Tech Help Needed

[Ad Orientem]

My computer (Windows 7 OS) with the latest version of Firefox as my main browser is acting weird. I am periodically getting unexplained audio, sometimes its music, sometimes it's advertisements. And from time to time when typing, the cursor suddenly moves back to some point where I had just been typing and continues from the new point. In fact it just did it as I was typing this post.

AVG anti-Virus is not detecting anything and a full system scan with Malwarebytes also came up negative. Any ideas?

[Pointedstick]

Does this happen only when Firefox is running, or when it's closed as well? If it only happens when Firefox is running, the browser itself may have gotten hijacked by a piece of malware.

[Mountaineer]

I typically will use these extensions (on chrome and firefox) on Win 7:

ghostery - block everything

adblock - easy list subscription

WOT - web of trust

and periodically run a Qualys browser check scan to see if all are up to date.

I also have switched to Avast anti-virus.  I also run Malwarebytes periodically. 

... Mountaineer

[Xan]

Try running Firefox in safe mode.  If that fixes the problem, then it's some kind of malicious or poorly-written plugin or extension.

[Reub]

A.O., could the unwanted audio be coming from any of your fillings?

[Tyler]

Regarding the pointer issue, I've seen that before on my work laptop. The solution was to disable the mouse nipple thing embedded in the keyboard. No more issues after that.

Not sure about the music & ads. I have seen a trend of websites using auto play videos that are hard to locate and I've learned to just avoid those sites. But if it's happening a lot, I agree that my first concern would be with malicious code.

[Ad Orientem]

A.O., could the unwanted audio be coming from any of your fillings?

Entirely possible. All of my fillings were put in by the government.

[Pointedstick]

Regarding the pointer issue, I've seen that before on my work laptop. The solution was to disable the mouse nipple thing embedded in the keyboard. No more issues after that.

Not sure about the music & ads. I have seen a trend of websites using auto play videos that are hard to locate and I've learned to just avoid those sites. But if it's happening a lot, I agree that my first concern would be with malicious code.

One thing I like about Google Chrome/Chromium is that any windows or tabs that are actively generating sound get badged with a little audio icon so you can see which one you need to immediately close in disgust.