Eliminate facebook, twitter, etc. icons on additional Firefox tabs.
Running Firefox 33.1 on Windows 7 desktop. When opening a new tab, there's a bunch of icons that show up every time with the following in the URL:
www.safesear.ch/?type=20141108-135-ff-nt
How do I get rid of the above, and the icons from coming up on tabs beyond the first one. My first one comes up blank like it should.
Chosen solution
This sounds like a malware infection, perhaps including both browser add-ons and external software.
Here's what I suggest for tracking it down:
(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) Then, in Firefox, open the Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
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.
(3) Search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. Note that the tools are free and take considerable time to run. If they seem to finish quickly and then ask for payment, you might have a Fake AV infection. Please use the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.
(4) Reset your home page, new tab page, and default search engine. This extension is the quickest way to do that, or you can do it manually:
(5) Clean program shortcuts. If you get the unwanted page at startup but not as your home page (e.g., press Ctrl+n or click the Home icon on the toolbar), then your shortcut may be hacked. Right-click the icon > Properties > Shortcut tab. On 64-bit Windows 7, the Target should be no more and no less than the following:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
Success?
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Chosen Solution
This sounds like a malware infection, perhaps including both browser add-ons and external software.
Here's what I suggest for tracking it down:
(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) Then, in Firefox, open the Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
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.
(3) Search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. Note that the tools are free and take considerable time to run. If they seem to finish quickly and then ask for payment, you might have a Fake AV infection. Please use the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.
(4) Reset your home page, new tab page, and default search engine. This extension is the quickest way to do that, or you can do it manually:
(5) Clean program shortcuts. If you get the unwanted page at startup but not as your home page (e.g., press Ctrl+n or click the Home icon on the toolbar), then your shortcut may be hacked. Right-click the icon > Properties > Shortcut tab. On 64-bit Windows 7, the Target should be no more and no less than the following:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
Success?