Whenever I use a search engine, I keep getting the error message "The connection was reset while the page was loading".

Question

I am able to access the internet, but none of the search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing will work. the page will not load. I get the error message:
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.
* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection.
* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

Answer 1

Your plugins list shows two Flash plugins and other outdated plugin(s) with known security and stability risks.
# Shockwave Flash 10.0 r45
# Shockwave Flash 10.1 r53
# Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 11.0
# Next Generation Java Plug-in 1.6.0_19 for Mozilla browsers
Flash Player uninstall: http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_14157 (this will remove the Firefox Flash plugin and the ActiveX control for IE)
Update the [[Flash]] and [[Shockwave|Shockwave for Director]] plugin to the latest version.
*http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/
*http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/
*http://www.adobe.com/downloads/
Update the [[Java]] plugin to the latest version.
*http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp (Java Platform: Download JRE)
Do a malware check with a few malware scan programs.<br />
You need to use all programs because each detects different malware.<br />
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of the database.
*http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
*http://www.superantispyware.com/ - SuperAntispyware
*http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot Search & Destroy
*http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php - Ad-Aware Free
*http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Windows Defender: Home Page
See also "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked and [[Searches are redirected to another site]]