How do I stop Socialdownloadr from constantly loading on start up and changing my homepage, browser settings?
This started yesterday, after I did an update for Quickbooks. I can reset my homepage, but every time I reopen Firefox, Socialdownloadr is back in control. Thanks for any help at all!
Alla svar (1)
Here are my cleanup suggestions. I know it looks long but each step is pretty quick (except #5, that one definitely takes some time):
(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program.
After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Be suspicious of everything you do not recognize/remember, as malware often uses important or innocent sounding names to discourage you from removing it.
Take out as much trash as possible here. If you're not sure, feel free to post program names or a screenshot of the list.
(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
- in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
firefox.exe "about:addons"
In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".
In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions. All Mozilla extensions are hidden from this list, so ev everything here is your responsibility to use, disable, or remove.
Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.
Any improvement?
(3) Fix errant Firefox settings:
* Restore your preferred home page: How to set the home page
* Restore your preferred default search engine: Change your default search settings in Firefox
(4) If your start page doesn't match your home page setting, investigate your Firefox Shortcut. The Firefox icon can be set up to launch specific pages at startup (or more specifically, when you use the icon). To check whether that is set:
First, open the shortcut as follows:
- Desktop shortcut: right-click the icon, choose Properties
- Pinned taskbar icon: right-click the icon, right-click Mozilla Firefox, choose Properties
Windows normally will select the Shortcut tab. If not, go ahead and click the Shortcut tab.
You'll see the Target highlighted. On 64-bit Windows, that usually is no more and no less than the following:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
If anything follows after that, try clearing it out.
After OK'ing the Properties dialog, you can test right away to confirm that Firefox now launches your actual home page. Either:
- double-click desktop shortcut
- right-click pinned taskbar icon, click Mozilla Firefox
(5) If problems persist or return, run several of the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.
Success?