Could you start by addressing the certificate problem. Since you use Avast, see that section of the following article to see whether that is the issue:

How to troubleshoot security error codes on secure websites

If it's not Avast, we'll suggest how to investigate further.

Wow, thanks so far that not only fixed the certificate issue, but seemed to also fix the Google services problem too. Question: my Avast will no longer protect me be prescanning malicious sites now will it?

I am having issues with sites the stream video - they do not load - just a blank browser window. WTH, happened to Firefox? Can somebody explain why all this functionality was lost. I ran release number 28 for years with no virus - or malware getting on my system, how is the newer, broken version better? Why do people keep trying to "fix" things that aren't broke.

Avast is still protecting you from bad downloads, but it is not checking every single other file you retrieve as you go. You can set up Firefox to trust the fake certificates Avast generates for sites when you are using the Web Shield feature. In fact, Avast normally can set up Firefox automatically. Some security programs do that at startup, so if you haven't shut down and restarted Windows since this problem occurred, you might try that. Otherwise, check your Avast documentation or the Avast forums for how to do it.

rippula said

I am having issues with sites the stream video - they do not load - just a blank browser window.

Are there particular sites where you have this problem? Some sites use the built-in HTML5 player and some sites use a plugin such as Flash, so it's useful to know which of the various kinds of videos don't play.

As a starting point, let's talk about YouTube. If you open this diagnostic page, do you have 5 blue boxes and the last box red?

https://www.youtube.com/html5

Youtube plays, but Iwatchonline doesn't. The Iwatchonline main pages play, but the link pages to the streamable video clips do not. They are just blank pages. And they're usually more than just the embedded player, there's usually a lot of ads and pop ups on those pages too. The links are usually online storage like vidbull.com, thevideo.me, openload.co, flashx.tv, allmyvideos.net, etc.

None of them open, so it has to be associated with the reffering site - Iwatchonline.to.

Here's an example of the streaming site address bar: https://www.iwatchonline.cr/stream/6833683

By the way, thank you for all your assistance!

rippula said

Here's an example of the streaming site address bar: https://www.iwatchonline.cr/stream/6833683

For me, that address immediately redirects to this page, which has a countdown, and a button you have to click:

http://vidto.me/36k7y7a5xq35/The.Blacklist.S04E04.720p.HDTV.x264-KILLERS.mkv.html

So then I click the button, the page reloads with a large placeholder for Flash (I have Flash set to "Ask to Activate" so at this point I need to activate Flash).

Then I get a play button and can start the video. There's a guy watering plants and music that sounds like what you hear before a predator attacks a grazing animal. But I didn't stick around to see what happens to the guy.

I use the NoScript extension and allow just what seems to be needed, so that might be blocking different things than Adblock Plus on yours.

(I am attaching a screenshot showing my NoScript list of scripts I'm allowing/blocking)

What you describe is the corre3ct behavior of the site, but firefox never seems to forward me to the final destination site anymore. That is the problem I need to solve.

By the way, your re-direct link that you posted works perfectly fine, and the video plays. So I'm not having an issue with Firefox playing video, I'm having an issue with it blocking the redirect. Do you have any idea how I can fix this?

This redirect works in a somewhat unusual way: instead of sending a location header with a new address, the site sends a refresh header:

refresh => 0;url=http://vidto.me/36k7y7a5xq35/The.Blacklist.S04E04.720p.HDTV.x264-KILLERS.mkv.html

By default, Firefox follows this refresh. There is one optional setting to block it and present a bar asking if you want to allow it. If you have that turned on, I recommend turning it off. You can do that here:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options

In the left column, click Advanced. On the right side, with the "General" mini-tab active, uncheck the box for "Warn me when websites try to redirect or reload the page" if it is checked.

(This is an accessibility feature intended for users of screen reading software and not a general-purpose tool of value to most users.)

Other than that, I don't know why Firefox would ignore the refresh.

Thank you very much! That simple click did the trick.