Problems with Firefox

Hi, all! I'm having some difficulties running Firefox on my system. I have been running it without any problems since I got my computer last summer, but about a week ago it stopped working (I think shortly after updated it). When I try to use the program, it will open but presents the "Firefox can't establish a connection to server …" message. I tried changing the firewall and followed the help recommendations on Firefox's website, but to no avail. I also posted a Hijack this log in the Infections subforum, but there was no malware on my machine ( http://forums.whatthetech.com/Firefox_Virus_t100772.html ). Internet Explorer works without any problems. I tried downloading Opera and that does not work either. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Epicurus335, Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox?

Yes, I've also tried uninstalling and reinstalling my antivirus (Avast), but it did not seem to help.

Have you tried starting FireFox in Safe Mode. It's a selection in the Mozilla Firefox folder off the Start / All Programs menu, called

Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode)

Just tried it, but no luck.

What are you using for a firewall? This sounds like something is blocking FF but not IE.

The only firewall I have running is the Windows Firewall. I'm also running Avast antivirus and Symantic, but they don't have firewall options. Windows Firewall has Firefox marked as allowed–I've tried resetting this a few times, but I still can't use Firefox. Any ideas?

I meant Add-ons, as in FireFox Add-ons, sorry I wasn't clearer. Click on Tools then Add-ons. Select each one and click on the Disable button.

Ok, I disabled all of my add-ons (Adobe Acrobat, Google updater, Microsoft Office, Java, iTunes Application detector, Metastream 3 Plug-in, Mozilla Default Plug-in, Quicktime and Shockwave Flash), but it didn't make a difference. I closed Firefox and opened it again to make sure the changes were applied, but still nothing.

Boot to Safe Mode with Networking. See if FF works there. If yes, do the following:

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem.

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP or Vista:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista

First, open Control Panel and click on Windows Firewall. If it's Off, turn it on because you will be disabling any other Firewall and Anti-virus in the following steps.

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab then the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if how your browser works now.
If okay then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if how your browser works now.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best. Enable everything else you disabled.

Disable Windows Firewall if you enabled it at the start of this process.

Sorry for the delayed response, last few days have been busy. So, Firefox will work in Safe Mode. I tried disabling the the startup programs and services, but Firefox still will not work during a regular reboot.

We're missing something here. Download and run StartupList 2.02. When it finishes, click on File then Save as and save startuplist.txt to your Desktop or somewhere that you can find it.

Come back here and start a new reply and upload startuplist.txt here then add a link to it. See here for info:

http://forums.whatthetech.com/How_upload_I…ead_t96285.html

It talks about uploading an image but the process is exactly the same for a txt file.

I ran and uploaded the StartupList program and file. Thanks again for all the help you are giving me. 📎startuplist.txt

Please try disabling Spybot S&D TeaTimer, see if that has any effect. If not, re-enable it then turn off UAC and try FireFox, see if it works. See here:

Disable User Account Control in Windows Vista - Method #1 is the best way to test this.

If FireFox works with UAC disable then you need to re-enable UAC, then we need to figure out how to get it to work correctly with FF.

Neither disabling Spybot S&D TeaTimer nor UAC fixed the problem. If all else fails and we can't find the problem, do you think a system restore will help?