GAMEBOOMERS provides you with all the latest PC adventure computer games information, forum, walkthroughs, reviews and news.

GB Reviews

Latest & Upcoming Adventure Games

GB Annual Game Lists

GB Interviews

BAAGS

GB @ acebook

About Us

Walkthroughs

free games galore

Game Publishers & Developers

World of Adventure

Patches

GB @ witter

GameBoomers Store

Print Thread
Firefox won't let me go to Google.com #1138993
01/20/18 01:44 AM
01/20/18 01:44 AM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 789
Virginia Beach, VA
Uncle Reg Offline OP
Settled Boomer
Uncle Reg  Offline OP
Settled Boomer

Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 789
Virginia Beach, VA

It says:

Your connection is not secure

The owner of www.google.com has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website.

This site uses HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to specify that Firefox may only connect to it securely. As a result, it is not possible to add an exception for this certificate.

Anybody else getting this. How can I fix it?

Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Uncle Reg] #1139010
01/20/18 09:28 AM
01/20/18 09:28 AM
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 7,707
The Country
Winfrey Offline
BAAG Specialist
Winfrey  Offline
BAAG Specialist

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 7,707
The Country
I just logged into google.com using Firefox without any issues.


Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody
Gibran
Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Uncle Reg] #1139013
01/20/18 09:42 AM
01/20/18 09:42 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Jenny100  Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
It's a certificate problem.
It happens because for some reason Firefox didn't update your Google certificate properly.

Are you using the ESR version of Firefox?
If not, try installing that one. Maybe it will have a separate certificate store that will update correctly.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/


I had this problem around the 1st of this year.
At that time, I ended up using Seamonkey to fix it -- going to Google with Seamonkey, figuring out which certificate Google was using, exporting it from Seamonkey and then importing it into Firefox. I had to first delete the faulty certificate from Firefox, close Firefox, open Firefox, import the certificate from Seamonkey, close Firefox, then re-open Firefox to have the certificate take effect.

I don't know why the Seamonkey certificate updated properly while the Firefox certificate didn't. I suppose you could use a different Firefox-related browser, like Pale Moon, as the source of the current certificate instead of Seamonkey, if you have it installed.

Interestingly, neither Firefox nor Seamonkey is using the same certificate as earlier this month. Firefox ESR is now using a Google certificate called "Google Internet Authority G2" while Seamonkey's Google certificate is "Google Internet Authority G3"

There may be other ways of fixing the problem. Importing the correct certificate from a different Mozilla-related web browser (where Google was working) is what worked for me, but it took quite a bit of digging around.

You can download Seamonkey from
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/

and you can download Pale Moon from
https://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-win64.shtml
or
https://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-win32.shtml

Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Jenny100] #1139059
01/20/18 05:25 PM
01/20/18 05:25 PM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 789
Virginia Beach, VA
Uncle Reg Offline OP
Settled Boomer
Uncle Reg  Offline OP
Settled Boomer

Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 789
Virginia Beach, VA

Now it's happening on YouTube also.

If Firefox caused the problem, won't they ever fix it themselves?

Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Uncle Reg] #1139062
01/20/18 06:35 PM
01/20/18 06:35 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Jenny100  Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Originally Posted By: UncleReg
Now it's happening on YouTube also.

Yes, when I had the problem with Google, I had the same problem with YouTube. They use the same certificate, so if it's bad on Google it will also be bad on YouTube. Probably any website owned by Google will have the same problem.

Originally Posted By: UncleReg
If Firefox caused the problem, won't they ever fix it themselves?

Not likely. And unfortunately when it happens, it doesn't seem to fix itself after a time. I think the certificate gets corrupted somehow during installation.

If you use a different search engine, like
https://duckduckgo.com/
https://www.startpage.com/
https://www.ixquick.eu/

you can try searching for a fix. I can only wish you luck. I didn't have any. One site claimed resetting Firefox would work, but it didn't for me.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

I never found a fix that worked other than the one I used -- importing the relevant certificate from a Mozilla-based web browser (like Seamonkey or Pale Moon) where Google was working properly.

I expect most people just switch web browsers when this happens. If you try Pale Moon you may find it's so close to Firefox that you can just stick with it.

If you have access to another computer where Firefox is working, you can get the functional Google certificate from there. To get the certificate from a computer where Firefox can access Google...

On computer where Firefox works with Google...

