Weird/random links caused by add-ons?
When visiting the websites I normally visit (dragonvale.wikia.com and spellfall-game.wikia.com) these random links will appear in text on the site. They are blue, bold, and double underlined. It has only started recently and I was wondering if they were caused by an add-on? I've gone through and disabled a lot of the add-ons I rarely use and some I don't even remember installing. Groovio (or something like that) was installed recently and I don't recall installing that. I have since disabled and uninstalled in from the computer. After doing so it seemed like the weird links stopped, but after installing a new Norton product (which came with an add-on) they have reappeared. They are annoying. When I hover over them with the cursor, an add pops up. I am also getting new tabs opening randomly. After installing Norton, it is blocking the content of the website... but from what I have seen before Norton it is a pop-up asking me to update drivers on my computer. That too is annoying. I have, again, uninstalled and/or disabled all I can think of. The random links and tabs started happening around the same time. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox to see if that would help, but it hasn't.
They aren't bothering me in the sense that they are harming my computer, but they are annoying and taking time out of what I need to be doing. Any help would be appreciated.
All Replies (5)
Have included an image in this response. At first it was showing as Norton Tech Support... now it is random ads.
In a new tab or window address bar, type about:support and press Enter. Under the main banner, press the button; Copy Text To Clipboard.. Then in the reply box at the bottom of this page, do a right click in the box and select Paste.
This will let us look at you Firefox information.
Application Basics
Name: Firefox Version: 31.0 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/31.0
Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
All Crash Reports
Extensions
Name: Adblock Plus Version: 2.6.4 Enabled: true ID: {d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}
Name: Default Tab Version: 2.4 Enabled: true ID: addon@defaulttab.com
Name: Norton Toolbar Version: 2014.7.6.15 Enabled: true ID: {2D3F3651-74B9-4795-BDEC-6DA2F431CB62}
Name: Yahoo! Toolbar Version: 3.2.4.20140604103324 Enabled: true ID: {635abd67-4fe9-1b23-4f01-e679fa7484c1}
Name: DigitalPersona Extension Version: 5.0.0.4490 Enabled: false ID: otis@digitalpersona.com
Name: HP Detect Version: 2.0.4.6 Enabled: false ID: {ab91efd4-6975-4081-8552-1b3922ed79e2}
Name: HP Smart Web Printing Version: 4.60 Enabled: false ID: smartwebprinting@hp.com
Name: McAfee Security Scan Plus Version: 1.0 Enabled: false ID: {e4f94d1e-2f53-401e-8885-681602c0ddd8}
Name: RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin Version: 15.0.6 Enabled: false ID: {0153E448-190B-4987-BDE1-F256CADA672F}
Graphics
Adapter Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics Adapter Drivers: igdumd64 igd10umd64 igdumdx32 igd10umd32 Adapter RAM: Unknown Device ID: 0x0046 Direct2D Enabled: Blocked for your graphics driver version. Try updating your graphics driver to version 8.1500.1000.2202 or newer. DirectWrite Enabled: false (6.2.9200.16571) Driver Date: 7-28-2010 Driver Version: 8.15.10.2189 GPU #2 Active: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 Direct3D 9 Vendor ID: 0x8086 WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (Intel(R) HD Graphics Direct3D9Ex vs_3_0 ps_3_0) windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureContentBackend: cairo AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0
Important Modified Preferences
accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 1048576 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 1048576 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 2 browser.newtab.url: http://www.mysearchresults.com/?c=2652&t=03&nt=nt1&uid=9F751DC60BAE27F588A740B56986B7DF browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7 browser.search.suggest.enabled: false browser.search.useDBForOrder: true browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20140716183446 browser.startup.homepage: http://dragonvale.wikia.com/wiki/dragons browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20140716183446 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 31.0 dom.mozApps.used: true dom.w3c_touch_events.expose: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 31.0 keyword.URL: http://dts.search-results.com/sr?src=ffb&appid=139&systemid=406&sr=0&q= network.cookie.lifetimePolicy: 2 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1409434193 places.history.enabled: false places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 102076 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true plugin.state.np-mswmp: 2 plugin.state.npaclmplugin: 1 plugin.state.npconduitfirefoxplugin: 1 plugin.state.npctrl: 1 plugin.state.npdeployjava: 0 plugin.state.npemusic: 0 plugin.state.npgeplugin: 1 plugin.state.npgoogleupdate: 1 plugin.state.npidfplugin: 1 plugin.state.npitunes: 1 plugin.state.npmcafeemss: 1 plugin.state.nppitplugin: 1 plugin.state.nppl: 0 plugin.state.npproductdetectplugin: 1 plugin.state.nprjplug: 0 plugin.state.nprpchromebrowserrecordext: 0 plugin.state.nprphtml5videoshim: 0 plugin.state.nprpplugin: 0 plugin.state.npve3d: 1 plugin.state.npybrowserplus: 0 plugin.state.npystate: 1 plugin.state.npzylomgamesplayer: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_bgcolor: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_bgimages: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_colorspace: print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_command: print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_downloadfonts: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_duplex: 1515870810 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_edge_top: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_evenpages: true print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_in_color: true print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_margin_bottom: 0.5 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_margin_left: 0.5 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_margin_right: 0.5 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_margin_top: 0.5 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_oddpages: true print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_orientation: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_page_delay: 50 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_paper_data: 1 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_paper_height: 11.00 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_paper_name: print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_paper_size_type: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_paper_size_unit: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_paper_width: 8.50 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_plex_name: print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_resolution: 1515870810 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_resolution_name: print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_reversed: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_scaling: 1.00 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_shrink_to_fit: true print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_to_file: false print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0 print.printer_HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A910_(Network).print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0 privacy.clearOnShutdown.cookies: false privacy.clearOnShutdown.downloads: false privacy.clearOnShutdown.formdata: false privacy.clearOnShutdown.history: false privacy.clearOnShutdown.sessions: false privacy.donottrackheader.enabled: true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true privacy.sanitize.promptOnSanitize: false privacy.sanitize.sanitizeOnShutdown: true security.warn_viewing_mixed: false storage.vacuum.last.index: 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1408494541
user.js Preferences
Your profile folder contains a user.js file, which includes preferences that were not created by Firefox.
JavaScript
Incremental GC: true
Accessibility
Activated: true Prevent Accessibility: 0
Library Versions
NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.6 Version in use: 4.10.6
NSS Expected minimum version: 3.16.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.16.2 Basic ECC
NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.16.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.16.2 Basic ECC
NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.16.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.16.2 Basic ECC
NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.16.2 Version in use: 3.16.2
Experimental Features
I found out the random links were called Nav Links and I was able to opt out of those, so far I haven't seen them again. But the "malware" website that opens in a new tab is still opening.
You can check for recently installed suspicious or unknown extensions.
Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - AdwCleaner:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml - SuperAntispyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/ - Microsoft Safety Scanner:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx - Windows Defender:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-defender - Spybot Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Kasperky Free Security Scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
- Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446
See also:
- "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked