Adware?

[psiclone]

So I've got this problem with Firefox, where, only if it's open, it will open a random tab with text in the URL similar to what I've recently typed. Example, I did a search for L4D2 addons, and the tab opened up eventually (it's random when they open) and most of the link was jibberish, with it ending with "search=L4D2+addons". And every time the page opens, it's always blank with a link in the page itself. Obviously I don't click them and I just close the tab, but they are quite annoying. If I have Firefox open and playing a game, it minimizes the game to come to this popup/ad.

I've used avast!, Avira, Spybot, Anti-Malware, CrapCleaner and SUPER Anti Spyware, and I can't seem to shake this thing. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[Glitchfinder]

Most of the paid antivirus companies offer free trials of their software. You might check out a few of those, especially G-Data and Norton. (The top two antiviruses from this year's batch)

 

[Venetia]

that certainly sounds like a virus ... a way to test it though is to export all your bookmarks and firefox settings, then uninstall firefox, and reinstall it (then import your settings). if it's still happening it's viral. if it stopped it was probably a browser bug.

What add-ons do you have installed? I've heard of weird errors with shit like the Lemur Toolkit and TagSifter and stuff that logs your query history (why you would have those is beyond me but). Of course a reinstall of firefox would eliminate the problem if you're not sure which add-on is causing the error. Sometimes you'll install add-ons that conflict with each other, and this will cause weird bugginess too.

If you reinstall and the error is gone, be careful to reinstall your add-ons one by one to check if one of them is causing the error.

 

[Ellie]

Sorry to tag along but I am also having a possible spyware issue with firefox - flash programs seem to freeze for a few frames every 30 seconds or so. It's at the same interval every time because I keep failing the same flash game at the exact same score. Everything freezes - the mouse stops moving, etc - but only for a couple of frames and then it's back to normal for another 30 secs. I have heard of keyloggers that have printscreens built in. I haven't had anything crop up on spyware, adware, or virus scans either though.

In terms of your issue - I had a similar problem but not the same which turned out to be a sticky F-key :p. I cleaned up my keyboard and flicked a few keys menicingly and it fixed it. I would try that first just to make sure. :girl:

 

[Venetia]

as for your problem Wyatt, how many fonts do you have? did you know that having a large number of installed fonts will cause browsers and certain other progs/apps to stall, lag, or have trouble loading?

that was a huge problem for me. got rid of most of my unnecessary fonts and now shit runs smooth again :D

that's probably not the problem but just throwing it out there because I personally had no idea until recently~

 

[psiclone]

No, I've never had or even heard of those addons. And, it might have been fixed. There were about 8 windows security updates this morning, and the problem hasn't happened since.. maybe Microsoft actually fixed something :soph: