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Firefox Problems

S

Steve325

Senior member
I'm getting a little nervous here. I recently watched a video on a reputable website and have ran into a little problem.

The first thing I noticed was that the firefox window is not fully maximized when I open it, even with the properties set to "Maximized". All new windows that open are also fairly small.

I can't download anything using the download manager, which is also very stange and has never happened before.

Also all of my login names were cleared, even the ones that I said remember and saved it onto my computer. I had to re-enter most of them

Any ideas? I've ran a virus scan and adaware and have found nothing so far... this is my first BSOD ever
 
Can you PM a link to the website and/or movie to me? Also,

1) what antivirus software are you using

2) what version of FireFox is it

3) what version of Windows (XP, 2000, 98, ME) and what Service Pack is it
 
I'd prefer to keep the website private 😉

I don't actually have an anti-virus, I just use then Trend Online Scanner. It's the latest version of Firefox. Windows XP SP1
 
Can you mention the type of movie, like was it QuickTime or Windows Media or Google Video or DiVX or ???

Also, is your WinXP SP1 patched against, say, the WMF Exploit vulnerability and the ANI vulnerability? Or is it just raw SP1 with no patches beyond SP1 itself?

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Without any way of determining what you might be up against... 😕 well, how about start by installing an always-on antivirus software. Try AOL Kaspersky. During installation, uncheck the box for the security toolbar.

1) Once it's installed, right-click the green safe icon in the system tray, have it do an Update, and then reboot.

2) After the reboot, right-click the green safe icon and hit Settings. Max out the settings in each panel to High. Make sure you mark the checkbox for Riskware on the first panel, too.

3) Set the Actions in each panel to delete stuff without prompting, so it can deal with malware at computer speed, instead of at human-being speed.

4) Then run a full Scan My Computer and see if it finds anything.

5) Next, run F-Secure's BlackLight rootkit scanner.

Also get Service Pack 2 installed, and the post-SP2 updates, and then fully enable DEP like this. If your CPU has hardware DEP support, this alone will stop WMF exploits.

An additional blanket safeguard: use a Limited account for normal everyday web surfing, IM and email. This keeps your browsers, media players, IM and email from doing much lasting damage even if they get successfully exploited. Don't hand over the gun AND the ammunition to a stranger, eh 😉
 
I beleive it was WMV file type, but I could be wrong. I can't even find the link anymore. I personally do not like always on anti-viruses, I feel it hurts the performance of my computer entirely too much. I couldn't find anything about DEP support, so I'm assuming my CPU doesn't support it
 
Originally posted by: Steve325
I beleive it was WMV file type, but I could be wrong. I can't even find the link anymore. I personally do not like always on anti-viruses, I feel it hurts the performance of my computer entirely too much. I couldn't find anything about DEP support, so I'm assuming my CPU doesn't support it
Click to expand...
DEP is only available after you get Service Pack 2 installed. If you don't want antivirus or SP2, then at least get a Limited account set up to serve as damage containment. Limited accounts have no performance impact at all.

Also, if you think it might've been a WMV video, take a look at my blog entry here (hopefully that link works). Did it look like the one in the first picture, by any chance?

Video-borne infections and exploits are predicted to increase from here on, so it would be a good time to reevaluate your security posture (patching & active virus protection, DEP and a Limited account). This ain't the '90s 😉
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Originally posted by: Steve325
I beleive it was WMV file type, but I could be wrong. I can't even find the link anymore. I personally do not like always on anti-viruses, I feel it hurts the performance of my computer entirely too much. I couldn't find anything about DEP support, so I'm assuming my CPU doesn't support it
Click to expand...
DEP is only available after you get Service Pack 2 installed. If you don't want antivirus or SP2, then at least get a Limited account set up to serve as damage containment. Limited accounts have no performance impact at all.

Also, if you think it might've been a WMV video, take a look at my blog entry here (hopefully that link works). Did it look like the one in the first picture, by any chance?

