Some web sites may do this automatically.

It could be the work of one of your add-ons. Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open your Add-ons Manager. Hot key; <Control>(Mac:<Command>)<Shift> A)

As Fred notes, Google redirects accesses on HTTP to HTTPS and this is normal. However, certificate errors are not normal.

Have you made any software changes recently, such as updating/replacing your security software or installing any freeware? There are a number of programs that may intercept web connections and this can cause certificate errors on numerous sites all at once.

One way to start diagnosing this is to look at the certificate exception for more information. You can click the padlock icon in the address bar while on Google (then More Information, then View Certificate) and check the "Issued by" section and the certificate path for more information. I have attached a screen shot for comparison. What do you see there?

I'll have to check all those when I get home. However, I'll modify my description. Now that I'm sitting on my work computer, I notice that websites automatically redirect to the secure (https) sites. I've honestly never pay close attention to that detail. The odd part is that I haven't made any changes to Firefox, add-ons or updates (that I know of, unless it happened automatically) that would have caused a certificate validation issue. It just happened one morning.

Hi guys, So as it turns out, this isn't a Mozilla/Firefox issue. IE and Chrome have the same problem. Something else has changed a certificate verification feature in the operating system. I can get to non-secured sites that do not use https. I now suspect it could be a virus problem. I'll let you know if I figure this one out. Thanks

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

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

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one. Windows 8 has antivirus built-in already.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

So as it turns out, it was a Malware program that found a way in. It's one that modifies settings in root directories (and will not let you manually change them) and it tracks your activity and redirects the browsers to other sites. It was a tricky one and I'm not even sure what the name of it was. I came across a similar one recently called www-searching.com Regular malware removal programs that are Windows based won't remove them either. A friend of mine has a program and a technique that cleans up the root directory files with what looks like a Dos script.... something "Tron" something and another one. In any case, it worked and my laptop is back to normal. Thanks

That was very good work. Well Done. Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.

Please get and post the instructions so others can be helped by this.

It was a bit involved. So rather than botch it up and give anyone half wrong instructions, I'll just name drop my friend and give him a shameless plug here. He does this for a living and really is a computer genius. So if you ever have any problems, he can likely fix it. Here's his website. http://www.eenetworks.com

Hopefully no one else has this problem. Safe Surfing.