My Firefox changed

[hermetic]

Hi. I've heard there are people here who will give advice about computer weirdness, so I have this thing going on.

I have WinXP, Firefox 3.0.6 and also have IE, seems to be 7 though I didn't do that update. I have automatic updates turned off.

Anyway, a few days ago I had a problem getting online, DSL from Bell, so my modem got reset with help from India.

Now, when I try to get online starting with Firefox, I can't. I get a "No Such Address" message. But I can start from IE.

I've looked in the CP and Options, and they all say "Start with MF," oh, interesting choice of initials there. No. I love Mozilla. It just doesn't work the way it used to. Suggestions?

TIA

[Why Syzygy]

1. Check to see

if the home page for Firefox has been changed. Also, see if Windows firewall is turned on. If so, turn it off to try.
If no results, have you run a virus and malware scan?

ETA: In internet options, check to see if "use a proxy server" is checked.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Also ...

Check your network settings in Firefox.

Tools > Options > Advanced > Network tab > Settings

Make sure you that unless you are using a proxy that the No Proxy option is checked.

[hermetic]

3. Thanks for the tips

When I started it this morning, Firefox installed "something" and then came up. So maybe it was just hanging, waiting for me to get that installed. Seems to be working now.

Proxy box wasn't checked.

I have Spyware Blaster and it says all protection is enabled. I have a little question about that. I see there is no "check now" or "scan" option in SB, like there is for AdAware and CC Cleaner. Is that because it just runs all the time, like a firewall? Or am I missing something?

Thanks again.

[Why Syzygy]

4. I don't use Spyware Blaster, but

that seems to be the case >

Publisher's description of SpywareBlaster
SpywareBlaster screenshot
SpywareBlaster screenshot
From Javacool Software:

SpywareBlaster doesn't scan for and clean spyware--it prevents it from being installed in the first place. SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs. It can also block spyware/tracking cookies in IE, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, and many other browsers, and restrict the actions of spyware/ad/tracking sites. With the built-in Check for Updates feature, you can help ensure your protection is up-to-date. SpywareBlaster also includes a System Snapshot feature, which lets you take a snapshot of your computer in its clean state and later revert, undoing many changes made by spyware and browser hijackers.

Version 4.1 adds full Mozilla Firefox 3
support, and various feature and protection enhancements, tweaks, and optimizations.
http://www.download.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022_4-10196637.html

[OneGrassRoot]

5. I was just coming to ask if anyone else finds the new version of Firefox....

extremely buggy? Lots of "connection interrupted" as I go to sites.

[ChromeFoundry]

6. Yes, I agree... something stinks

in this new version (3.0.7)... I am getting the "Try Again" page much more frequently.

[RoyGBiv]

7. Same here ...

I assumed it was just my network.

Hmmm ....

[Why Syzygy]

8. I've resisted upgrading yet..

but a quick google around indicates it may have to do with firefox "profiles".
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles

[Why Syzygy]

9. Did you ever get this resolved?

I continue to get reminders to up upgrade, and will if I can be fairly certain it's okay.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Not really ...

I don't know what there is to resolve actually.

I did notice an increase in the amorphous "unable to connect, try again" thing, but nothing so frequent that I could find a pattern. It hasn't happened to me in a couple days, for instance. It's hard even to file a bug report when I can't get it to repeat under specific circumstances.

So, I've been using 3.07 on three different systems for a little over a week now and haven't had any major problems.

[ChromeFoundry]

11. I still get this error, often...

I read a post from another user having the exact issue, resolving it by switching his DNS to OpenDNS. The user reports not having a single occurrence after the switch.

Here is the forum message that describes the possible solution...
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=826895&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=0

I am currently configuring my clients via DHCP to use my router as a local DNS Server and have configured it as a forwarder to AT&T's DHCP configured DNS. I will attempt to reconfigure my main router to forward requests to OpenDNS and let you know in a few days if that clears up this annoyance.

[RoyGBiv]

12. If that's the solution ...

... that doesn't sound like a Firefox specific problem. Sounds more like his local DNS server was having issues and that they either got worse about the same time he upgraded or he just started noticing it.

I use OpenDNS already and have for a long time. It is great, much, MUCH better than Comcast's DNS servers. But, I still get the network timeout thing more often now than I did before the latest FF upgrade.

I still dunno why or even if I'm just imagining it. My Internet connect does have weird little timeouts. Now that I think of it, I seem to recall several hidden settings in FF about the network timeout.

<virtual pause>

And now I've figured out my issue ...

network.proxy.failover_timeout

I have to use a proxy for access to some sites like Newsbank, and it requires an unusually high timeout setting for this. It looks like FF reset it on the update.

Thanks! :)

[ChromeFoundry]

13. I reconfigured my routers static pri/sec DNS addresses

...still have my clients point to 192.168.1.1 via DHCP for DNS forwarding, and... Holy crap, what a difference in speed! My pages just 'pop' now. So noticeable, it cannot be just my imagination. Hell, even IE 7 seems to load faster.

I'm beginning to suspect that AT&T's DNS Server are overwhelmed or they purposely have them slow and error prone to offer a reduction in bandwidth! The hell with expensive equipment to perform bandwidth shaping and capping, just lower all the TTLs on responses from your DNS Servers and cap the number of requests it will service per second! LOL, Genius!

I'll let you know if this fixes my "Connection Interrupted" errors after a few days of testing out this configuration.

[Why Syzygy]

14. I'll try it!

Thanks.

edit: But, I'll have questions :blush: Do I need to add my current IP as a Network in my OpenDNS account? I don't have a home network.

[ChromeFoundry]

15. Here is a page with instructions on how to set it up...

https://www.opendns.com/start/

pretty straight forward. I don't have an OpenDNS Account, I just plug-in their IP addresses and that's it.

[Why Syzygy]

16. hmm. I already changed the DNS setting, and I did register

for an account. So, the dashboard gives me an option to add IP addresses. I suspect that's for a home network. I'm not in a mood to read tech tonight. It's working so fast that I almost got dizzy!