Video-borne infections and exploits are predicted to increase from here on, so it would be a good time to reevaluate your security posture (patching & active virus protection, DEP and a Limited account). This ain't the '90s 😉
Click to expand...

nope it didn't look like anything in the picture. No codec downloads or no security warnings. Just clicked on the movie and it popped up a BSOD. I tried it about 3 times until I finally got the hint. Now that I think about it, it was more than likely an mpg file, my WMV files don't play in the browser and this video did.

I downloaded the SP2 update, but it says I don't have a legitimate key and I'm not gonna fiddle around with trying to make this thing work. I downloaded McAfree and ran a scan, didn't pick up anything. I also found out that the download manager does not pop up on Internet explorer too, but the files do actually download.
 
Consider picking up a new WinXP Home OEM for $85-ish if that's the issue (bandito version of Windows). Now that there are no security updates available for anything older than SP2, the window of vulnerabilitiles is only going to get bigger and bigger. The bad guys could steal your WoW characthers and eBay them, they could steal your CD keys from your games, steal your eBay/PayPal login credentials... I'd be spending the $85 for a patchable version of Windows 😀

Anyway, do keep the Limited account in mind, it's your best bet for now. And for an online scanner, try F-Secure's, since it scans for rootkits: http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml <-- use IE for this.
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Consider picking up a new WinXP Home OEM for $85-ish if that's the issue (bandito version of Windows). Now that there are no security updates available for anything older than SP2, the window of vulnerabilitiles is only going to get bigger and bigger. The bad guys could steal your WoW characthers and eBay them, they could steal your CD keys from your games, steal your eBay/PayPal login credentials... I'd be spending the $85 for a patchable version of Windows 😀

Anyway, do keep the Limited account in mind, it's your best bet for now. And for an online scanner, try F-Secure's, since it scans for rootkits: http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml <-- use IE for this.
Click to expand...

I will definitely consider it, but money is tight this time of year and I definitely can't afford it. F-Secure says I'm clean, mcafree says I'm clean.. what gives?
 
just noticed something else unusual. I went to user accounts and I saw an account of ASP.NET. It was a limited account, according to the website, it's microsoft?
 
You have a malware problem. Read the consolidated security thread in the Software section, and follow the instructions.
 
Ok, now you can go and enable DEP like this pic shows.

Try uninstalling FireFox, then go to C:\Documents and Settings\<your account>\Application Data and delete the Mozilla folder. Also delete the one in C:\Documents and Settings\<your account>\Local Settings\Application Data too. Both of those are hidden/system folders, so if you don't see them, click Tools > Folder Options > View tab and have it show hidden/system folders.

Now reinstall FireFox, did that help?

Also, if it's conceivable that you got exploited and your cached passwords got swiped, you can change passwords on important sites like eBay, PayPal, bank, CC, etc as a precaution.
 
Someone doesn't run antivirus full time in this day and age? And have all the latest patches and Microsoft updates (done automatically at 3:00am)?

<boggle>
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Ok, now you can go and enable DEP like this pic shows.

Try uninstalling FireFox, then go to C:\Documents and Settings\<your account>\Application Data and delete the Mozilla folder. Also delete the one in C:\Documents and Settings\<your account>\Local Settings\Application Data too. Both of those are hidden/system folders, so if you don't see them, click Tools > Folder Options > View tab and have it show hidden/system folders.

Now reinstall FireFox, did that help?

Also, if it's conceivable that you got exploited and your cached passwords got swiped, you can change passwords on important sites like eBay, PayPal, bank, CC, etc as a precaution.
Click to expand...

GOT IT! Thank you
 
Originally posted by: dclive
Someone doesn't run antivirus full time in this day and age? And have all the latest patches and Microsoft updates (done automatically at 3:00am)?

<boggle>
Click to expand...

I feel it hurts my performance a good bit, just a personal preference
 
The risk of various flavors of identity theft would also make a slight performance increase a hollow accomplishment. There are antivirus products that don't pack too much of a hit, so if you want to be open-minded, try the AOL Kaspersky, which is free, good, and designed to not hog the CPU. During installation, uncheck the box for the optional security toolbar, which you don't need.

If you don't like it, just right-click the tray icon and choose Exit, and then it uninstalls nice and clean. Unless you have a Celeron or something, this shouldn't be too big of a drag on your PC.
 
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