Addons don't seem to be working anymore?

Hi community, just joined today – hope you can help me. I have the following add-ons on my computer - Track Me Not, AVG Do not Track, and Better Privacy – have I got too many on my computer? Never had any problem, wasn’t tracked, until a few weeks ago. Now every time I go onto the internet between 15 and 30 addaware/malware cookies are found when I do a security scan. A few days ago a trojan was detected. All have been quarantined and removed but does anyone know why my addons are not working anymore? Regards Linuss


Virus-free. www.avast.com

Having 3 Firefox addons installed is not too much. If a trojan or virus was detected on your computer, it’s possible, that malware has p0wned your system, in which case it can disable/override all sorts of things including addons. Recommend you try resetting firefox or re-installing your entire system (I personally wouldn’t trust antivirus to effectively remove malware). In either case, you’ll need to re-install your Firefox addons.

Hello Eric thanks for answering my query. Before I reset Firefox the information says all extensions are removed - some important extensions that will be removed are Avast on line security, Avast passwords, Ghostery and Adblok Plus, also the three do not track me addons. As a novice user I’m worried what will happen when these are removed and I have no security?

You also advise re-installing my entire system. I’m not sure how to do this on a Windows 7 computer that is over 8 years old. Hope you can assist again on my queries,. Regards Linuss

Hello Linuss,

Help reinstalling Windows 7 is a bit much to support over a public forum, and definitely outside the scope of this forum. It’s a complicated process if you’ve never done it before, and a lot can go wrong if you don’t backup/restore your data properly.

Concerning reset of Firefox, yes, you will lose data. If that data is passwords, that’s pretty serious. That is why most people manage passwords with Firefox Sync; you can reset Firefox and still retain passwords. You can use Firefox on many different devices and still have access to your passwords. I do not know how to advise you with Avast products as they are outside the scope of my experience. I recommend asking Avast how to backup and restore your passwords.

Concerning Ghostery, Adblock Plus, and related addons: unless you’ve added custom rules, such addons generally do not require backup/restore. In other words, generally, once you reinstall them you will have the same setup as before. I say generally because I do not know if you’ve customized them in such ways that Firefox Sync won’t restore settings (if you’re even using Firefox Sync). If you haven’t done any customizations to them, there’s nothing to fear… you’ll only be unprotected for the time between Firefox Reset and re-installation of those addons from addons.mozilla.org.

If you have any hesitation in doing this, I recommend seeking in-person advice of local professional at a computer repair shop.

Try using Manual Proxy settings on Firefox without add ons