Do you get a specific error message or does Firefox just spin and eventually time out?

In case you get one of these:

• "Your connection is not secure" -- page generally has an "Advanced" button to get more technical information. See:
  • What do the security warning codes mean?
  • How to troubleshoot security error codes on secure websites

• "Secure Connection Failed" -- typically has scantier information about the problem and if the padlock appears normally, can be taken to mean "connection failed". See:
  • Secure connection failed and Firefox did not connect

And... "the usual": If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are general suggestions to try when it stops working correctly:

Cache and Cookies: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

(1) Clear Firefox's Cache

See: How to clear the Firefox cache

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes. If you do not see the number going down on the page, you can reload it using Ctrl+r to check progress.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, try either:

• right-click (on Mac Ctrl+click) a blank area of the page and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
• (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
• click the padlock or "i" icon in the address bar, then the ">" button, then More Information, and finally the "View Cookies" button

In the dialog that opens, the current site should be pre-filled in the search box at the top of the dialog so you can remove that site's cookies individually.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?

Testing in Firefox's Safe Mode: In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

Mr, Scher,

Kind thanks for your advice. To further clarify my problem, the other browsers work, but can not access Google either. Ah ha you say! Both defender and microsoft wirewall are shutoff, per suggestion of norton security.

When I try to access Google in Firefox, I receive the following:

Server not found

Firefox can’t find the server at www.google.com.

   Check the address for typing errors such as ww.example.com instead of www.example.com
   If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
   If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Kind thanks, Irving

I will try to clear the cache, and use safe mode, post haste. Will report my results shortly. Irving

Sadly, no difference in safe mode or with cleared cache. As the other browsers also do not work, I imagine it is computer related... Other than the firewall, what else may be so selective for web sites?

I do run K9 filtering software on this computer, and it is set up to allow google to pass; in any event, I've had this software for years, and it had never been a problem.

Thanks for testing. I'm puzzled because Google usually is easy to find. :-)

Could you check the "connection" setting:

• Windows: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options
• Linux: "3-bar" menu button (or Edit menu) > Preferences
• Any system: type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the search box at the top of the page, type proxy and Firefox should filter to the "Settings" button, which you can click.

The default of "Use system proxy settings" piggybacks on your Windows/IE "LAN" setting. "Auto-detect" can lead to a flaky connection. You may want to try "No proxy".

Any difference?