I am being driven mad by constantly getting a warning stating that :

"Firefox is open. To clear all history tracks it's necessary to close it. Do you want to close it now? If you select 'No', only some part of history will be cleaned"

or
"Internet Explorer is open. To clear all history tracks it's necessary to close it. Do you want to close it now? If you select 'No', only some part of history will be cleaned"


The appropriate message depends on whether I am using IE of Firefox.

It appears every 30 seconds or so.

Could anyone please point me in the direction of discovering what programme is triggering the message.

I am using Windows XP Pro and do not have SP3 installed.

Hi David! Welcome and sorry no one has answered your questions.

It sound ominous to me that you get the same message with both browsers. Obviously, something running on your system knows which browser you are using at that moment.

You said every 30 seconds or so - so it happens in the middle of you using the browser? Or only upon exit? Closing of a tab or window? Upon start or open? Any pattern as to what triggers it?

Can you identify (and eliminate as the cause) everything running in Task Manager?

My thoughts split in two different directions.

1. You have malware. Have you run a complete malware scan? What are you using for security? Do you frequent P2P sites?

2. You have a security setting that is set to prompt you to clear your history upon exit (of course this depends on when the warning occurs). This setting maybe in any security application and not just a browser setting.

Hi Digerati,

Thanks for replying to my post.

1. You said every 30 seconds or so - so it happens in the middle of you using the browser? Or only upon exit? Closing of a tab or window? Upon start or open? Any pattern as to what triggers it?

It seems totally random, never on open or close, just when browsing.

2. Can you identify (and eliminate as the cause) everything running in Task Manager?

I have not been able to identify anything odd in Task Manager, I am not sure which processes I can safely stop.

3.1. You have malware. Have you run a complete malware scan? What are you using for security? Do you frequent P2P sites?

I use Kaspersky 7 Internet Security and do a full scan weekly. I also do a SpyBot scan weekly and have never visited a P2P site.

2. You have a security setting that is set to prompt you to clear your history upon exit (of course this depends on when the warning occurs). This setting maybe in any security application and not just a browser setting.

Whenever I have the opportunity to set applications to clear history I always do so (I think I am a bit paranoid!). Unfortunately the warnings do not appear when I am opening or closing anything.


I will try closing each process running in Task Manager but I am afraid this is going to be a long job. If this reveals anything I will come back.

Thanks for the interest.