How do you stop a small ad strip from coming onto every page I select? Also, how do you stop the 2nd page from coming up when I open my browser?
I really hate getting these little strips of ads all over my page when I'm scrolling. I have to hover over them to find the tiny "X" to delete. Can they be taken out completely? Also, when opening my browser, how do you stop a 2nd blank page from opening (It actually has tiles on it to select, but not needed)
Isisombulu esikhethiweyo
Sounds like you contracted a bad add-on or two. Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning out ad injectors, unwanted speed dials, and other bad add-ons. Sorry for the length -- it's not as bad as it sounds:
(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Take out as much trash as possible here.
(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".
In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions.
Often 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.
Any improvement?
(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.
Success?
Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 1All Replies (4)
Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo
Sounds like you contracted a bad add-on or two. Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning out ad injectors, unwanted speed dials, and other bad add-ons. Sorry for the length -- it's not as bad as it sounds:
(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Take out as much trash as possible here.
(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".
In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions.
Often 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.
Any improvement?
(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.
Success?
Part one of my question was solved. However, the Extension I disabled for part two of my question seems to reset when I close and re-open my browser. This is for the "New Tab" I'll keep trying. Thank you!
Do you mean that the extension is active again after a restart?
Does the extension have a remove button?
Extensions that do not have a "Remove" button are installed by other software and are not under control of the Firefox extension manager. Such globally installed extensions are usually found via a registry scan or are installed in a location that Firefox scans for installed extensions.
- https://developer.mozilla.org/Installing_extensions
- https://developer.mozilla.org/Adding_Extensions_using_the_Windows_Registry
Extensions installed this way need to be removed via the settings (options/preferences) of the program that has added this extension or this program has to be uninstalled via "Control Panel > Programs". In Firefox you an only disable such an extension.
Do a malware check with several 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:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-defender - 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:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-to-fix-preferences-wont-save
Bookmark and use this; Mozilla Search Reset {web link} This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.
Settings Guard for Firefox {web link} Detects and resets changes to settings that are frequently done by add-ons and application installers.