For no reason, Firefox cancelled my MSN.com Homepage and when I attempt to save it, Firefox will not let me!!
All was fine until a few days ago. When I now open Firefox, instead of opening to www.msn.com it opens to http://search.searchfstn2.com/?uc=20180809&ad=appfocus49&source=ad0a6ae58a1ff1f62aa6c071697f164e56544f50-2641-198-1533786080-0A75DCF3-51C3-48BE-B577-F46ED3A9E608-bb9&uid=488812e4-a612-4330-bce0-1688a2c27b77&i_id=speedtest_100.7&page=newtab& and I have no idea as to why this occurred. So, I enter www.msn.com and when it has opened, have unsuccessfully attempted, numerous times, to save it as my Homepage but all that I receive is a first window that states "Firefox prevented this site from asking you to install software on your computer" and when I click on "Allow", another window opens and states "The add-on could not be downloaded because of a connection failure"!!
This came out of nowhere and I am,. quite honestly, tired of fighting it. Shall I just use Internet Explorer since that browser allows me to make ms.com my Homepage with no problem?
الحل المُختار
That search.searchfstn2.com is a browser hijacker, malware that you will of course need to get rid of.
Go to the Firefox menu (≡) => Add-ons => Extensions
( Mac : Command + Shift + A)
and look for any other unfamiliar or suspicious looking extensions.
When you find any : remove them.
Do the same here : for Windows => Control Panel for Mac and Linux => System Preferences
However : most malware will be 'hiding' somewhere , so let's run malware scans (even though you already have run some) :
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 : http://www.myantispyware.com/2018/06/13/how-to-remove-search-searchfstn2-com-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/
And : https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-search-searchfstn2-com/
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (3)
الحل المُختار
That search.searchfstn2.com is a browser hijacker, malware that you will of course need to get rid of.
Go to the Firefox menu (≡) => Add-ons => Extensions
( Mac : Command + Shift + A)
and look for any other unfamiliar or suspicious looking extensions.
When you find any : remove them.
Do the same here : for Windows => Control Panel for Mac and Linux => System Preferences
However : most malware will be 'hiding' somewhere , so let's run malware scans (even though you already have run some) :
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 : http://www.myantispyware.com/2018/06/13/how-to-remove-search-searchfstn2-com-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/
And : https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-search-searchfstn2-com/
I accessed http://www.myantispyware.com/2018/06/13/how-to-remove-search-searchfstn2-com-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/ and successfully removed the malware. Thank you very much for your assistance.
mrbob6
mrbob6 said
I accessed http://www.myantispyware.com/2018/06/13/how-to-remove-search-searchfstn2-com-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/ and successfully removed the malware. Thank you very much for your assistance. mrbob6
My pleasure - I'm glad everything's back to normal !