That is not normal behavior, you're wise to be suspicious.

Without knowing the name of the file or program that is involved, I can't make an educated guess as to the origin of that issue.

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

• Microsoft Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

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Whenever you get a message / popup that software / files need to be updated;

DO NOT USE ANY OF

THE PROVIDED LINKS

While this may be a legitimate message, it could also be Malware or a Virus. Any time you want or need to check for upgrades, go to the web site of the True Owner of the program in question. For example, to check out Firefox, go to Mozilla.org. {web link}

You can sent a report to The FBI via their web site Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) {web link}

You can also report such a site at; Google Report Phishing Page {web link} which is the same when done while on site by going to Help > Report Web Forgery

Help us safeguard Mozilla’s trademarks by reporting misuse {web link}

In case your Firefox download was not the clean official one but instead was some kind of bundle, would you mind checking here:

Start menu > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program

This takes a while to load...

Then click the "Installed on" column heading to group the entries by date. Did anything unexpected sneak in around the same time you installed Firefox?

thanks for the advice nothing of note around the firefox entry date

Then I think it makes sense to try the programs Ed listed.

thanks for the help