Thread: Google glitch in Mozilla Firefox

Everytime I go on Mozilla Firefox (My other web browser, which I don't use as much as IE8), instead of the Google Search page, it automatically searchs "%s" into Google, even though I'm not touching the keyboard! I have the lastest version of Firefox. Why is this happening?

lucariogirl check your keyboard to see if you have stuck enter key on keyboard if that isnt the problem then go to tools>options>restore to default if that doesnt help it then remove and reinstall latest version of firefox i dont have a problem with firefox yet

Not too sure, but one of your toolbars may be doing that. Try disabling any toolbars that you downloaded and start up Firefox again.

Google automatically searches stuff when you type things into the bar.
After typing something in, to the right of the bar it says "Instant is on"
Turn it off and it will be back to normal

Originally Posted by B-Rad

Google automatically searches stuff when you type things into the bar.
After typing something in, to the right of the bar it says "Instant is on"
Turn it off and it will be back to normal

I was about to do that, but when I went on to Firefox, I fond out htat the "Instant is on" thing anywhere!

Anyone else know how to solve this?

Sounds like a virus. My friend had a similar one once. There are certain types of viruses that ONLY affect your searches, though you're lucky as most take you to weird gore or porn sites with more viruses and whatnot. I'd suggest getting MalwareBytes (free) and running a quick scan, see if anything shows up. If not, try reinstalling FireFox.

Originally Posted by JeanLuc Pika-Q

Sounds like a virus. My friend had a similar one once. There are certain types of viruses that ONLY affect your searches, though you're lucky as most take you to weird gore or porn sites with more viruses and whatnot. I'd suggest getting MalwareBytes (free) and running a quick scan, see if anything shows up. If not, try reinstalling FireFox.

I'm not sure about downloading MalwareBytes. I have my own mini laptop, and even though my parents very seldom check my laptop, they won't let me have any other securty system except for McAfee. I recently downloaed the McAfee SiteAdvisor toolbar, and Google has been searching "%s" before I downloaded SiteAdvisor. I know that the SiteAdvisor isn't the cause, because the search glitch has been going on before I downloaded SiteAdvisor, and I download SiteAdvisor for it's correct site. Also, my security scans come up as virus-free, and McAfee is always honest, so I'm not sure if I have a virus (Especially since my computer is as fast as the day my dad gave it to me). Anybody else have any ideas on how to fix my "%s" glitch?

Originally Posted by WeavileGirl

I'm not sure about downloading MalwareBytes. I have my own mini laptop, and even though my parents very seldom check my laptop, they won't let me have any other securty system except for McAfee. I recently downloaed the McAfee SiteAdvisor toolbar, and Google has been searching "%s" before I downloaded SiteAdvisor. I know that the SiteAdvisor isn't the cause, because the search glitch has been going on before I downloaded SiteAdvisor, and I download SiteAdvisor for it's correct site. Also, my security scans come up as virus-free, and McAfee is always honest, so I'm not sure if I have a virus (Especially since my computer is as fast as the day my dad gave it to me). Anybody else have any ideas on how to fix my "%s" glitch?

Well, it's unfortunate that you're forced to use McAfee, because a lot of the time McAfee doesn't do anything. The past eight viruses I have found haven't shown up in McAfee, and Spyware that does similar things to your searches don't show up as "viruses" anyway and require a problem like AdAware or MalwareBytes. McAfee has the monopoly on virus protection because of their brand name, but almost every new virus is programmed to easily get by their feeble veil of protection. Eventually it may add support for a given virus in a future update, but I would not count on it. MalwareBytes, because it is free, has no political power and all the major software stores have agreements with TrendMicro/Norton to never mention them. All my more geekish friends use it and whenever I have a friend with a virus issue that McAfee won't find, I send them the link to MB and they get rid of it immediately.

Viruses don't just slow your computer down, dude. They aren't always found by mainstream programs either. There was a virus circulating a few years back that did nothing to your system but make it print an image of the O RLY? Owl.

McAfee used to be all there is, but they're now tragically behind. My mom's computer has been sluggish to the point of being almost defunct and she was convinced she had no viruses because she tried using TrendMicro on it and nothing came up. I took it, installed MB, and found all four Trojans and 875 spyware bots on it in one scan. It now runs perfectly. My 6 year old brother had picked up some nasty stuff from all the "free flash game" sites he goes too, but setting a routine scan in MB made the effect non-existent.

There is no way this is a "glitch". If it was a stuck key, it would constantly type itself whenever you try to reply to a message on Bulbagarden or do anything else elsewhere. Plus, a single key cannot type and search for "%s" because doing so requires the hitting of three keys- %, s, and Enter/Return. Plus, if they were all "stuck", it would search in a random order rather than the same sequence each time, and it would do so all the time, not only on Google.

