Mozilla firefox redirects google search results

I have been using Mozilla firefox for a while now but have never faced such problems with it before. My laptop is installed with Windows Xp and has Mozilla as the default web browser on it. I updated Mozilla firefox to the latest version which was available and after updating Mozilla firefox redirects google search results. Whenever any link from the Google searches are clicked, the browser takes me to some other website. Is this some virus issue? Please help. Any help regarding the problem is more than welcome.

I think the current installed version of the Mozilla firefox is corrupt and hence it is creating such problems while surfing. Every applications has a lot of files which are associated to it. If any of the files associated to the application gets corrupt then the application will not work properly. Try uninstalling the current installed version of the browser from the computer. Once the browser is uninstalled, remove all the files and keys which are related to the application from the computer. After removing all the traces of the application from the computer, install the application again and see if it works properly.

Some of the add-on/ applications which are installed on the browser itself are corrupt which when installed it leads to the problems like the one which you are facing. The corrupted add-on or application corrupts the files of the browser. Once the files of the browser are corrupt, the browser will not properly. To be sure if the problem which you are facing is due to add-on or the application, start the browser in safe mode. To start the browser in safe mode type "firefox.exe/safemode" in run tab. In safe mode all the add-ons and the application are disabled and the browser is loaded with only basic functions and the features. If the browser is working fine in the safe mode, then find and remove the application or the add-on which had corrupted the browser.

By looking at the problem, it is clear that the computer is infected by some virus which is not allowing the user to visit the websites which are desired. Virus's get downloaded on the computer while downloading data from the internet or while visiting certain website. If any virus gets downloaded on the system and infects the files associated to the browser, then the browser will not work properly. Hence to solve the problem, scan the system with some updated antivirus and see if there are any infected files or not. If there are any infected files, repair or quarantine them and see if the browser works properly or not. You can also use the free online scan facility which is provided by many of the antivirus solution provider company. Do not delete any files as it may lead to total system failure.

It is not a typical virus attack on the computer. By the description of your problem, it looks more like a browser hijack. In browser hijack the preferences of the internet browser which is frequently used are changed due to which the browser redirects all the websites to a particular websites. Try using some other browser and see if the google search results are redirected or not. If the other browsers work properly then remove the installed version of Mozilla firefox. Once uninstalled, remove all the files and the keys which are related to the application. Also check the network configuration on the computer as sometimes in the browser hijack the network configuration also changes. If the network configurations are changed, revert back all the changes and save the settings.