Hi,

Firefox does not come prebundled with any sort of malware or hijackers. If you downloaded from another site other than http://mozilla.org then you might have a bad version of Firefox bundled with a whole bunch of stuff that isn't supposed to be there.

Can you give me a screenshot of what your Firefox looks like so I can see what you have installed? If you need help to create a screenshot, please see How do I create a screenshot of my problem?

Once you've done this, attach the saved screenshot file to your forum post by clicking the Browse... button below the Post your reply box. This will help us to visualize the problem.

Also, we require some more non-personal information from you. Please do the following:

• Click the Firefox button at the top left, then click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information from the submenu. If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Help menu at the top and select Troubleshooting Information from the menu.

Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.

• At the top of the page, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
• Now, go back to your forum post and click inside the reply box. Press Ctrl+V to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.

If you need further information about the Troubleshooting information page, please read the article Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues.

Thanks in advance for your help!

You didn't provide a listing of the extensions you have installed, as requested when you started this thread. Chances are that you installed something that carried malware with it, or you installed a program that carried malware with it.

Please see the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware support article.

Currently I am not seeking to fix anything.

I did not mention anything about this being a new version, so there is no suspicion that anything was downloaded from Mozilla installation. I have been running Mozilla for many years.

On rare occasions something gets through the system defenses and changes tool bars, installs additions to the search menu, and the like.

All I seek is to have the browser tell me when something is going to change. I want to lock the browser from being changed, to prevent Conduit. My.Search.Dial, and the like from implanting their dirty mitts into my system.

In other words, why cannot Mozilla protect itself from any changes in its own settings?

============================================

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 27.0.1 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:27.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/27.0

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days

All Crash Reports

Extensions

Name: Skype Click to Call Version: 7.0.14735.1561 Enabled: true ID: {82AF8DCA-6DE9-405D-BD5E-43525BDAD38A}

Important Modified Preferences

browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 4 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20140212131424 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20140212131424 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 27.0.1 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 27.0.1 gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1394559590 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_bgcolor: false print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_bgimages: false print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_colorspace: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_command: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_downloadfonts: false print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_duplex: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_edge_top: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_evenpages: true print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_footercenter: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_footerleft: &PT print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_footerright: &D print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_headercenter: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_headerleft: &T print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_headerright: &U print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_in_color: true print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_margin_bottom: 0.5 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_margin_left: 0.5 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_margin_right: 0.5 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_margin_top: 0.5 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_oddpages: true print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_orientation: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_page_delay: 50 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_paper_data: 1 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_paper_height: 11.00 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_paper_name: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_paper_size_type: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_paper_size_unit: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_paper_width: 8.50 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_plex_name: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_resolution: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_resolution_name: print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_reversed: false print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_scaling: 1.00 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_shrink_to_fit: true print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_to_file: false print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0 print.printer_Brother_HL-2170W_series_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0 privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1392750080

Graphics

Adapter Description: ATI Radeon HD 5570 Adapter Drivers: aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx32 aticfx32 aticfx32 atiumd64 atidxx64 atidxx64 atiumdag atidxx32 atidxx32 atiumdva atiumd6a atitmm64 Adapter RAM: 1024 Device ID: 0x68d9 Direct2D Enabled: true DirectWrite Enabled: true (6.2.9200.16571) Driver Date: 10-25-2011 Driver Version: 8.911.0.0 GPU #2 Active: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 2/2 Direct3D 10 Vendor ID: 0x1002 WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (ATI Radeon HD 5570 Direct3D9Ex vs_3_0 ps_3_0) windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: direct2d AzureContentBackend: direct2d AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.2 Version in use: 4.10.2

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.15.4 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.4 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.15.4 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.4 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.15.4 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.4 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.15.4 Version in use: 3.15.4

Hmmm,... well duh,,, Yea..... Something was installed that made changes. It has been removed and cleaned up. However, that is not my point. I don't need any help in repairing anything nor do I need a lesson in what to avoid in the future.

