Firefox problem

Factual Questions
1

My firefox browser has recently been going places I haven’t typed… That is, I type a place, like amazon, and it goes somewhere else. It only does this occasionally.

What is the problem and how can i fix it?

2

I’m assuming that you did try all the standard spyware and virus solutions in the sticky thread?

If so we need more details. What sort of ‘somewhere else’ is it taking you? Are you being redirected to totally new commercial sites, or to random sites including commercial, government, reference etc, or back to sites that you have previously visited?

3

sounds like a Trojan. Have your tried hijack this!

4

I find thinking in Russian helps.

Are you sure you’ve typed (for example) “Amazon.com” correctly? I find that if I mistype a name, I often get directed to some lame search page instead of a 404 error.

5

Some possibilities:

  • you made a minor typo in the url, like Bryan suggested. Scam artists have bought up many of the common typos from popular websites, and put something of theirs at that site. Generally trying to sell something, almost always a rip-off.

  • there is a file in Windows named the hosts file. It can have a list of specific url names & net addresses, and tells your browser for this name, rather than looking up the net address, always go to this specified net address. (This is intended to save time when accessing common sites.) But virus/spyware software can mess up your hosts file, putting their addresses for common sites.
    If this is the case, it would only happen for specific sites, not randomly. And it would always go to the same ‘wrong’ site for a given url that you enter.

  • various types of scumware will install malware on your machine that can redirect your browsing like this. Generally, these will go to the same website even if you type different urls. Try checking your machine with some of the free virus/spyware checking programs.

Also, you mention ‘my Firefox browser’. Does the same thing happen when you use another browser and enter the same website? If you have Windows, try using IE and see if you have the same problems. You probably will. But if you don’t, it’s a Firefox problem and the Firefox site forums should be able to help you.

6

It sounds like a failure of the autocomplete, to me. I have it happen a lot. Type in a partial URL, firefox fails to pick up the full URL, searches on the partial. and goes somewhere odd.

7

I’ve had this happen even when I pick the right URL from the list. It reverts to the partial that I had typed. Annoying.