Streaming & Downloading

[Sasquatch2015]

After installing the latest version of Firefox i have the following issues. One my computer locks up on pretty much any site,for instance yahoo has the preview screen that comes up when you hoover over them, computer locks up forcing me to restart the PC, most of the time. Next; i have noticed that when trying to play streaming videos on any site ; the video turns green, the audio cuts out, and the video skips ahead 1-2 minutes at a time. Lastly and most importantly i can not download anything, music ,videos or any file or a couple mb. When the counter gets down to 1 second remaining it will hang for about a minute and then says Download Failed! This has been happening for almost a week now. I have noticed that when playing videos unchecking hard ware acceleration does not work unless you only play the video at 240p or lower which is usually really poor quality.

[DanRaisch]

Moving to Firefox Support as no bug has yet been identified here.

Have you tried starting the program in Mozilla Safe Mode? http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

[Sasquatch2015]

yup one of the first things i tried. Didn't do anything. The only semi-fix is if i uncheck Hardware Acceleration it will work some of the time , but other times it won't. Highest quality that can be played is 240 but when i try seeking "fast forwarding" through videos it usually skips at random times all the way to the end of the video,and that is when screen turns green.

[therube]

I would test a new, clean Profile - without extensions & see what happens with that.

[Sasquatch2015]

tried the new profile and still does the same thing. Downloads hang at the last second and then fail to complete. Streaming either wont start the video or seek makes it stop or sometimes skip.

[therube]

In that same new Profile, disable ALL Plugins, then restart in Safe Mode & test.

[Sasquatch2015]

yeah i did that and nothing my friend. However; while i was doing some investigating online i think i may have stumbled onto the problem. a friend suggested that i try malwarebytes because of what it was doing. I found this in the results (several instances) pup.optional.sweetpacks along with several other things. Can anyone confirm that this is an actual threat? Is it worth bying the full version of malwarenbytes? I have Norton and Adaware paid versions. Is it worth the cost to buy malwarebytes? Not sure if the programs will conflict with one another. Also i have read that PUP aren't always malware and that a lot of programs use them,is this true? How do i know if it is safe to keep or remove these?

[Vitesse]

I've never come across a PUP that couldn't be lived without. Equally, if you're picking the things up in the first place, then you should look at why they're getting there. Some will arrive via infected adverts, so if you're not using an adblocker I'd suggest you do. Fully legit streaming sites aren't usually a problem in this regard but if you're visiting ones which are somewhat less than fully legal - and I'm making no moral judgements, as I use sports streaming sites myself - then an ad blocker is absolutely essential.

Malwarebytes free version should be adequate to remove Sweetpacks, but i'd also suggest using AdwCleaner afterwards. It picks up a lot of things which others miss.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

Make sure you've saved all work and close all other programs. Accept all its suggestions and leave it to clean and restart your system. Note that on a first run it will probably take what seems like a very long time to complete. But it will - eventually! It will also provide you with a list of what it has removed, which will possibly include things you thought had gone long ago!

[JayhawksRock]

If the above suggestions do not remove the Malware from all installed browsers (chrome, IE and Firefox) see > http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-sweetpacks-toolbar/
You may also have to remove the Freeware app that did the install... some of those nastys keep installing their junk at the next startup

[Sasquatch2015]

I've never come across a PUP that couldn't be lived without. Equally, if you're picking the things up in the first place, then you should look at why they're getting there. Some will arrive via infected adverts, so if you're not using an adblocker I'd suggest you do. Fully legit streaming sites aren't usually a problem in this regard but if you're visiting ones which are somewhat less than fully legal - and I'm making no moral judgements, as I use sports streaming sites myself - then an ad blocker is absolutely essential.

Malwarebytes free version should be adequate to remove Sweetpacks, but i'd also suggest using AdwCleaner afterwards. It picks up a lot of things which others miss.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

Make sure you've saved all work and close all other programs. Accept all its suggestions and leave it to clean and restart your system. Note that on a first run it will probably take what seems like a very long time to complete. But it will - eventually! It will also provide you with a list of what it has removed, which will possibly include things you thought had gone long ago!

Uh no i stay far away from that stuff and i monitor what my kids do online at all times. I will look into that program , but no offense i am always very cautious of programs that clawim they are free.Once bitten twice shy. After rnning the first program it has seed up my computer alot. However; i am still unable to finish any downloads. It gets to the last second and dowloads fail, no matter what or where they come from.

