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has firefox updates been hijacked?

  • 3 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by RodB

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I just got a notice to upgrade my firefox. It worked differently by downloading a 1MB "firefox_setup.exe" file. I ran it. The update included a bunch of extras -- more than I would have guessed. I accepted RealPlayer. I verified the plugin updates: I had a ton, a dozen from RealPlayer alone. I disable most. The post install welcome page looked different and mostly offered another ton of programs to download. "post-install.com" is shown at the bottom. For fun I checked my version after the "update install." It said 13.0.1 which seemed wrong. On the help window I checked for updates and firefox immediately began downloading another file (~ 25MB... looked familar). I have not applied that yet. I checked the above setup file: it is Ver 2.1.0.0 of Company "InstallManager"

Has Firefox update been hijacked, or just screwed up. Should I uninstall my goofy Firefox (and RealPlayer) or can I just apply the "real" update I just got to return to normal?

I just got a notice to upgrade my firefox. It worked differently by downloading a 1MB "firefox_setup.exe" file. I ran it. The update included a bunch of extras -- more than I would have guessed. I accepted RealPlayer. I verified the plugin updates: I had a ton, a dozen from RealPlayer alone. I disable most. The post install welcome page looked different and mostly offered another ton of programs to download. "post-install.com" is shown at the bottom. For fun I checked my version after the "update install." It said 13.0.1 which seemed wrong. On the help window I checked for updates and firefox immediately began downloading another file (~ 25MB... looked familar). I have not applied that yet. I checked the above setup file: it is Ver 2.1.0.0 of Company "InstallManager" Has Firefox update been hijacked, or just screwed up. Should I uninstall my goofy Firefox (and RealPlayer) or can I just apply the "real" update I just got to return to normal?

All Replies (3)

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hello, this wasn't a genuine update. please try to remove all unnecessarily added stuff from the windows control panel, uninstall firefox and run a full scan of your system with the security software already in place and different tools like the free version of malwarebytes, adwcleaner and microsoft safety scanner.

afterwards download and install the genuine version of firefox from getfirefox.com. in future please only perform updates from within firefox (you won't have to download any .exe files for it), just go to firefox > help > about firefox to check for updates manually. the download source of firefox should always be from mozilla.org.

Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware

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It would be best to do a clean install of the current release and delete the Firefox program folder before installing the current Firefox 23 release.

You can find the full version of the latest Firefox 23 release in all languages and for all Operating Systems here:

The version from getfirefox.com is a stub that downloads the needed files from internet and this sometimes causes issues with security software.

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Thanks all. The original pop-up occurred while I was using Firefox; why my first reaction that it was OK. My suspicions began when I had to run the setup file.

Can I assume uninstalling Firefox (btw it did update itself semi-automatically) including deleting the program folder will still save my settings and bookmarks?