The ABP icon looks like a street stop sign. Press the icon to set its options.

I can't find the red stop sign/icon anywhere on my screen. Where would it be?

Did you install from the Mozilla Add-ons site? In that case, you would expect to see the icon on the main Firefox toolbar, above the web content area.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

If you installed something else, hmm, what could that have been?

I googled it........ADBLOCK PLUS FOR FIREFOX. Top of page said "Softonic.com and then I clicked on the free download box. The box was green in color. Did I do something wrong?

Softonic is a well known freeware site, but it wouldn't be my first choice for Firefox add-ons.

Can you check whether you have AdBlock Plus listed 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 check the list on the right side. First, the enabled extensions are listed, then the disabled ones.

If Adblock Plus is enabled, try its Options to see whether it's possible to turn the toolbar button on/off. If not, it must already be on.

Does your main toolbar have an overflow icon, similar to >> where Adblock Plus might be hiding?

ChaCha said

I googled it........ADBLOCK PLUS FOR FIREFOX. Top of page said "Softonic.com and then I clicked on the free download box. The box was green in color. Did I do something wrong?

The Adblock Plus extension being listed on https://adblock-plus-firefox.en.softonic.com/ is version 2.7.3 and according to https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/versions/ it is a almost two year old version from Feb. 23, 2016.

I think I found it listed under EXTENSIONS. Its a blue icon with a lock pictured in the middle. Its not even called ADBLOCK PLUS. Should I try to delete/uninstall it. Think its called SEARCH-ENCRYPT

Congrats, you've just installed malware.

ChaCha said

I think I found it listed under EXTENSIONS. Its a blue icon with a lock pictured in the middle. Its not even called ADBLOCK PLUS. Should I try to delete/uninstall it. Think its called SEARCH-ENCRYPT

Yes, you should definately delete that 'searchencrypt', as it is a browser hijacker. Look for any other unfamiliar or suspicious looking extensions as well, and do the same in your system's Control Panel. However : most malware will be 'hiding' somewhere , so let's run malware scans :

Further information can be found in this article : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware?cache=no

Run most or all of the listed malware scanners. They all work differently - what one program doesn't pick up, the other might.

Also see : https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/11161-searchencrypt-com-redirect

You can download AdBlock Plus here : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

But maybe you'd like to take a look at uBlock Origin first : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/

I clicked on Extensions and hit the "remove" key. Is this enough or should I have clicked on "delete."?

ChaCha said

I clicked on Extensions and hit the "remove" key. Is this enough or should I have clicked on "delete."?

If that 'searchencrypt' has both a 'remove' and a 'delete' button : I would hit the latter. Both words basically mean the same, although 'delete' sounds a bit more 'permanent' to me .....

ABP (Red Stop sign) is now installed. Do I really have to do all this stuff since I already have Webroot installed on my new computer which is only 2 weeks old.

ChaCha said

Do I really have to do all this stuff since I already have Webroot installed on my new computer which is only 2 weeks old.

Would be best if you did, cause, like it says in my earlier post :

Run most or all of the listed malware scanners. They all work
differently - what one program doesn't pick up, the other might.

It seems like a lot of work, but it really isn't all that bad .....

Better safe than sorry, right  ?

But if deleting the bowser hijacker made the problem disappear, you could wait to see what happens. With a bit of luck it's all's well that ends well .....

What are the "listed" malware scanners?

ChaCha said

What are the "listed" malware scanners?

They are "listed" in this article :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware?cache=no

Please, read my first post again .....

And they say that computers will make your life easier, eh  ?