Mozilla Firefox is killing off my Gmail

[t8hants]

Apparently Mozilla Firefox dumped Google in favour of Yahoo as its search engine in the U.S., as a result, since a recent update of Firefox my Gmail is now all but useless and for awhile the automatic search engine was Yahoo which I found dreadful. I was able to get Google back, by setting my computer back before the update and that lasted for awhile, but now the 'updates' are instant and automatic and I can't stop them. Even if I set the computer back the auto-update will be activated within the hour. I still have Google as my search engine, but Gmail all but stops working. So I am coming to the conclusion its time to dump Firefox and go somewhere else.
I also have ghosts in the machine! EE killed off my Outlook Express hosted fsnet email address last year,but it pops up as my 'password' or whatever all over the place. I couldn't get OE to accept my new Gmail address and can't seem to change the fsnet address to my new one within my system.
What I am looking for is a new server (is that the right term) that will allow me to use Google as my search engine and will allow me to change my email address to something I can use on OE, which I knew how to use and liked .
Suggestions gentlemen and please keep the language very low tech.......Thanks Gareth

 

[Deejay]

Morning Gareth

the 'updates' are instant and automatic and I can't stop them. Even if I set the computer back the auto-update will be activated within the hour.

A starting point. Which option is checked for updates?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/up ... st-version

Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

While you are in 'Options' , check the search engine settings in the search menu.

Cheers

Dave

 

[t8hants]

Hi Dave I found where to change updates from automatic to owner approved which I have now done.
I have even found a button that will disconnect my old fsnet address which is no longer working anyway, but I'm not sure what will happen if I push that one, as it seems and is linked to my Firefox account. Below that is a blue 'manage account' link which if opened will take me to a page of all the things linked under the fsnet address and I can even add a secondary email address, but I can't find a way of changing the old fsnet address and with Gmail now being so unreliable I am debating heather to change that one as well and start afresh.
Thanks so far .......Gareth

 

[Robbo3]

Firefox is a browser, a utility to view things on the web.
Google is a search engine which is a web page that you view in your browser.
In your Firefox settings you should be able to have Google as your home page
www.google.co.uk

As far as I can see fsnet is dead. You can't do anything with it.
- https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/offers-a ... -affect-me

Gmail is an email utility which you access with your browser.
If you used the Gmail account for fsnet, it won't work because fsnet is defunct. That's not Gmail's fault. It can't access what's not there.

Email me if you want further help.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Why would they change it to Yahoo FFS! Yahoo is abysmal.




.

 

[t8hants]

I have done a little bit more digging and it may be something called a 'redirect virus', but I couldn't find it in my 'add-ons' manager, which is supposedly where it goes and maybe why I have Google back and. Apparently it can also affect Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge as well, so I am not alone. I don't know how to look to see if there is a remnant affecting my email.

 

[Robbo3]

I did reply before I realised that the email won't get through. To reply directly I need a valid email address

You can have as many browsers as you like. The same with email addresses & email reading utilities.

So let's deal with fsnet. If you wish to keep communications open, everywhere that you have used your fsnet email as the address to respond to, you will have to change the reply address to a valid email address. That's each website, programme or person. Sorry there's no way round it.
Your fsnet address along with a password will still allow you access to those places where it is part of the log in process. Once logged in, you can change the fsnet reply address for a valid email address - if you want to get communication from those places. If you don't & you leave it as fsnet, then they will never be able to contact you.
The fsnet email address can be either like a password as part of the log in and/or a means to communicate with you. Just because it no longer works doesn't mean you can't use it as an authentication phrase.

Outlook Express is now regarded as somewhat of a security risk & has been superseded by Windows Live Mail, then Windows Mail & more recently Outlook - only Microsoft can make things so confusing.

You can either use an email reader eg Thunderbird to read & write emails. Each email address has its own account.
Or you can go to your web page for each email address. You can even do both.

Luckily, these days, if you put your email address & password into Thunderbird it does the hard work for you & should create an account.

All written for information. Not meant to be a 'do as I say'.
-----
Yes a re-direct can affect any browser. It's nothing to do with email except that you may have obtained it via an email.

 

[matt]

As an aside... You can protect yourself against the demise of email domains (i.e fsnet.com) by buying your own domain ( e.g www.t8hants.co.uk). You can then create various email addresses using the domain. Your email provider then sits hidden in the background and can be changed without having to change your email address. Easier to do than it sounds.