Hello,

Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode, which disables most add-ons.

(If you're not using it, switch to the Default theme.)

• On Windows you can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
• On Mac you can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by holding the option key while starting Firefox.
• On Linux you can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by quitting Firefox and then going to your Terminal and running: firefox -safe-mode (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
• Or open the Help menu and click on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item while Firefox is running.

Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode"

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article for that.

To exit the Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help other users who have the same problem.

Thank you.

When you get the error page, could you check a couple things.

First, expand the technical details section and look at the explanation for the error. What is the problem with the certificate?

Second, if you expand the third section and click the Add Exception button, you can view the certificate. Sometimes this shows the name of your security software provider (ESET, BitDefender) instead of showing Google's real certificate. You can cancel out of this dialog after viewing it and making note (or a screen shot) of the issuer.

Check the date and time in the clock on your computer: (double) click the clock icon on the Windows Taskbar.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Secure+Connection+Failed

rodrigocft and cor-el no luck with your suggestions, thanks though!

jscher2000 this is what it says when I expand the technical details section: "www.google.ca uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted because no issuer chain was provided. (Error code: sec_error_unknown_issuer)"

This is what it says when I expand the "I understand the risk" section: "If you understand what's going on, you can tell Firefox to start trusting this site's identification. Even if you trust the site, this error could mean that someone is tampering with your connection.

Don't add an exception unless you know there's a good reason why this site doesn't use trusted identification."

When I view the certificate I don't understand what it all means. I don't know what to do when it comes to these sorts of things.

Any idea what I should do now? :)

All your advice is greatly appreciated!

You can retrieve the certificate and check details like who issued certificates and expiration dates of certificates.

• Click the link at the bottom of the error page: "I Understand the Risks"

Let Firefox retrieve the certificate: "Add Exception" -> "Get Certificate".

• Click the "View..." button and inspect the certificate and check who is the issuer of the certificate.

You can see more Details like intermediate certificates that are used in the Details pane.

If "I Understand the Risks" is missing then this page may be opened in an (i)frame and in that case try the right-click context menu and use "This Frame: Open Frame in New Tab".

Note that some firewalls monitor secure (https) connections and send their own certificate instead of the website's certificate. We also have seen issues reported caused by using a proxy like Fiddler.

Hi AlannaW, this turns out to be an unusual certificate because it covers a really wide range of Google properties.

On the google.ca error, click the "Add Exception" dialog, then click the View button.

You can compare with the attached screen shot. It might be easier to open it in a new window (right-click > Open Link in New Window) and resize the window alongside the pop-up for the certificate.

What differences do you find?

Hello jscher2000 It won't allow me to right click on it. I also tried printing the screen to show you on here what it say but that doesn't work either. Also tried taking a pic with my phone and uploading it but it says the file is too large. It doesn't have that heading on details under extensions "certificate subject alt name" On my General heading it says

Issued To

Common Name: www.google.ca Organization: D0_NOT_TRUST Organizational Unit: Created by http://www.fiddler2.com Serial number: 45:21:2B:7D:D0:12:34:8E:4E:F8:30:B3:D7:80:C8:31

issued By

Common name DO_NOT_TRUST_FiddlerRoot Organization: DO_NOT_TRUST Organizational Unit: Created by http://www.fiddler2.com

Validitity

Issued On: 20/10/2013 Expires On: 19/10/2013

Do you know what fiddler root is? Thanks, Alanna!

Fiddler is a proxy used by web developers to intercept and log web site requests and responses.

Assuming you are not a web developer and are not knowingly running Fiddler, you may have installed some other software which is decrypting your secure connections.

In a previous thread, this was associated with a program named BrowserSafeguard which unexpectedly appeared on a user's PC and set itself to start automatically with Windows: Why won't Firefox let me access Google when it is in the tool bar anyway?

You may want to check for this in your Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. Clicking the header on the install date column should help in finding the newer items, as well as helping untangle how unexpected software got installed (typically part of a bundle with something else you actually wanted).

In the earlier thread, the user posted a screen shot from the Microsoft Autoruns utility. In that screen shot (see attached here) the program icon looks something like a spider web, in case that helps in spotting it.

Can you track it down?

I also recommend scrubbing your system with several of the tools listed in this article in case this is part of a broader infection: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware.

Hello jscher2000,

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! It was safeguard that was the problem! I uninstalled it and now I am able to go on to google.ca with no problems! I don't believe there is anything further I need to do to protect my computer now is there? I already use KasperSky as my internet security system!

Thank you so very much jscher2000 for all your time and helpful info!

Alanna!

Hi Alanna, I'm glad you found it. Since Kaspersky didn't warn you about that one, I do think a few supplemental scans are a good idea. It's not a "drop everything" situation, but I'd try to get around to it before typing your credit card number or any other sensitive information into any browsers.

It may have warned me when I initially installed it probably while I was installing something else and I just wasn't paying close enough attention which was stupid on my part for sure. I will run a scan again now that it is off my pc!

Thanks again jscher2000!