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Corrupted toolbar bookmark locks up PC in Firefox 79

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

Barry Jedrick
Barry Jedrick
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Clicking on a TV Guide bookmark on the toolbar displays a screen supposedly from Windows 10 support which says PC has been corrupted by virus and wants my license code. Screen cannot be closed and keyboard doesn't work so can't do alt/cntl/del to cancel task. Had to power off PC and power it back up to free things up.

All other bookmarks on the toolbar worked fine. Performed a Windows update and McAfee virus scan but those did not correct the problem. Finally fixed it by deleting that bookmark and then recreating it using Google. Now works fine.

This is similar to a 'red screen' problem in Firefox from a long time back.

Unable to send any diagnostic information since entire PC is locked.

Clicking on a TV Guide bookmark on the toolbar displays a screen supposedly from Windows 10 support which says PC has been corrupted by virus and wants my license code. Screen cannot be closed and keyboard doesn't work so can't do alt/cntl/del to cancel task. Had to power off PC and power it back up to free things up. All other bookmarks on the toolbar worked fine. Performed a Windows update and McAfee virus scan but those did not correct the problem. Finally fixed it by deleting that bookmark and then recreating it using Google. Now works fine. This is similar to a 'red screen' problem in Firefox from a long time back. Unable to send any diagnostic information since entire PC is locked.

All Replies (1)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If you get a pop-up message asking to update Firefox or plugins or scanning for malware then such a message is likely a scam and you should NEVER respond to such an alert to avoid getting infected with malware.

  • only update Firefox via "Help -> About" or by downloading and installing Firefox from the Mozilla and never via a pop-up or link on a web page.
  • plugins should only be updated via the plugin itself or by visiting the home page of the plugin.

See also: