Browser Hijack in Mozilla firefox

[Panchu]

Hello friends, I am facing a serious problem in Mozilla firefox. I have a laptop which is installed with Windows XP on which I use Mozilla Firefox as the default browser. Nowadays the browser is working weirdly. Whenever a website which is desired to visit is entered in the address bar, the browser redirects to some other website. My friend told me that this is the case of browser hijack in Mozilla firefox. Hence I want to know What is Browser Hijack and how to solve it? Is it caused due to virus? Please help.

[Techno01]

In browser hijack the preferences of the browser which were defined by the user are changed. Due to changes in the preferences the user is not able to visit the desired website when the address of the website is entered in the address bar of the browser. The easy way to solve the problem is to change the preferences in the browser manually by going into settings of the browser. To change the preferences in Mozilla Firefox, open the firefox and then click on Tools and select options. In option do the settings required according to you and then save them.

[Jackson2]

I think the browser which you have installed on the computer has got corrupt and needs to be replaced. If the files associated to browser get corrupted due some reasons like updating then the browser will not function properly. The best solution to solve the corruption related issue is to uninstall the browser and then remove all the files and the keys related to the browser from the system. Once all the files and keys are removed from the system you can install an updated version of the browser and then see if the problem continues. After reinstalling the browser again, I dont think you will be redirected to other website.

[Trio]

Some applications and add-ons which are installed on the Firefox can also cause the problem which you are facing. If the application or add-on which is installed on the firefox is corrupt then it will create problems in normal working of the browser. To be sure if the application or the addons are creating the problem, start the browser in safe mode. In safe mode only the basic functions of the browser are loaded without any application or addon. Therefore if any add-on or an application is creating problems then the browser will work properly in safe mode. To start the browser in safe mode, type "firefox.exe/safemode" in run tab. If the browser works properly in safe mode then find and remove the application or addon which is creating problems.

[johnson22]

Usually trojans are the reason behind the browser hijack. trojans are nothing but virus's which when enter system change all the user defined settings according to them. Trojans have the tendency of broadcasting the private details which are stored in the browser, hence clear the cookies and the private data of the browser first. Then download and install Malware bytes application on the computer and run it in safe mode. The application will find and remove all the trojans which are found on the system. Meanwhile use some other browser for browsing.