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None of your SEC_ERROR fixes work on my Windows 10 computer.

  • 15 svar
  • 1 har dette problemet
  • 28 views
  • Siste svar av cor-el

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I have a brand new HP all-in-one desktop that came with Windows 10 and McAfee Security software (had to a month). None of the options you have published work to eliminate the SEC_ERROR messages and I cannot log into hundreds of websites that I use. The error is massive. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Mozilla more times that I can count. I cannot use Firefox - and I am angry about the lack of support for this problem

I have a brand new HP all-in-one desktop that came with Windows 10 and McAfee Security software (had to a month). None of the options you have published work to eliminate the SEC_ERROR messages and I cannot log into hundreds of websites that I use. The error is massive. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Mozilla more times that I can count. I cannot use Firefox - and I am angry about the lack of support for this problem

All Replies (15)

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hello, first please make sure that the date, time & timezone are set correctly on your system. if this doesn't solve the issue (or it is already set properly), a solution depends on the individual circumstances:

  • what is the exact error code shown when you click on advanced on that error page?
  • please also give us more information about the error by clicking on the error code, copying the text to the clipboard and then pasting it here into a reply in the forum.

thank you!

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I have tried all the resources that have been published in the Support articles - none of them are working.

The issue seems simple to me....the https sites are Not Working - I am getting text output instead of webpages on many of my web pages,,,in essence FireFox is just not working properly. Is there another version I can try - I am upgraded to Ver 50.....

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What security software do you have?


Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
  • Do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

You can check the Web Console (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer) for error messages about blocked and unsafe content. You can check the Network Monitor to see if content is blocked or otherwise fails to load.

You can use "Ctrl+F5" or "Ctrl+Shift+R" to reload the page and bypass the cache to generate a fresh log.


You can check the Web Console (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer) for error messages about blocked and unsafe content. You can check the Network Monitor to see if content is blocked or otherwise fails to load.

You can use "Ctrl+F5" or "Ctrl+Shift+R" to reload the page and bypass the cache to generate a fresh log.

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Hi etlingdick, when you get unstyled pages, the usual reason is that Firefox has stored an exception for the main server address (the one in the address bar), but the pages retrieve style rules, scripts, and other resources from other servers and Firefox does not trust those servers. It's really all the same problem.

Can you give an example of a page where you can retrieve text but it isn't styled? We can provide the information on what that site's certificate is supposed to look like for you to compare with what you see.

I can appreciate that you are used to installing different versions of other programs to work around various issues, but this is not a version thing: Firefox either trusts certificates or it doesn't, and that is a settings issue, not a version issue.

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I am really disgusted with the response to my problems......I have tried every item that has been suggested - and then a member of the staff send me an email with a question - which - when I answer - never gets back to the person who asked the question. I have had three people offer suggestions - every time I respond to them I get undeliverable email errors.

Why isn't there some paid staff to be able to call with problems for Firefox - especially when it is used my millions..........this is a very bad business model. If you're not a computer geek - you're left out in left-field.

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Can you attach a screenshot of the error page with the Advanced section expanded?

  • use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot
  • make sure you do not exceed the maximum size of 1 MB

If there is a button to add an exception then also please attach a screenshot that shows the certificate viewer window.


Check out why the site is untrusted.

  • click the "Advanced" button to expand this section to see extra details.

If the certificate is not trusted because no issuer chain was provided (sec_error_unknown_issuer) then see if you can install this intermediate certificate from another source. Click the "Add Exception" button to inspect the certificate in the Certificate Viewer.

If you can't inspect the certificate via "Add Exception" then try this:

Open the "Add Security Exception" window by pasting this chrome URL in the Firefox location/address bar and check the certificate:

  • chrome://pippki/content/exceptionDialog.xul

In the location field of this window type or paste the URL of the website with the https:// protocol prefix (https://xxx.xxx).

  • retrieve the certificate via the "Get certificate" button
  • click the "View..." button to inspect the certificate in the Certificate Viewer

You can inspect details like the issuer and the certificate chain in the Details tab of the Certificate Viewer. Check who is the issuer of the certificate. If necessary then please attach a screenshot that shows the Certificate Viewer with the issuer.

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When I click on the Advanced button, there is No Exception offered as an option. This is the copy....... www.google.com uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown. The server might not be sending the appropriate intermediate certificates. An additional root certificate may need to be imported. Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER

Running the chrome://pippki url does not solve the problem.

As I noted earlier - my computer comes with McAfee LiveSafe. I think there is something in WINDOWS 10 that is kicking out Firefox. I don't have this problem on any other machine I own or use. None of the others are W-10.

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etlingdick said

I am really disgusted with the response to my problems......I have tried every item that has been suggested - and then a member of the staff send me an email with a question - which - when I answer - never gets back to the person who asked the question. I have had three people offer suggestions - every time I respond to them I get undeliverable email errors. Why isn't there some paid staff to be able to call with problems for Firefox - especially when it is used my millions..........this is a very bad business model. If you're not a computer geek - you're left out in left-field.

If you mean emails for when there are replies on this support forum thread then that is not for support but to notify you of replies.

Companies that do provide paid forum staff and or one on one support by chat, phone or email are generally for paid for products. Mozilla did try working with a third-party tesh support in doing support by email several years ago but it was a short lived experiment.

Mozilla does not charge for any of their own products including desktop Firefox and Firefox for Android so they do not have resources to do call centers that would be needed for such direct one on one support.

There is support options around as in this site support.mozilla.org , on irc.mozilla.org with channels like #sumo and #firefox, the Mozilla newsgroups https://www.mozilla.org/about/forums/ and the long running independent forums.mozillazine.org forum.

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My replies to this forum or blog or whatever are bouncing back to me as undeliverable....I have no idea what is going on with this Windows 10 environment I have - but I am getting nowhere. If someone would be kind enough to call me at - and try to help me I would appreciate it.......the end result appears to be I am not going to be using Firefox in the future.


edited phone# from public and search/bots as nobody here does support by phone.

Endret av James

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Are you able to open the Certificate Manager via the chrome URI or doesn't that enable to view the certificate (View button is disabled?

  • chrome://pippki/content/exceptionDialog.xul
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When I enter the "chrome://pippki" in Firefox - I do not get a Certificate Manager...I get a search list of articles about this url. When I enter the same url in my Edge browser - I get the same result - a list of search article and a new article to load the Chrome Browser.

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Such a chrome URI only works in Firefox.

You can alternatively open the Add Exception window via the Certificate Manager

  • Options/Preferences -> Advanced -> Certificates: View Certificates -> Servers -> Add Exception
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I went into the Certificate Manager as you directed..... Got to the page to add an exception - and entered the Google url. Logged out - rebooted the computer - went back into Firefox and same result - Google will not load. I can get Yahoo to load (with the Certificate Manager exception) - but it is a page of text - not the visual website. That is the same result I am getting with MapQuest after entering an exception....all text. I cannot be expected to have to make hundreds of exceptions for all the websites I use. By the way...Does Firefox have some issues with Adfender app?

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You shouldn't create an exception, but use this to inspect the certificate and possibly attach a screenshot, so we can check details like the issuer.

Endret av cor-el