steps to review your currently installed extensions in this post: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/984654#answer-527131.

If you're interested in seeing how extensions work, you often can deconstruct them into their component files and examine the code, which typically is a mix of JavaScript and XML (for the user interface layout parts). More on that if relevant.

I went to cntrl-shift-a and saw my extensions. A;; of them are Firefox recommended add-ons. I have done a cold boot with ab AVG bootable disc that operates in DOS mode and I checked every one of the scan options. The first time it showed ten malware. I removed them. I just changed the Adblock add-on to block all popups. I'll check it again and let you know.

Hi engrbill47

You can also check the target line in the Firefox desktop shortcut (right-click: Properties) to make sure that nothing is appended after the path to the Firefox program.

Hi engrbill47, I'm puzzled about your comment that your extensions are "Firefox recommended add-ons". If this problem continues, could you paste a list of them into a reply? To most easily grab the list, open the Troubleshooting Information page. Either:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the upper left corner, click "Copy text to clipboard". When pasting into a reply, you will notice lots of information below the extension list. You can delete the part starting from "Important Modified Settings" to the end.

Jscher2000: Here is what I copied from Extensions: '''''' Name Version Enabled ID Adblock Plus Pop-up Addon 0.9.1 true [email protected] Image and Flash Blocker 0.7 true [email protected] Image Blocker 1.0.1 true [email protected] Plus-HD-1.2 0.93.147 true 39e612de-2951-40c2-ab4a-82e121c42778@4e0cecc2-7c67-4374-bc4c-f15656d80ab7.com HP Smart Web Printing 4.51 false [email protected]''''''

And here is what I copied from Important Modified Preferences: Name Value browser.cache.disk.capacity 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max false browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value 358400 browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion 4 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID 20131205075310 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID 20131205075310 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone 26.0 dom.mozApps.used true extensions.lastAppVersion 26.0 gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx 0 network.cookie.prefsMigrated true places.database.lastMaintenance 1391285333 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages 104858 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types application/pdf plugin.importedState true print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_bgcolor false print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_bgimages false print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_colorspace print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_command print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_downloadfonts false print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_duplex 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_edge_bottom 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_edge_left 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_edge_right 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_edge_top 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_evenpages true print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_footercenter print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_footerleft &PT print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_footerright &D print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_headercenter print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_headerleft &T print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_headerright &U print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_in_color true print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_margin_bottom 0.5 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_margin_left 0.5 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_margin_right 0.5 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_margin_top 0.5 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_oddpages true print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_orientation 1 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_page_delay 50 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_paper_data 1 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_paper_height 11.00 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_paper_name print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_paper_size_type 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_paper_size_unit 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_paper_width 8.50 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_plex_name print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_resolution 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_resolution_name print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_reversed false print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_scaling 1.00 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_shrink_to_fit true print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_to_file false print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_left 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_right 0 print.printer_HP_Photosmart_C5200_series.print_unwriteable_margin_top 0 privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs true storage.vacuum.last.index 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite 1390511332

I hope that this helps. I'm about ready to switch to the dreaded "internet Explorer" from Microsquish.

Last question. Is Malwarebytes worth the $29.95 and perhaps, how long is it's time period of license?

ABD adblocker

Hi engrbill47, remove Plus-HD-1.2.

You may need to remove it through the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. Clicking the "Installed on" column heading will bring the most recent items to the top and group by install time, so you can see if that was part of a bundle of other undesirable software.

Can you clear it out?

At the moment I cannot. I'm running another deep virus scan in DOS. I'm responding to you via my wife's PC. Somehow it is not as corrupted as mine. I will attempt to remove Plus-HD-1.2 when the scan is through. An aside here. My wife's PC has Win XP OS and Firefox 26 and it is working much better. The popups show up as blue & underlined words that only show a popup when your cursor passes over them.

jscher2000: I just got through removing Plus-HD-1.2. Now I have a bug free browser again. Thank you so very much for all of the time that you spent with my issue.

edit I will mark Jeff's last answer as the thread solution. ~J99