Firefox suddenly non-functional - Strange numbers, letters when using the address bar
I have been using Firefox without any issues until 8/2/2017. The problem is that whenever I try to use the address bar to go to a website...such as Google...Firefox will return a page full of nonsense -a page full of strange letters, numbers and symbols. I immediately did a malware scan, a virus scan with the results coming back CLEAN. I checked Chrome and Opera and they both work as before. I am connected to the net, so internet connectivity is fine. I uninstalled firefox through the Control Panel and then re-downloaded and installed firefox. I got the same result as before. I am totally puzzled, confused and frustrated because I was very happy as firefox was working fine before. Please help! I have attempted to upload a screenshot of the issue and can send the image again if needed. I really appreciate any advice/help!
Chosen solution
You say that you ran malware and anti-virus scans - did they include AdwCleaner ?
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml
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What's your computer system and Firefox version?
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
Hi !
Just in case the above doesn't do the trick, would you please do this :
3-bar menu => Options => Content :
Fonts & Colors => Advanced :
Check : 'Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above'
do you happen to use kaspersky products? disable it's https scanning options...
If none of the above do the trick :
Type in the address bar about:config (press Enter) (promise to be careful, if asked) And reset all bold user set 'network.http' preferences to the default value via the right-click context menu and choose 'Reset'. At least check this preference : network.http.accept-encoding And make sure its value is gzip,deflate
Modified by Happy112
What site has this problem -- is it Google?
Can you check the certificate for that scrambled up page and see whether the Issuer information points to an unexpected source, particularly if there is a pattern across sites. For example, you can view the certificate information through the Page Info dialog. Either:
- right-click (on Mac Ctrl+click) a blank area of the page and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Certificate"
- (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "View Certificate"
- click the padlock or "i" icon in the address bar, then the ">" button, then More Information, and finally the "View Certificate" button
Here's an example for reference showing the areas that are usually most interesting in understanding whether your connection is being intercepted.
Can you attach a screenshot?
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-create-screenshot-my-problem
- use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot
Chosen Solution
You say that you ran malware and anti-virus scans - did they include AdwCleaner ?
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml