Need to remove a Firefox... "improvement"  

Now that's for a "good" popup, like Attachments or Emojis, etc.

Now what changed since FF 86.0, I think... is that bad popup windows like this... ( I only call them bad, meaning any warning window)

In the image below...this is what those warning windows used to look like before 86.0
They would be in "front" of the main browser window. And because they were in front...they wouldn't "need" to generate a teeny popup window in the lower right of my screen.

Since 86.0, those warning window popups, now pop up "behind" the main browser window, which make FF...
...I assume, generate a teeny notification popup window in the lower right of the screen....
...to let me know there's a warning windows "behind" the main browser window.

Update...

Ok... it seems I'm being plagued by a "specific" pop under. Namely... engine.spotscenered.info
So, I added that to the HOSTS file and it stopped that pop under.

BUT... it only stopped it in the regular FF browsing window. In FF Private browser window, I still get it.
Weird.
Does Firefox's "New private window" not read the HOSTS file?

Hi Ghot, have you seen this How to remove engine.spotscenered.info (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge) (myantispyware.com) ?

Fabler2 said:

Hi Ghot, have you seen this How to remove engine.spotscenered.info (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge) (myantispyware.com) ?

I'll try it, but I went back to a March 7th backup and the problem still existed.
And like I said above... putting that entry in the HOSTS file.. stopped it from the regular FF window, but not the Private Browsing window.

I've no idea where these pups/bugs reside in the browser so using the hosts file would just stop it phoning home I would assume. The browser would still be infected though as private browsing shows. Hopefully someone can answer why private browsing overrides the hosts file.

Fabler2 said:

I've no idea where these pups/bugs reside in the browser so using the hosts file would just stop it phoning home I would assume. The browser would still be infected though as private browsing shows. Hopefully someone can answer why private browsing overrides the hosts file.

MBAM and AdwCleaner found nothing. Neither did Bitdefender Internet Security 2020.

I don't have engine.spotscenered.info running in task manager bro.
I just copied that from the address bar of the popup.


I got it from the address bar here (the little window). I don't think the browser is "going" there. FF even says "it can't find that site".

Is that a search result window? Looks like the hosts file is blocking it.

Fabler2 said:

Is that a search result window? Looks like the hosts file is blocking it.

No it's pop up generated by an iffy site... that FF seems to refuse to go to... which is a good thing.

It looks like an infection to me. Odd that Adw doesn't find anything. Try running Firefox in safe mode for a while. Might need some expert advice about this. Last resort would be to reset.

Fabler2 said:

It looks like an infection to me. Odd that Adw doesn't find anything. Try running Firefox in safe mode for a while. Might need some expert advice about this. Last resort would be to reset.

I think you're overreacting.

If there was an infection, I would think it would be "doing" something. Ya know... like emptying my bank account.