Question Stop Windows form opening msn.com when internet connection is off/back on

[Fuad]

Hello,

As title says, how can I stop Windows form opening msn.com when internet connection is off/back on? my internet connection is unstable and windows keeps popping msn.com webpage each time the connection is off/back on while I am working and this is very annoying.
OS: Win11 pro fully updated
Browser: Firefox

Kind Regards

 

[Ralston18]

Configure Firefox to open to a blank page.

 

[Fuad]

Configure Firefox to open to a blank page.

My problem is not that Firefox is opening msn.com, my problem is the behavior itself (I already have Firefox open blank page).
I don't want windows to respond to dropping/connecting internet by opening a webpage no matter what it is.

 

[JeffreyP55]

My problem is not that Firefox is opening msn.com, my problem is the behavior itself (I already have Firefox open blank page).
I don't want windows to respond to dropping/connecting internet by opening a webpage no matter what it is.

Tools pull down menu Firefox/settings Custom URL or blank page.

 

[Ralston18]

@Fuad

Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or even an informational event just before or at the time of the internet drops.

Also, the router's logs (if available and enabled) may be capturing some problem.

Who has full admin rights to the router? You will need help from that person.

 

[Fuad]

@JeffreyP55

Thank you but this is not the issue

​

 

[Fuad]

@Fuad

Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or even an informational event just before or at the time of the internet drops.

Also, the router's logs (if available and enabled) may be capturing some problem.

Who has full admin rights to the router? You will need help from that person.

Thank you Ralston18,
I checked both Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer, nothing unusual there, you can replicate the issue (if you have windows 11) by simply pulling out the Ethernet cable and plugging it back in after some time, you will notice that windows will open your default browser and (msn.com) even if you don't have your browser open, and in case you have unstable internet connection like mine you will find this very annoying as you lose focus on whatever you are doing and get (msn.com) webpage.
It is my home workstation and I have full admin rights on both windows and modem/router.

 

[Ralston18]

Pulling out the Ethernet cable is simply a loss of network connectivity: to your home network and, of course, access to the Internet.

Indeed curious about the described behavior....

Not aware of any reasons per se as to why Windows would default back to msn.com with respect to some loss of network connectivity.

What Windows 11 Version is installed? Source?

One thought being that there may be some corrupted or buggy files involved.

Run "dism" and "sfc /scannow" to find and fix any corrupted or buggy files.

 

[Fuad]

Pulling out the Ethernet cable is simply a loss of network connectivity: to your home network and, of course, access to the Internet.

Indeed curious about the described behavior....

Not aware of any reasons per se as to why Windows would default back to msn.com with respect to some loss of network connectivity.

What Windows 11 Version is installed? Source?

One thought being that there may be some corrupted or buggy files involved.

Run "dism" and "sfc /scannow" to find and fix any corrupted or buggy files.

Thank you Ralston18, I will run it and get back to you.

 

[Fuad]

Pulling out the Ethernet cable is simply a loss of network connectivity: to your home network and, of course, access to the Internet.

Indeed curious about the described behavior....

Not aware of any reasons per se as to why Windows would default back to msn.com with respect to some loss of network connectivity.

What Windows 11 Version is installed? Source?

One thought being that there may be some corrupted or buggy files involved.

Run "dism" and "sfc /scannow" to find and fix any corrupted or buggy files.

I ran sfc /scannow and no problems were found, as for (dism) I cannot at this time since I have a tight deadline to deliver and my internet connection is slow.
I run Windows 11 Pro latest edition / update with genuine hardware locked license, maybe windows is checking the license each time the internet is off/on? I have no problem with that just opening the browser is the problem.
I scanned with my Kaspersky office security suite and nothing was found.
I checked my startup programs and nothing is out of order.

 

[Ralston18]

Could be something running in the background causing Firefox to default to msn.com.

Check any and all Firefox extensions and Add-ons. Know what they are and what they do.

Two other sugggestions - pending your being able to eventually run "dism".

1.) Look in Task Manager > Start up for any unknown or unexpected apps or utilities being launched at startup. Note: it appears that you have done so via your mention of "startup programs". Check again and ensure that the listed startups are what you believe them to be. Not uncommon to use very similar names that at a quick glance appear to be a legitmate, real app or utility.

2.) Look in Task Scheduler for some app or utility being triggered when network connectivity is lost.

Not really sure (full disclosure) how such a trigger would be put into place. However, that is something that can be researched.

Lastly: Do some additional investigation about why the internet connection is unstable.

Make and model modem, router, or modem/router if combined?

Run the diagnostic command "ipconfig /all" ( without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Post the full results.

You should be able to copy and pasted the results without needing to retype everything.

 

[Fuad]

Could be something running in the background causing Firefox to default to msn.com.

Check any and all Firefox extensions and Add-ons. Know what they are and what they do.

Two other sugggestions - pending your being able to eventually run "dism".

1.) Look in Task Manager > Start up for any unknown or unexpected apps or utilities being launched at startup. Note: it appears that you have done so via your mention of "startup programs". Check again and ensure that the listed startups are what you believe them to be. Not uncommon to use very similar names that at a quick glance appear to be a legitmate, real app or utility.

2.) Look in Task Scheduler for some app or utility being triggered when network connectivity is lost.

Not really sure (full disclosure) how such a trigger would be put into place. However, that is something that can be researched.

Lastly: Do some additional investigation about why the internet connection is unstable.

Make and model modem, router, or modem/router if combined?

Run the diagnostic command "ipconfig /all" ( without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Post the full results.

You should be able to copy and pasted the results without needing to retype everything.

Thank you Ralston18 for your great feedback, I'll go through the steps one by one in the next few days and get back to you.

 

[Fuad]

Hello,

I solved the issue, the culprit was Logitech software (Logi Options+), it have some useless (AI) feature that I disabled when I installed the software less than a year ago, when the problem started to occur and became very annoying I started double checking everything installed on my pc and to my surprise the (AI) feature was activated!
Now that I disabled it again along with (Logi Options+) auto update, everything is back to normal.
@ JeffreyP55: Thanks for your help
@Ralston18 : Thanks for your extremely helpful replies and detailed explanation.

Kind Regards