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just upgraded to 37.0.1. every time I open firefox it switches to a puriffer ad I don't want. I have rebooted and can't get firefox to do anything because of it

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  • Last reply by tswe

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just upgraded to 37.0.1. every time I open firefox it switches to a puriffer ad I don't want. I have rebooted and can't get firefox to do anything because of it. I'm on this page using ie because ff is not working for me.

just upgraded to 37.0.1. every time I open firefox it switches to a puriffer ad I don't want. I have rebooted and can't get firefox to do anything because of it. I'm on this page using ie because ff is not working for me.

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Sorry to hear about that. The most common culprit is a bad add-on. Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons and other ad injectors. I know it seems long, but it's not that bad.

(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Take out as much trash as possible here.

(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
    firefox.exe "about:addons"

In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions.

Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.

Any improvement?

(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.

Success?

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Thanks for getting back to me so fast. I could not tell what to remove or disable for most items. It may be working but it is too early to be confident. Thanks very much.