Three unwanted programs joined the 30.0 update from a reminder button on taskbar, and do not appear in downloads.

Question

Today, 6/18/2014, on my laptop, running Win8.0, a Firefox icon appeared on the taskbar, saying a new version 30.0 was available. I clicked on it, but missed as it closed. Upon opening the hidden icons, I clicked on the Firefox icon, the words 'update Firefox 30.0' appeared as I clicked on the icon. Then all hell broke loose. Adblock plus didn't stop anything, so the items were believed to be from Mozilla. A box appeared on top, saying "Update Windows 8 Drivers", and was flashing. The download box for Firefox may have been opened, and before allowing an install, several programs and add-ons were offered, but I tried to decline them. I clicked on the driver update, and Advanced System Protection from 'powerbundle.systweak.com, Driver support from secure.driversupport.com and System Speedup from www.systemspeedup.com were all downloaded without asking. They did not appear in the 'Downloads' history. Also, a Microsoft box appeared asking to download to Win Explorer, (like am I nuts?), I use Mozilla on purpose. Closed that box. Next, the Adv. Sys. Protector was analyzing my computer, with a Microsoft logo on the screen. It said I had 167 registry problems. After viewing, I decided to close all open windows. Then, in Programs, I found the three new programs and uninstalled them. When I opened Help About, in Firefox, the new version was just starting to install.
These boxes appeared so fast, and weren't touched by Adblock, at first I thought you might have bundled some features, and add-ons. You should find out who is gaming your installation process and shut them down. Microsoft has been trying to get me to update to win8.1, but I have declined, so I thought the box I was seeing was a recommendation from you to install win8.1 for protective purposes, though that is exactly why I have chosen not to do the upgrade. This question is being sent from the desktop computer that is now since I just checked, starting to update to 30.0. The programs, and Firefox do not appear in the downloads box, so maybe they were entering via Explorer? You don't stick anything else on your updates, so I wasn't expecting this.

Answer 1

Go to Mozilla.org and download the '''full''' installer and save it.
Completely remove Firefox. Run as may of the mal-ware program below
as you can. Install Firefox from the installer you downloaded. After,
check ALL of your add-ons and the programs on your computer. Make
sure you know what they are for. Use a web search if you need to.
===========================
Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
* [http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/default.aspx Microsoft Safety Scanner]
* [http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/ MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware]
* [http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208283363 TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility]
* [http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro/ Hitman Pro]
* [http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/ ESET Online Scanner]
[http://windows.microsoft.com/MSE Microsoft Security Essentials] is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.
Further information can be found in the [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware]] article.
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