can you run this, see link Then this http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/junkware-removal-tool/ Anyway you can run Malwarebytes http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/malwarebytes-anti-malware/ Here is a link that might be useful: adwcleaner

You would probably eliminate the problem, by going down to the version of firefox, you had before upgrading. Your system is older, and some of the requirements for the newer version of firefox, you just may not have on that computer. :-)) I also run XP, and I use firefox. I am running version 9.0 and it works perfectly. I could go a couple updates higher, but, when something is working great, best not to mess with it, especially on an older system. Also, notice above recommendations to update your IE. You should be aware, that some XP computers will not run IE8 very well, and some will. Most will run ie7 without any problems. Please check all system requirements when you decide to update or download something on a system that is using XP and enjoy using that computer for a long time yet. Good Luck to you.

Update: more trouble shooting led me to check the DSL speed. The download was about 7 Mbps, and satisfactory but the upload was as low as 80 Kbps - discussing with the Teleco technical support (Century Link) the evening of Thursday last, led to the diagnosis the Telephone modem was malfunctioning, in fact it completely stopped working on the power-down/up test. The CL representative could not provide any access to a replacement modem, but they would ship me one for $15 three days (bet business days, so not until Monday or Tuesday). They could ship overnight for $25. I told them ship 3 day I'm checking with Comcast an may move my service there. I up an running on Comcast at a so-called 105 Mbps which checks out closer to 15 mbps, about the same up/down. Not sure what the 105 Mbps is about. The good news cable, Comcast/Xfinity, was able via over the counter purchase at Walmart of a Cable Modem to put me back in service over my existing TV cable access in a matter of minutes. Down side, we don't want to change our email address. I will check to see how low a price I can get from Century Link and retain my email/ISP account. So far the browser works great.

How do you get yourself into these problems? Because you have a problem and are trying to fix it rather than ignore it or dump your problem on someone else. I find that to be very admirable. The good thing about this is you will be learning a lot in the process of getting things back on track. The down side is it is going to take a little bit of time if we do it here. Your are very lucky because there is a lot of experience her and, super people willing to help. There should be no fear of what to do with what fix-it finds if you decide to go that route. They offer several bits of information as to what found information does, and a suggestion of what you should let fix-it do, to fix your computer. You can undo anything fix-it does, with the click of a button. If you go to do anything that will screw things up, fix-it will tell you. If anything in any of the steps does not agree with what you see on the screen, don't continue and get back to us and let us know what the discrepancy is. There are several reasons why you might not be getting to the desk top you are used to and rather than a bunch of mumbo jumbo and jargon, we'll start with the simplest reason first. From what I gather at this point, you have multiple issues that are not necessarily "Computer Problems". To best help you get on track using a forum like this, I suggest we take one issue at a time. There are several ways to skin a cat so I am going to use what I know will get you to where you want to be. Of course, if you know a faster way that works for you, no problem, as long as we both get to where we want to be. We don't know what you know so if we describe a step that you well know, it is not to insult your intelligence or belittle you, it's just to get you where you need to be in a step by step manner. 1....The folder that YOU created named "desk top", rename it to "My Icons" and do so without the start and end quotes. The folder you created, from what you indicated here, has a space between the words "desk" and "top". That's the one you want to rename. 2....Click on the START button at the bottom left of you computer screen. Look for "My Computer" and click on that. 3....RIGHT click Local Drive (C:) In the left column at the top, you should see "Desktop" with no space between desk and top. Looking down a little further, you should see C: with a plus next to it. Click on that plus. When it expands, look down the list and you should see the renamed directory "My Icons" that you did previously. Click on that and in the right column, everything you moved should be listed there. 4....At the top of this window click on EDIT and when the menu drops down, click on SELECT ALL. Everything in the right column should become highlighted, usually in blue. 5....Take your mouse pointer over to the highlighted column click down on the LEFT mouse button and HOLD IT DOWN. While holding it down, drag everything over to the left column and up to the "DESKTOP", at the top of the left column. You will see the DESKTOP change color when you are on it and at that point, let up on the mouse button. Make sure you are on the DESKTOP name and that it highlights because if you don't, you may move everything into another directory, compounding the issue!!! Everything should now be back the way it was before you moved your desk top. If everything is back to what you are used to, we'll take the next step. My particular next step is going to ask for a list of everything in the task manager under the tab "PROCESSES". Do a "Ctrl" "Alt" "Delete". When the task manager pops up, click on the "Processes" tab. After you enter this tab, hover your pointer over the words "User Name". This will be the name of one of the columns. You have to hover over the actual words. Left click that and you will see everything organize itself. If you could then get us a list as it appears on your screen, we can work on the next steps. I have to go on an errand so it might be some time before I get back to you, I live in a rural area. Someone else here may pick up where I left off, I have no problem with that. The beauty of this particular forum is many knowledgeable people willing to help.