I search for a website but when i try to click on the link, the "webpage not available screen pops up and gives me this error message (ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT)
i can search for a website but i cant open the link. This happens with all of my search engines, not just firefox. I looked for ways to fix this and i found something about disabling your extensions. I tried this but the problem persisted. What the fuck do i do? Even when i click the automatically add button for the troubleshooting information it times me out.
All Replies (4)
If I understand correctly, you can get results on Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, etc., but none of the links in the results actually work. Is that right?
Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.
If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.
If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
- Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).
Any improvement?
It appears you posted this question using Google Chrome. Is Chrome working normally with the same search sites?
Yes, you are correct. So I started firefox in safe mode, disabled all plugins, and restarted. But the problem continued. For me, Google Chrome is having the same issue. For some reason the only site i found that works is Soundcloud.
Just to clarify, when Firefox was in its Safe Mode, search results links also did not work then?
And links in other web pages work, just not search sites?
Do you know whether any search sites are listed in the Windows hosts file? For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_%28file%29
Normally, no internet sites would be listed in the file, just an entry or two for localhost.
The file is protected from editing, but the usual trick of right-clicking Notepad.exe on the Start menu and running it as administrator might not be applicable to Windows 8.1.
I wonder whether you have had any malware issues recently. Over the years there have been programs that redirected search results, particularly on Google. These would burrow deep into the system and were difficult to remove. Partial removal of such malware could possibly leave the system in a broken state.
You could use 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. Or you could go straight there to get assistance with more advanced scanning tools.
Thank you for the assistance.