Hello SP3-Win, I do completely understand that you are worried about downloading Firefox from other sources, as that is normal. What I do know is that Softonic is able to be trusted but however I recommend you to just uninstall the Softonic Firefox and install FIrefox from here, https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/, as that is the Official and latest version of FIrefox you can install. But 1 thing is, the one that possibly gotten installed by Softonic is not a virus, but there could be something into it. Thank you for asking that great question and I would love to know how it goes and, Stay Safe!! PS. If I helped, I would really love if you'd vouch(confirm) me on Mozillians. Vouch me here: https://mozillians.org/en-US/u/Tommy/. Thanks!

Tommy: Thanks for the prompt reply. I should have mentioned in the original post that I didn't download anything from Softonic. Years ago, I think I had a virus on an old machine that was from Softonic, so that website is on my personal "Never download stuff from here" list. See attached image I just captured. Softonic shows up for Everything.exe, which is a separate program I downloaded directly from the Everything website.

The firefox install I'm using on my machine WAS downloaded directly from mozilla.org. The fact that firefox.exe points to Softonic.com in my Resource Monitor is the reason I posted here. I'll uninstall the Firefox I have & re-download a new version from mozilla.org, again.

Thanks again.

To rule out settings, add-ons, and accumulated cruft, could you try:

New Profile Test

This takes about 3 minutes, plus the time to visit some site(s).

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like May2020, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

After creating the profile, scroll down to it and click the Launch profile in new browser button.

Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system so we can get a clean test.

Does Firefox still connect to softonic.com while you are using your new profile?

When you are done with the experiment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile. (May2020 will remain available for future testing.)

Note: if this test changed your default profile, use the Set as Default Profile button for your regular profile to set it back to normal.

Okay, thanks for telling me that @SP3-Win! That is very interesting. It could be a virus. Do you have a antivirus?

To rule out settings, add-ons, and accumulated cruft, could you try: New Profile Test This takes about 3 minutes, plus the time to visit some site(s). Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it. Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like May2020, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button. After creating the profile, scroll down to it and click the Launch profile in new browser button. Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system so we can get a clean test. Does Firefox still connect to softonic.com while you are using your new profile? When you are done with the experiment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile. (May2020 will remain available for future testing.) Note: if this test changed your default profile, use the Set as Default Profile button for your regular profile to set it back to normal.

I might still have to do this, but before I read your post I actually took the "small nuclear device" option - I reset my machine, but keeping my data. I did that because, after re-downloading both firefox and everything.exe today and re-installing both, they were both pointing to softonic.com, same as in the image I posted above.

Now, after resetting my PC, and downloading the full version of Firefox 64-bit (so I can select the install folder), nothing Softonic shows up in Resource Monitor. Firefoxe.exe points to 13.107.xxxx or 13.89.xxxx, instead of Softonic.com for the "Address" in Resource Monitor.

Thanks for the help!

@SP3-Win, Glad your happy!