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Crashing plus new tabs and windows opening on their own

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A new window opened on its own, with three tabs including "Index of file:///C:/WINDOWS/system32/"

Another tab in the new window showed "Firefox can't find the server at Firefox can't find the server at www.xn--r}c9wp145ma-ima39dff8a3uqb3bx918i.com"

A third tab in the new window showed the following: The address isn't valid. The URL is not valid and cannot be loaded. Copy of the URL is "xn--$>wur?hqt in}-sebf8m6hva78qjqznk8yuz4p/#%C5%92d)%01W%C3%A1,%0E%1F%C3%86%C3%BF%E2%80%B0%C2%A1%7FV"

A new window opened on its own, with three tabs including "Index of file:///C:/WINDOWS/system32/" Another tab in the new window showed "Firefox can't find the server at Firefox can't find the server at www.xn--r}c9wp145ma-ima39dff8a3uqb3bx918i.com" A third tab in the new window showed the following: The address isn't valid. The URL is not valid and cannot be loaded. Copy of the URL is "xn--$>wurhqt in}-sebf8m6hva78qjqznk8yuz4p/#%C5%92d)%01W%C3%A1,%0E%1F%C3%86%C3%BF%E2%80%B0%C2%A1%7FV"

All Replies (2)

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Did the tabs open spontaneously, or when you started Firefox normally, or when you started Firefox after a crash and it tried to redisplay your windows and tabs?


Have you installed any new software recently? Last year there was some malware going around that created a scheduled task: every day at the same time it would pop up windows in whatever browser was set as your default browser. But these URLs look much more dangerous than the ads shown in that case.

I suggest some cleaning using the tools listed in this article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware.

Also, you can check the Windows Task Scheduler:

  • Windows XP: Start button > [All] Programs > Accessories> System Tools > Scheduled Tasks
  • Windows Vista/7: Start button > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler
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I don't want to overlook the crashes. If Firefox closes and presents the Mozilla Crash Reporter dialog, then it probably has recorded some detailed data that can assist in troubleshooting. Check out the last section of the following article for how to look up Crash IDs that can link volunteers with the crash data you have submitted, and post some of the most recent ones here.

Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly)