Mal-ware can come from anywhere. Did you do the update thru Mozilla?

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

• Microsoft Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller
• AdwCleaner (for more info, see this alternate AdwCleaner download page)
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one. Windows 8 has antivirus built-in already.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

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Regret I left out that I have Adblock Plus installed and active in FF.

Have you run the mal-ware scans?

Well, I have run Malwarebytes--paid subscription that loads with Windows--ZERO results; Avast! Internet Security--paid subscription that loads with Windows--ZERO results; downloaded and ran Microsoft Safety Scanner--ZERO results; downloaded and ran AdwCleaner--said there were eight .vir files--quarantined them; downloaded and ran Hitman Pro--found six tracking cookies--set them to blocked, and then deleted all cookie files.

So, wait and see if it happens again.

Thanks for the tips.

@JohnQM in follow up for the escalation request, can you confirm that the malware scans have minimized the issue you were originally running into?

I have not had a recurrence, so far. I will report back if it reoccurs.