[LIMPET235]

Please ref; this article...& the section on "Disable virus scanning in Firefox preferences - Windows."
> http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_sav ... load_files

&, Your ref; to [q] I will look into that program , but no offense i am always very cautious of programs that claim they are free.[/q]

If you mean Malwarebytes & AdwCleaner, they are both free & clean.
I, along with a lot of others here, use them & have been for years with no probs.

But, we have seen & know that Norton does not "play nicely" with Firefox.
Has caused quite a few errors etc.

There's no real need to buy any A/V or Anti-spyware apps, as there are many free ones that are better & do not cause probs.

[Vitesse]

In nearly 20 years I have never used a paid-for security program and on buying a new computer my first action - after running all necessary Windows updates - is to uninstall whichever of Norton or McAfee came with it as a trial version. A paid-for security suite is a total waste of money - like the over-priced 'special cables' which are no better than any other, they're the computer industry's equivalent of the 'special cream' they offer you when you buy a new pair of shoes. The retailer's profit margin on them is enormous and on things like cables and security suites they often make more in cash profit than on the computer. And with security suites they've got you by the short and curlies, as it's a recurring cost for a repeat licence! I don't use Windows Defender either, since it's such a resource hog - although I do use the Windows Firewall.

I've always used free AVs - Panda is my current choice, although I review it regularly - and have a routine of running Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware on alternate weekends. Between them they pick up any PUPs, tracking cookies and the occasional other nasty. I use AdwCleaner about once a quarter - just in case. Occasionally it will pick up something. But not very often. However, when I first used it - on a W7 machine which I thought was reasonably clean - it rooted out all sorts of stuff which had no business being there. Including remnants of previous infections.

I - and others here - have recommended it often. Nobody's ever come back and said it doesn't work. Those paid-for 'clean up your computer' programs, OTOH, are just malware by another name ...

[Sasquatch2015]

okay forist i want to apolgize. I was not accusing anyone of trying to put more malware on my computer. What i was saying is that; although there are many legit programs that will do exactly what they say they will (i.e. clean out computer) it is very difficult to weed out the ones that are created by individuals who are only trying to maske money. As for Norton Ant-Virus being Malware i have to disagree. I have always had norton and because of money issues the last 6month i have hadto resort to using some of the free programs , and boy am i regretting it. I never had a problem while Norton was monitoring PC. I guess to each his/her own and everyone has their opinion. By the way i starting having this problem BEFORE i put norton back on my computer. After scaning and dumping everything it quarintined, my PC is running much much faster. The only problem i have now is the occasinal freeze up which i think may be tied to something in the graphics driver or with flash & shockwave because it tends to happen when i am using some kind of Adobe flash or shockwave program.

[Sasquatch2015]

Please ref; this article...& the section on "Disable virus scanning in Firefox preferences - Windows."
> http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_sav ... load_files

&, Your ref; to [q] I will look into that program , but no offense i am always very cautious of programs that claim they are free.[/q]

If you mean Malwarebytes & AdwCleaner, they are both free & clean.
I, along with a lot of others here, use them & have been for years with no probs.

But, we have seen & know that Norton does not "play nicely" with Firefox.
Has caused quite a few errors etc.

There's no real need to buy any A/V or Anti-spyware apps, as there are many free ones that are better & do not cause probs.

I have had the article about browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone saved for a while. However when i go to about:config it does not show up . I thought that it was done awayy with by firefox.

[therube]

You're right, its not there.
(Still exists in SeaMonkey. Wonder if it should?)

The browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone preference is no longer available in current Firefox versions. It's still included in Firefox 24 but was removed since at least Firefox 31 (the preference is still present in SeaMonkey 2.26.1 which is based on Firefox 29). Firefox 31 includes a new feature that scans downloads and blocks those that may be malicious. To turn off this new feature, modify browser.safebrowsing.appRepURL in about:config and replace the value with an empty string. This disables application reputation checks but leaves other Safe Browsing malware protection intact.

(AFAIK, "safebrowsing" hasn't worked in SeaMonkey in a long time now, so suppose - for those who need such a thing, it may be good that the old Pref still exists.)