1. Go to www.google.com using Firefox on the computer where it works.

2. Click the little green lock to the left of where it says www.google.com in the address bar.

3. On the dropdown, click the arrow to the right of where it says www.google.com then click down where it says "More Information"

4. On the right side of the box that pops up, click the View Certificate button

5. In this next box, Click the Details tab

6. It should say Google Internet Authority G2 (or possibly G3) in the Certificate Hierarchy section. Down at the bottom is a button that says Export. Click that and save the certificate to somewhere where you can find it. On my computer it wants to save as wwwgooglecom.crt

On computer where Firefox doesn't work with Google...

To import a certificate into Firefox, you may first have to delete the bad one. Make sure all cache and cookies are cleared after doing this. You may want to reboot the computer, but at the very least close Firefox.

You'll probably need a USB drive to transfer the functional certificate between computers. I assume you know how to transfer a file from one computer to another using a USB drive.

1. Open Firefox to import the functional certificate from Firefox on the other computer.

2. Type
about:preferences
in the URL bar and Enter

Advanced tab
Certificates tab
Authorities tab
Click View Certificates button
Click Import button at bottom.
Browse to where you copied the certificate from the other Firefox and import it.

If it won't import, then you have to get rid of the bad certificate first. The Google certificate is listed under Geotrust and is called
Google Internet Authority G2
(or possibly G3)
To get rid of a bad one, highlight it and click the Delete or Distrust button.
Before importing a good certificate, you need to delete cache and cookies and close Firefox. If you don't do this, it will remember the bad settings in the old certificate.

Once you manage to import the good one, close and reopen Firefox and make sure you're able to access Google and YouTube.

This took me about an hour to figure out -- after I'd given up trying to get an easy fix from web searches. Part of it was because I didn't realize I had to close Firefox and delete cache and cookies after removing the bad certificate.

If it sounds too complicated, I can see why.
Which is why I'd recommend switching to a Firefox-like browser like Pale Moon. Pale Moon can even use Firefox add-ons. Also regular Firefox may have a separate certificate store than the ESR version of Firefox, so it's possible that the ESR version wouldn't have the problem even though the regular Firefox did. If this worked, it would be a whole lot easier to install a different version of Firefox (or a different browser) than mess with importing a certificate.

Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Uncle Reg] #1139072
01/20/18 09:10 PM
01/20/18 09:10 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 808
Los Angeles, CA. USA
lakerz Offline
Settled Boomer
lakerz  Offline
Settled Boomer

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 808
Los Angeles, CA. USA
Jenny100 - that's a very detailed troubleshooting fix for this issue. Thanks for taking the time to write all that out!

I had a somewhat similar issue happen around Christmas last year. Netflix got that web certificate error no matter which browser I used. Google worked though. In the end, I cycled power to my cable modem and wifi router, and the problem went away. Very weird.


What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...
Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: lakerz] #1139082
01/20/18 11:14 PM
01/20/18 11:14 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Jenny100  Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Originally Posted By: lakerz
In the end, I cycled power to my cable modem and wifi router, and the problem went away. Very weird.

I've read people recommending that, and apparently it sometimes works. It doesn't work for everyone though and didn't work for me.

Thanks for mentioning it though. Cycling the router is not that hard to do and might be worth a try.

Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Jenny100] #1139087
01/21/18 12:56 AM
01/21/18 12:56 AM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 789
Virginia Beach, VA
Uncle Reg Offline OP
Settled Boomer
Uncle Reg  Offline OP
Settled Boomer

Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 789
Virginia Beach, VA

Originally Posted By: Jenny100
you can try searching for a fix. I can only wish you luck. I didn't have any. One site claimed resetting Firefox would work, but it didn't for me.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings


This Firefox reset worked. Thanks, Jenny.

That was certainly a powerhouse of info you provided. You really know your stuff. Thanks again. thumbsup thumbsup

Re: Firefox won't let me go to Google.com [Re: Uncle Reg] #1139130
01/21/18 12:53 PM
01/21/18 12:53 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Jenny100  Offline
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
That was lucky. The reset didn't help me, but fortunately it worked for you because manually replacing the certificate is a royal pain.

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

Moderated by  Draclvr 

Who's Online Now
5 registered members (Orion, oldbroad, manxman, curly, jboliver), 258 guests, and 0 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Staff, Mod
Newest Members
PierreLombardo, Dux, WillPowerGoat, Ebalon, J7769mon
9388 Registered Users
Powered by UBB.threads™