Problem with Firefox. It stops connecting...

[immoderate]

This recently started with Firefox. It loses connection. It may take a few minutes, or a few hours, but at some point, it will choke and just display "Connecting..." in the tab.

If I close the program, I can't restart it. It tells me it's already running. It will not respond to the "End process" command in the Task Manager. It's listed as firefox.exe *32. I then have to do a full restart. This does not seem to affect Internet Explorer.

I have Avira, and have run Advanced System Care, IObit Malware, and Malware bytes. I reloaded Firefox. Then I did an uninstall with IObit Uninstaller, and reloaded it again. It seems some remnants remained, because it remembered my homepages, etc. (?)

Thanks for what you can suggest.

--imm

[steve2470]

1. which operating system ? my WAG is a virus or malware of some sort but we'll see nt

[immoderate]

2. System 7 on a year old Lenovo.

What's WAG?

--imm

[steve2470]

3. wild ass guess

OK, do this please. Download Process Explorer from here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Install it and we'll take a look at what you find.

[immoderate]

4. Installed. What am I looking for?

[steve2470]

5. ok I assume you have it running...

Do you see anything weird at all in the far left hand column ? I'm not asking you list everything. Just anything out of the ordinary.

Also, look at the far right hand column for company name.

[immoderate]

6. Most of it is uhm , "cryptic."

The company names seem OK. Microsoft, Intel, IObit, etc. I don't see anything that stands out.

[steve2470]

7. ok, we won't pursue this any further....so....

Download another anti-malware please. Let's do Kaspersky this time.

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/free-home-trials/anti-virus

Use your trash email account to register it for free. Be sure to turn off and/or disable every other antivirus and anti-malware you have BEFORE you install this. Reboot. Then run a complete thorough scan, and we'll see if you find anything.

[immoderate]

8. will starting up in "safe mode" ensure turning off utilities?

[steve2470]

9. it should...hopefully you can run Kaspersky in safe mode, let's see if you can

To make sure everything BUT Kaspersky is turned off, check your Task Manager while in Safe Mode.

[immoderate]

10. It terminated install of Kaspersky :(

It may not have liked my trash email. Anything wrong with using my regular account?

[steve2470]

11. no, I was just recommending your trash one for anti-spam purposes

Hopefully Kaspersky won't do spamming on you with your email account. I have no reason to believe they will.

[immoderate]

12. Still get a error 1719 - Windows Installer Service

Is that safe mode, maybe?

[steve2470]

13. Ok, my big derp here...you can only run ONE antivirus and/or antimalware at a time....

That includes Windows Defender, the built in one.

So...turn everything OFF. Absolutely everything that is antivirus and antimalware. You have to go to Control Panel, find Windows Defender, and turn off on-demand scanning. Then, while in normal mode, install Kaspersky.

Reboot into safe mode. See if you can run Kaspersky. If not, just reboot into normal mode. Run Kaspersky but double check that absolutely everything else is turned off.

[immoderate]

14. OK, but I have to go out now.

Darn. I will return to this, this evening, and hope we can re-engage. Thanks for giving me this attention. Later.

--imm

[steve2470]

15. ok if I'm here I'll keep helping! nt

[immoderate]

16. I'm back. I loaded Kaspersky and ran a scan...

It made me ditch Avira. Found no threats. However, I was able to end Firefox as a process, and restart it without restarting Windows. That's a good sign, I think.

I'll reconnect the firewall. Now if my Firefox maintains connection, is it fixed? Thanks.

--imm

[steve2470]

17. you have to choose ONE antivirus to run constantly....

You can run as many as you like, but just ONE at a time. That may be part of the problem you had. Remember, Windows Defender counts as an antivirus, so if you don't want it to run, you have to turn it off in Control Panel.

If you have any more problems, do this. Download Revo Uninstaller free edition here:

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Then install it in normal mode.

Then, uninstall Firefox completely using it. Be sure to use the most thorough option to remove all traces of Firefox from your system. Be sure to back up your settings and home page before you do that, or at least write them down if you can. Reboot. Then, reinstall Firefox. This way, you know you have a 100% clean healthy installation of Firefox.

Hopefully Firefox will run normally without doing all that, but just in case.

[immoderate]

18. I really appreciate your help here...

I'll keep my eyes open, but it seems OK -- at least for now.

I'll bookmark it, though JIC. And thanks again!

--imm