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Unable to access anything having to do with Outlook. Get 'looking for search conduit.' Even questions in here about Outlook are blocked.

djfurby
djfurby
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Three days and counting. Access to Outlook.com email suddenly stopped. I get a 'looking for search conduit' and a blank page. I I try to go to any help site that contains outlook, it will not respond either. Questions in Mozilla support even got the same response. So I can't even access help. My email for this site is outlook and I won't even know if I get a response through email because I can't access it. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Three days and counting. Access to Outlook.com email suddenly stopped. I get a 'looking for search conduit' and a blank page. I I try to go to any help site that contains outlook, it will not respond either. Questions in Mozilla support even got the same response. So I can't even access help. My email for this site is outlook and I won't even know if I get a response through email because I can't access it. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Hmm, did you post here using the system with the problem or a different system?

Can you access Outlook (live.com) through Internet Explorer on that computer?

Does the message have dots between search and conduit, i.e., looking for search.conduit.com ? In that case, it's most likely a bad add-on. Conduit makes a variety of Community Toolbar extensions and other stuff.

Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons and other ad injectors. I know it seems long, but it's not that bad.

(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program (XP: Add/Remove Programs). After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. (XP: Try sorting by last used.) 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.

(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+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.

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) You can search for remaining issues with 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?