Firefox runs in background (appear in Task Manager Processes Tab) only and does not appear on Desktop
I have been using Firefox on my Desktop PC with Windows XP for a long time. However, today possibly due to some virus (I attached an infected flash drive to my PC) a suspicious change in homepage (www.delta-homes.com) of my firefox occurred. Simultaneously an error message of "WinZip" appeared on screen. I figured that there must be some software in "C:\Program Files\" which is also causing problem to my firefox. I opened Program Files and removed that folder named WinZip. (Tried to uninstall it but it won't happen so I had to use "Unlocker" to kill processes this folder was associated with and then deleted the folder.)
From that point onward, My FireFox started to behave weird. Whenever I click on Firefox icon or access firefox.exe from any source (start menu, quick launch, program files, Run Command), it starts but appears only in "Task Manager Processes Tab". In that Processes Tab, firefox.exe is continuously using 50% of CPU but it does not appear on Desktop at all. To go a step further, I uninstalled firefox and tried to re-download from Firefox official website but the download fails in the start saying "Download is interrupted". (See attached Image). So I downloaded a previous version of Firefox (v 34.0) from www.filehippo.com and installed it but the same problem is happening with this version too. I am confused and surprised what might be causing this problem. Everything else on PC running fine. Kindly help me restore my Firefox so that I may not lose any precious Bookmarks, Settings and other Data. thanks
All Replies (2)
Start your Computer in safe mode. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites.
Starting The Computer In Safe Mode;
Free Online Encyclopedia
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:
- Microsoft Safety Scanner
- MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
- Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller
- AdwCleaner (for more info, see this alternate AdwCleaner download page)
- Hitman Pro
- ESET Online Scanner
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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