why does firefox crash when malwarebytes quarantines OptimizerMonitor.dll ?
malwarebytes had a problem whereby the (malware or ransomware) protection setting was getting zeroed every 2 seconds or so. After an update, they had quarantined \Syswow64\OptimizerMonitor.dll and firefox and thunderbird no longer worked. it is not clear who owns this problem besides me. At present the referenced protections are disabled.
Izabrano rješenje
Yes, reloading Firefox from the Mozilla website solved the problem for Firefox, but not for Thunderbird, so malwarebytes is still hobbling. Thank you. We are making progress.
I would still like to know how it is possible for 1) a windows support program to get changed to malware 2)how it gets embedded in Mozilla software, 3) why such a program as OptimizerMonitor.dll cannot be easily displaced or substituted.
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OptimizerMonitor.dll is a malware application.
Perform a full scan with an AV along with Malwarebytes and refresh Firefox, based on the below directions.
If Malwarebytes kicks in every now and then, it means you didn't totally get rid of the malware. If the same malware keeps popping up, I'd recommend to re-install your system from scratch.
Hello,
The Refresh feature (called "Reset" in older Firefox versions) can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies, and other essential information.
Note: When you use this feature, you will lose any extensions, toolbar customizations, and some preferences. See the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article for more information.
To Refresh Firefox:
- Open the Troubleshooting Information page using one of these methods:
- Click the menu button
, click help 
and select Troubleshooting Information. A new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
- If you're unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting Information page.
- Click the menu button
- At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Refresh Firefox" ("Reset Firefox" in older Firefox versions). Click on it.
- Firefox will close. After the refresh process is completed, Firefox will show a window with the information that is imported.
- Click Finish and Firefox will reopen.
Did this fix the problem? Please report back to us!
Thank you.
________________________________________________________________________
Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location.
To do a clean reinstall of Firefox, please follow these steps: Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.
- Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
- After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu and click the close button
).
- Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
- Windows:
- C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
- Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
- Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
- Windows:
- Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
- Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
- Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.
More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.
WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.
Please report back to say if this helped you!
Thank you.
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Odabrano rješenje
Yes, reloading Firefox from the Mozilla website solved the problem for Firefox, but not for Thunderbird, so malwarebytes is still hobbling. Thank you. We are making progress.
I would still like to know how it is possible for 1) a windows support program to get changed to malware 2)how it gets embedded in Mozilla software, 3) why such a program as OptimizerMonitor.dll cannot be easily displaced or substituted.
It's not unusual for malware to get disguised as Windows components.
That often happens with svchost.exe, for example.
A virus injects its code into a DLL or an executable and that's how it replicates, that's why it's called "virus".
If such a file results to be a system file, that's not easy to remove, because it's locked by the operating system.
I'd suggest to go to Safe Mode and check for the integrity of your system files by running the SFC /scannow command.
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