I need help. I've looked for hours, tweaked everythign I could and Firefox is still not working correctly.
The home page will not stay as it should. I found Firefox was infected by a browser forwarding URL that was malicious, I corrected that, but now Firefox itself will not save any settings at all. I can set them, but as soon as I close and relaunch the application, everything was as if nothing was changed at all, and it all goes to some launchpad page as a home page now, which I've never seen before. For years it was Google and a blank page, but now, regardless to what setting I select, search engines and where pages go on startup are entirely out of my control. I've even as far as attempted to repair Firefox, gave it the reset option a plethora of times, I've even tried to set my computer at an earlier date, nothing works for Firefox at all. The program is just an out of control application now when I start it or try to change a setting.
All Replies (1)
Hi, some part of Launchpad must still be there!
- You can also check your Firefox Desktop shortcut for corruption: Right click on it > Properties, and in Target, make sure there is no sign of the malware. If there is, delete that part of it. Or if it's easier, you can just delete it and recreate a new shortcut. More: Wrong home page opens when I start Firefox - How to fix.
- Open the Add-ons Manager (Ctrl+Shift+A) > Extensions/Plugins. Look for Launchpad and remove, if it's there.
- Another thing you can do, is to search for Launchpad in your PC's search box and look in Programs.
- You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
- Microsoft Safety Scanner
- MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
- Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller
- AdwCleaner (for more info, see this alternate AdwCleaner download page)
- Hitman Pro
- ESET Online Scanner
Note that not all removal programs will detect all malware, so you may need to run several or all of them.
Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.
After removal you may need to reset your home page and search, which you can do by running the add-on SearchReset.
- Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes).
If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:
- Click the menu button
, click Help 
and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:
- On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
- On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
- On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
(you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".
If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.
To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.
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