Something on your computer is executing code whenever you go to Google that makes it search for "%s". While it isn't likely a malicious virus (moreso a joke virus like the owl printout one), it is certainly something that is not supposed to be there, Malware of some sort. If McAfee isn't finding it, you'll either need to get an alternative or deal with it. I had a virus that gave me a Trojan every time I visited Imageshack, these site-specific things are not a rarity.

The other possibility is that, since it is Firefox only, you have a malicious add-on that is doing this to you. I had the same issue once a couple of years back. I would temporarily disable all your add-ons and see if that fixes it. If it does, enable them one at a time until it happens again and uninstall the culprit. Otherwise, you need to convince your parents to let you try a more effective program, switch to using another browser, or use a search engine other than Google.

Originally Posted by JeanLuc Pika-Q

Well, it's unfortunate that you're forced to use McAfee, because a lot of the time McAfee doesn't do anything. The past eight viruses I have found haven't shown up in McAfee, and Spyware that does similar things to your searches don't show up as "viruses" anyway and require a problem like AdAware or MalwareBytes. McAfee has the monopoly on virus protection because of their brand name, but almost every new virus is programmed to easily get by their feeble veil of protection. Eventually it may add support for a given virus in a future update, but I would not count on it. MalwareBytes, because it is free, has no political power and all the major software stores have agreements with TrendMicro/Norton to never mention them. All my more geekish friends use it and whenever I have a friend with a virus issue that McAfee won't find, I send them the link to MB and they get rid of it immediately.

Viruses don't just slow your computer down, dude. They aren't always found by mainstream programs either. There was a virus circulating a few years back that did nothing to your system but make it print an image of the O RLY? Owl.

McAfee used to be all there is, but they're now tragically behind. My mom's computer has been sluggish to the point of being almost defunct and she was convinced she had no viruses because she tried using TrendMicro on it and nothing came up. I took it, installed MB, and found all four Trojans and 875 spyware bots on it in one scan. It now runs perfectly. My 6 year old brother had picked up some nasty stuff from all the "free flash game" sites he goes too, but setting a routine scan in MB made the effect non-existent.

There is no way this is a "glitch". If it was a stuck key, it would constantly type itself whenever you try to reply to a message on Bulbagarden or do anything else elsewhere. Plus, a single key cannot type and search for "%s" because doing so requires the hitting of three keys- %, s, and Enter/Return. Plus, if they were all "stuck", it would search in a random order rather than the same sequence each time, and it would do so all the time, not only on Google.

Something on your computer is executing code whenever you go to Google that makes it search for "%s". While it isn't likely a malicious virus (moreso a joke virus like the owl printout one), it is certainly something that is not supposed to be there, Malware of some sort. If McAfee isn't finding it, you'll either need to get an alternative or deal with it. I had a virus that gave me a Trojan every time I visited Imageshack, these site-specific things are not a rarity.

The other possibility is that, since it is Firefox only, you have a malicious add-on that is doing this to you. I had the same issue once a couple of years back. I would temporarily disable all your add-ons and see if that fixes it. If it does, enable them one at a time until it happens again and uninstall the culprit. Otherwise, you need to convince your parents to let you try a more effective program, switch to using another browser, or use a search engine other than Google.

Before thinking about getting MalwareBytes, I decided to check my plugins, and I found out what the cause might be. I found 2 Java plugins that were known to cause security issues. Anyone know how to get rid of them?

Originally Posted by WeavileGirl

I'm not sure about downloading MalwareBytes. I have my own mini laptop, and even though my parents very seldom check my laptop, they won't let me have any other securty system except for McAfee. I recently downloaed the McAfee SiteAdvisor toolbar, and Google has been searching "%s" before I downloaded SiteAdvisor. I know that the SiteAdvisor isn't the cause, because the search glitch has been going on before I downloaded SiteAdvisor, and I download SiteAdvisor for it's correct site. Also, my security scans come up as virus-free, and McAfee is always honest, so I'm not sure if I have a virus (Especially since my computer is as fast as the day my dad gave it to me). Anybody else have any ideas on how to fix my "%s" glitch?

weavile girl your parents are not 2 smart mcafee is pure junk and eventually corrupt your minibookyou sahould uninstall it or get your parents to and get avast its alot better than junk acafee and hte basic one is free

Can a mod close this please? I seem to be getting flamed for having McAfee, and Dawn~Berlitz, my parents are NOT "not 2 smart". Also, people aren't trusting the fact that McAfee meets my security needs. So, can a mod close this thread, please?