We do not know what your personal choice is as a home page, maybe there is a fault relating to that page.

• see Websites don't load - troubleshoot and fix error messages

If you continue to have problems please

1. state the URL/Location of the web page you are trying to get to
2. confirm it fails both with Firefox and Internet Explorer
3. confirm you can get to other pages from the same computer with the same connections (for instance you have no problems reading these messages)
4. say exactly what (if any) error message appears

John, Thanks for the response. I think it's "Google." I open my Mozilla browser and it "times out," each time. I haven't used Explorer in years and I get the same timed out message. When I time out, I can use bookmarks, etc. to use web. I was wondering in I should change my home page. I went to another website, tried to type in google.com and it also timed out.

Do you think I have a browser problem or some strange malfunction preventing me from opening Google.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Possibilities include that it is some sort of malware, or that some add-on or other software has changed your settings. Google itself is normally used, by Firefox, by default for some of the location bar functions.

You may also have some sort of plug-in that you may or may not be aware of that is affecting Firefox. Does your location bar seem to work normally or not?

• eg if you type in some random word what happens ? Firefox would normally make a guess at which site to go to aided by Google, or would open a Google search page.

See also

• Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode (initially when you see the first dialogue window, click the continue button, do not make any changes)
• Basic troubleshooting
• What to do when searches take you to the wrong search website what site is being used, if not Google ?
• Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware that includes some suggested sites, also consider http://www.malwarebytes.org/

If you do have a malware problem, just be careful about any unsolicited offers of help or free or otherwise scans, be very careful to use only known good sites. If you have preinstalled and trusted security software, now may be a good time to run a full system scan.

Hi John, Curious to see what happens, I tried to install "Chrome." I get an error message saying it can't connect to www.google.com (or uk.co. fr., etc.) Any ideas on how I can re-set it (to get to google) somehow? I see my desk top shows Firefox set up 3.5.2.exe . I guess it would be a waste of time to install another version of Firefox? Nonetheless, thank you very much! Jay Hussey

Jay,

You need to track down the cause. It is looking likely to be either some plugin type software that you have installed but are not aware of that is causing the change, or it is bad malware that may be hidden, and again you need to get rid of it.

It probably would not help to try to install another version of firefox. I would suggest you read the articles I mentioned with the blue links, and consider doing some troubleshooting. If your system is compromised with malware things are likely to get worse not better.

Good luck with the sleuthing, post again if you run into more problems,
John