Mozilla hijacking my computer

[Van]

Ok I have mozilla on my computer and use it from time to time but theres a problem with it hijacking my computer in that if I click on a link in a program an explorer window will open for a second displaying that it cant connect and a mozilla window will open up and I really dont want this as I would preffer that it default to IE and not mozilla. I've been looking through the internet settings and cant seem to find anything relating to this issue, can anyone here shed some light thats in the know?

OS Vista home premium fully stable.

Latest flavours of IE and Mozilla.

 

[charper1]

Which browser is setup/listed as the default handler for the HTM, HTML, etc extensions?

 

[Van]

Cant tell you, that looks like xp and I cant find the folder options to get that information on vista.

 

[Radioguy41]

Open up Internet Explorer from the desktop or Start Menu. Click on "Tools", select "Internet Options", click on the "Programs" tab. Near the bottom is a checkbox for "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser ". Check the box and close IE. Now open IE again and it should ask if you want to make it the default browser. Select "Yes" and you should be OK.

Franky, Firefox is infinitely better, and safer, than IE but it's your choice.

 

[Van]

I got it now, went into control panel then to programs and program defaults and set IE as the default from there but before I did I checked and found that mozilla had inserted itsself into the IE section in several places without my consent so that browser isnt as good as you would think. I dont like mozilla any better than IE and dont see any real benefits with one or the other despite all the hype that surrounds mozilla and how its supposed to be better and all the hype reminds me of the Axe deoderant commercials.

Thanks Charper for getting me on the right track.

 

[charper1]

I actually prefer Firefox and have no issues with it; but for security many things that IE has as default are either turned off or simply not pre-installed and need to be added back. I am not real clear on the differences between Mozilla and Firefox.

 

[TheForce]

Anyone know about Firefox installing cookies to report back surfing habits? I just removed 435 cookies that were flagged by my spyware detection software. All were said to be installed by Firefox, in the past 24 hours. Since removing them my entire computer runs much faster. If FF persists with this practice, I'll need to uninstall it and go back to IE which doesn't seem to have this spyware. I will miss the nice spell checker, however.

 

[Van]

Never heard of that at all. Go back over the sites you visited yesterday if you can and see what comes up as being a questionable site, then again it could be something that mozilla is doing though I havent seen these cookies yet.

 

[LordKron]

cookies are good, oatmeal is the best.

hehe

i noticed a slight slowing of my computer after installing fire fox

 

[Radioguy41]

Anyone know about Firefox installing cookies to report back surfing habits? I just removed 435 cookies that were flagged by my spyware detection software. All were said to be installed by Firefox, in the past 24 hours. Since removing them my entire computer runs much faster. If FF persists with this practice, I'll need to uninstall it and go back to IE which doesn't seem to have this spyware. I will miss the nice spell checker, however.

The cookies don't come from Firefox (or any browser), they come from the sites you visit. Any browser will let cookies be installed if the settings allow it. If you don't like or want cookies turn them off in the Options. You'll have to do the same thing in IE. Be aware, though, that if you turn off cookies then you will have problems with sites that require cookies before they will give you access especially if a login is needed.

 

[Radioguy41]

I actually prefer Firefox and have no issues with it; but for security many things that IE has as default are either turned off or simply not pre-installed and need to be added back.

Give some examples.

I am not real clear on the differences between Mozilla and Firefox.

Mozilla makes Firefox. One and the same.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

cookies are good, oatmeal is the best.

hehe

i noticed a slight slowing of my computer after installing fire fox

Oatmeal chocolate chip...

No slowing of my machine from FF. Great browser.

 

[Pistol]

I too have had that problem with Mozilla taking over so I tried to delete it in Control Panel but nothing happens. Usually when you double click you can delete a program but not Mozilla. What do I need to do to delete the program?

 

[Jared Twomey]

I too have had that problem with Mozilla taking over so I tried to delete it in Control Panel but nothing happens. Usually when you double click you can delete a program but not Mozilla. What do I need to do to delete the program?

go into the control panel to Add/Remove Programs option.

 

[Jared Twomey]

In regards to the differences between IE and Firefox, nowadays, there is not much.
IE7 was a big improvement for IE and they fixed a lot of the stupid security problems they had in previous versions (like enabling third party cookies by default).
As far as security goes they are about the same.

If you are running Firefox and think it is slowing your system down, make sure you have the latest version of Firefox.
Firefox 2 did have some memory leak problems that would start hogging up memory after a while. They have fixed that in Firefox 3.

I use both IE and Firefox, but firefox is my daily browser. IE is just there to do updates, and view the occasional site that doesn't stick to web standards. The add-ons for firefox make it the best browser in my opinion.

 

[Van]

The best program I found for removing other programs is CCleaner, get it from download.com and use it.

If you cant remove a program after going the add remove program utility in windows then it sounds like you may have downloaded a doctored copy from a bogus website so make sure you also have a legit virus program installed and get spyware doctor or spyware blaster and run them aswell.