Firefox opened a new window on its own advertising Bing, but how?
So lately, I accessed the recovery partition of my 2005 Dell Notebook which restores Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2 and, unfortunately, all the bloatware that came with it including MyWaySA which is adware (or spyware) that happened to be preinstalled by Dell. So after spending some time uninstalling all the bloatware, I connected to the internet via wireless router.
I used IE (not sure what version to be honest) to download Firefox and a few Windows updates I had to manually download from Microsoft and install on my own because with automatic updates turned on, it won't download and install updates. It did before I accessed the recovery partition. I made Firefox my default browser and later, using Firefox, download and install Microsoft Security Essentials and other software required to make it run and install. Also downloaded and installed Malwarebytes. And later, I let both MSE and Malwarebytes download and install their own updates then do full scan. Not at the same time.
Before downloading and installing SP3, I noticed that Firefox opened a window on its own, advertising Bing. After that I did a full scan using MSE, Malwarebytes, and, not sure if it helps, Trend Micro House Call to see if it detected anything unusual and all have not. Is it possible that whatever I downloaded, installed, and let run from the official Microsoft website made Firefox (my default browser) opened on its own to advertise Bing? So far this happened only one time.
I used IE (not sure what version to be honest) to download Firefox and a few Windows updates I had to manually download from Microsoft and install on my own because with automatic updates turned on, it won't download and install updates. It did before I accessed the recovery partition. I made Firefox my default browser and later, using Firefox, download and install Microsoft Security Essentials and other software required to make it run and install. Also downloaded and installed Malwarebytes. And later, I let both MSE and Malwarebytes download and install their own updates then do full scan. Not at the same time.
Before downloading and installing SP3, I noticed that Firefox opened a window on its own, advertising Bing. After that I did a full scan using MSE, Malwarebytes, and, not sure if it helps, Trend Micro House Call to see if it detected anything unusual and all have not. Is it possible that whatever I downloaded, installed, and let run from the official Microsoft website made Firefox (my default browser) opened on its own to advertise Bing? So far this happened only one time.
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I was having a problem like this with my laptop a few weeks ago and it was driving me up the walls.
It turned out to be a new driver for my trackpad that added multi-touch support. It had a setting where when I tapped with three fingers it would open bing.com by default. So sometimes I would just hit it by chance and fucking bing would pop up. I thought microsoft was fucking with me and trying to boost their visitation numbers but nope, just synaptics being weird. So... something to check
It turned out to be a new driver for my trackpad that added multi-touch support. It had a setting where when I tapped with three fingers it would open bing.com by default. So sometimes I would just hit it by chance and fucking bing would pop up. I thought microsoft was fucking with me and trying to boost their visitation numbers but nope, just synaptics being weird. So... something to check
1. Bloatware is not adware/spyware, you're getting your terms confused.
2. that's called a pop up. Where have you been the past 10 years of the internet?
2. that's called a pop up. Where have you been the past 10 years of the internet?
Yes, I know what a pop-up is, I was just... Explaining in detail.
Here's some pages I found about MyWaySA...
[link]
Some consider it Spyware.
[link]
Some consider it Adware. Read second post of this one...
[link]
I forgot to mention that when I accessed the recovery partition the first time and before uninstalling MyWaySA on my own the second time, I did a Malwarebytes scan. MyWaySA was detected. Someone noticed the same thing too. [link]
[link]
Some consider it Spyware.
[link]
Some consider it Adware. Read second post of this one...
[link]
I forgot to mention that when I accessed the recovery partition the first time and before uninstalling MyWaySA on my own the second time, I did a Malwarebytes scan. MyWaySA was detected. Someone noticed the same thing too. [link]
Toolbars are often recognized as false positives. Also their toolbars so who really cares.
Install linux. Problem solved. 
If that's not the answer you're looking for, it's probable that the Bing ad is a pop-up from the microsoft site or some other site. If this happens on random sites, it could be some kind of malicious add-on. There are some known microsoft-made malware which redirect you to bing, if I recall correctly. Although I think those are probably toolbars.
Anyway, to prevent future misfortune, get these addons for firefox:
AdBlock Plus
NoScript
DNT+
The last one is optional, but it's worth it if you care about your privacy. Adblock blocks ads, NoScript disables javascript/flash/etc unless you explicitly give permissions to websites. This shuts down two major vectors for malware, ads and javascript. The third major vector is email, for that I can only recommend that you get 2 email boxes - one for "real" mail and another for using for site registrations etc.
Of course, you could always install linux and not worry about all this malware biz
If that's not the answer you're looking for, it's probable that the Bing ad is a pop-up from the microsoft site or some other site. If this happens on random sites, it could be some kind of malicious add-on. There are some known microsoft-made malware which redirect you to bing, if I recall correctly. Although I think those are probably toolbars.
Anyway, to prevent future misfortune, get these addons for firefox:
AdBlock Plus
NoScript
DNT+
The last one is optional, but it's worth it if you care about your privacy. Adblock blocks ads, NoScript disables javascript/flash/etc unless you explicitly give permissions to websites. This shuts down two major vectors for malware, ads and javascript. The third major vector is email, for that I can only recommend that you get 2 email boxes - one for "real" mail and another for using for site registrations etc.
Of course, you could always install linux and not worry about all this malware biz
Check your Firefox addons for anything suspicious, then download some addons to prevent popups 