I just wonder why Mozilla cannot defend itself by having one more step installed to prevent changes to the browser settings. If something is going to change my default search engine, why cannot Mozilla ask me if I want this specific change?

I am starting to see similar changes in other browsers. In Opera, for example, I am asked if I want to exit the browser when I go to close it. I cannot tell you how many times it has saved me from accidentally dumping extensive search results.

Hey Emerogork you can try my settings! I make sure daily not to have malware or any type of add-ons on my computer by checking my control panels "programs" by date. Anything there that wasn’t added on by my consent “I remove it” Examples “bing” yahoo tool bar” ad blocker” any other search engine or weird name I have no knowledge of has to go.

I also have these settings on my Firefox browser to prevent any add-on extensions.

1. Go to the Firefox tab on the upper left corner marked in the color Orange. 2. Click on Options & check and make sure all of the three boxes are checked marked, if they're not marked with a check mark make sure to click on them. 3. Make sure to remove all extension that you do not need on the add-on tab. To check go to the upper left corner marked in orange on your browser that says "Firefox" and click add-ons. Remove everything and start fresh. 4. The only extensions you need are “Flash Player" & “Java" all other Disable or remove.

Emerogork,

Firefox is not an antivirus program so it isn't supposed to tell you which things are safe and which things are not. If you get something installed that you don't want, most likely it's something bundled with something else you installed. From what I know, there is no add-on to prevent you from downloading something malicious into Firefox add-on wise. That's what antiviruses are for.

But to answer your question, it is the user's responsibility to know what they are downloading and if they have a problem or issue with Firefox, they can always come to Mozilla Support.

I make sure daily not to have malware or any type of add-ons on my computer by checking my control panels "programs" by date. Anything there that wasn’t added on by my consent “I remove it” Examples “bing” yahoo tool bar” ad blocker” any other search engine or weird name I have no knowledge of has to go. I also have these settings on my Firefox browser to prevent any add-on extensions. 1. Go to the Firefox tab on the upper left corner marked in the color Orange. 2. Click on Options & check and make sure all of the three boxes are checked marked, if they're not marked with a check mark make sure to click on them. 3. Make sure to remove all extension that you do not need on the add-on tab. To check go to the upper left corner marked in orange on your browser that says "Firefox" and click add-ons. Remove everything and start fresh. 4. The only extensions you need are “Flash Player" & “Java" all other Disable or remove.

Removing extensions one-by-one is one way to keep Firefox in check, but keep in mind, like I said, there will be some things that get installed without your consent, so it is at your discretion to know what you are downloading, and if it is legit. Toolbars such as Conduit and such are adware and are quite a nuisance but a simple Control Panel removal and editing some about:config prefs, you should be good to go.

In case you don't have any antivirus on your computer, there are a couple I recommend and have used personally.

• avast Internet Security 2014 (This is my main antivirus)
• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Kaspersky
• AVG

I am not referring to anything about viruses, diagnosing a virus problem, preventing a virus, or any need to address any virus issue. Comments accordingly have nothing to do with my issue.

All I am suggesting is that if something is going to change a setting in the browser that the browser make it user-required permission to make the change. This would address any attempt for foreign code to change my settings. I would even suggest an optional placement of a pass code to allow the change.

We have got to stop reacting to viral attacks and prevent the effects instead. It is much easier. Granted, there is no panacea but here is a very easy trigger that can be addressed. Some changes will still get through and eventually a virus will disable this option.

If my tool bar setting is going to change, why cannot the browser let me know when it happens? The same thing goes for search engine changes, foreign activity to installations of add-ons and the like.

For anyone that doesn't want to be cautioned by a "A change is about to happen to (this setting). Do you really want to do this?" a simple check box can be installed to prevent the warning. Eventually some changes will still get through as viruses improve and eventually a virus will disable this option.

When I install new software, the box that announces that a change is about to me made by "Unknown" organization is silly at best as I have to opt in and accept all or opt out and delete the entire installation of which could be exactly the changes I want.

For all those cribes that are going to complain that this is too much "governmental" control, give them a check box to opt out and leave them with all the cleanup.