aol hijacked the search bar, removed all the other engines and disabled reset.
I noticed that at some point today the search bar had been reset to aol. I removed aol from the bar but now there is NO search engine option. Whatever malware did this also removed all other search bar options, disabled the reset defaults, and seems to have removed the search plugins folder from C drive. I tried an add-on to restore the default choices but it didn't work. I tried resetting Firefox and a system restore. Neither worked. I copied the searchplugins folder from a backup but that hasn't changed anything. I don't see a new Mozilla Firefox(34) folder as reported in some other threads. I looked in about:config and there are some new aol things there but I don't know how to remove them or what, if anything should replace them.
Ŋuɖoɖo si wotia
Try adding a google search plugin back to firefox. http://mycroftproject.com/google-search-plugins.html
click the 1st one and it should ask you to add google.
Xle ŋuɖoɖo sia le goya me 👍 1All Replies (18)
install the Search Reset Tool.
Or use Adwcleaner
For further information, please read Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page.
Did this fix the problem? Let us know!
I tried the Search Reset Tool previously. It did nothing. I tried it again with the same results.
Have you uninstalled any AOL toolbars then scan with ADWCleaner as explained above?
Yes, I uninstalled or deleted everything that I could that says aol. Scanned and deleted with ADWCleaner, and used the Search Reset Tool. My problem remains.
delete a possible user.js file in your profile folder
When I get to the step where I have opened my profile folder and am supposed to click "File" and select "exit", "exit" does not exist. I don't see a user.js file in the folder either.
In order to be able to find the correct solution to your problem, we require some more non-personal information from you. Please do the following:
- Click the Firefox button at the top left, then click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information from the submenu. If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Help menu at the top and select Troubleshooting Information from the menu.
Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
- At the top of the page, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
- Now, go back to your forum post and click inside the reply box. Press Ctrl+V to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.
If you need further information about the Troubleshooting information page, please read the article Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Application Basics
Name Firefox
Version 21.0
User Agent Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:21.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/21.0
Build Configuration
about:buildconfig
Extensions
Name
Version
Enabled
ID
NoScript 2.6.6.7 true {73a6fe31-595d-460b-a920-fcc0f8843232}
SearchReset 0.3 true [email protected]
Updated Ad Blocker for Firefox 11+ 0.7.7 false {4DC70064-89E2-4a55-8FC6-E8CDEAE3618C}
Important Modified Preferences
Name
Value
accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar 0
browser.cache.disk.capacity 358400
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run false
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max false
browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value 358400
browser.places.importBookmarksHTML false
browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion 4
browser.search.useDBForOrder true
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID 20130511120803
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone 21.0
dom.mozApps.used true
dom.w3c_touch_events.expose false
extensions.lastAppVersion 21.0
font.name.serif.x-western Georgia
network.cookie.prefsMigrated true
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.dnupdate false
places.database.lastMaintenance 1373067628
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages 53427
places.last_vacuum 1335388968
plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types application/pdf
plugin.importedState true
print.print_printer Brother MFC-240C USB Printer
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_bgcolor false
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_bgimages false
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_command
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_downloadfonts false
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_edge_bottom 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_edge_left 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_edge_right 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_edge_top 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_evenpages true
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_footercenter
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_footerleft &PT
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_footerright &D
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_headercenter
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_headerleft &T
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_headerright &U
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_in_color true
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_margin_bottom 0.5
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_margin_left 0.5
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_margin_right 0.5
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_margin_top 0.5
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_oddpages true
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_orientation 1
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_pagedelay 500
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_paper_data 1
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_paper_height 11.00
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_paper_size_type 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_paper_size_unit 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_paper_width 8.50
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_reversed false
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_scaling 1.00
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_shrink_to_fit true
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_to_file false
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_left 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_right 0
print.printer_Brother_MFC-240C_USB_Printer.print_unwriteable_margin_top 0
privacy.popups.showBrowserMessage false
privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs true
privacy.sanitize.timeSpan 3
security.warn_viewing_mixed false
Graphics
Adapter Description Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family
Adapter Drivers ialmrnt5
Adapter RAM Unknown
Device ID 0x2582
Direct2D Enabled Blocked for your graphics driver version.
DirectWrite Enabled false (0.0.0.0)
Driver Date 7-19-2005
Driver Version 6.14.10.4363
GPU #2 Active false
GPU Accelerated Windows 0/1 Basic Blocked for your graphics driver version. Try updating your graphics driver to version 6.1400.1000.4764 or newer.
Vendor ID 0x8086
WebGL Renderer Blocked for your graphics driver version. Try updating your graphics driver to version 6.1400.1000.4764 or newer.
AzureCanvasBackend skia
AzureContentBackend none
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend cairo
JavaScript
Incremental GC true
Accessibility
Activated false
Prevent Accessibility 0
Library Versions
Expected minimum version
Version in use
NSPR 4.9.6 4.9.6
NSS 3.14.3.0 Basic ECC 3.14.3.0 Basic ECC
NSSSMIME 3.14.3.0 Basic ECC 3.14.3.0 Basic ECC
NSSSSL 3.14.3.0 Basic ECC 3.14.3.0 Basic ECC
NSSUTIL 3.14.3.0 3.14.3.0
Also, for peformance reason i'd would update your graphics drivers if i was you
About the AOL issue, boot into Windows Safe Mode with Networking
Its the same in XP too.
and then?
See if AOL hijacks your browser, does it also hijack Internet Explorer?
Firefox is no longer being "hijacked", I simply don't have any options in the search bar, and cannot seem to reinstall those options. Aol DOES hijack Internet explorer. There isn't a search bar but IE comes up as "aol" and shows aol as the homepage destination.
Now reboot (into regular mode) and does it still hijack Firefox, you may need to make a new profile or reinstall firefox.
I think you misunderstand. I removed the aol search from Firefox even before starting this thread. Nothing changed when I went to safe mode. The problem is that the files or code that enables the search bar is gone or disabled. The only thing in the search bar is Firefox add-ons.
I already understood that.
Yes, I uninstalled or deleted everything that I could that says aol. Scanned and deleted with ADWCleaner, and used the Search Reset Tool. My problem remains.
How about reinstalling Firefox, which should reinstall search plugins.
Please follow these steps:
Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.
- Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
- After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
- Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
- Windows:
- C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
- Windows:
- Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
- Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
- Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.
Please report back to see if this helped you!
I deleted the Firefox folder. Firefox still opens. I tried to remove it with the add/remove. When I click the remove button, nothing happens.
Ɖɔɖɔɖo si wotia
Try adding a google search plugin back to firefox. http://mycroftproject.com/google-search-plugins.html
click the 1st one and it should ask you to add google.
Well, now I've been trying to upgrade my graphics drivers. Intel says they don't have an update for my driver. Windows automatic update glitches. When I try to look for graphics updates manually it seems I have the latest driver already.