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having problem with "esnips" hijacking my home page; tried all the tips no success

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  • 127 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Extremez

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esnips search engine hijacks the home page. removed it from about:config completely and even from windows registry using regedit. still it comes up. what are the possible place from the home page URL loads when fire fox is starting up. ( i Mean every possible location even registry )

esnips search engine hijacks the home page. removed it from about:config completely and even from windows registry using regedit. still it comes up. what are the possible place from the home page URL loads when fire fox is starting up. ( i Mean every possible location even registry )

All Replies (15)

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Go to about:config again, type esnips in the filter at the top and for every instance you find with that word in it, right click and choose Reset.

Then close and restart Firefox to remove them.

Just in case you missed it, this is how to revert to Google as your preferred search engine:

  • In the location bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

  • In the filter at the top, type: keyword.URL

  • Double click it and remove whatever's in there and replace it with http://www.google.com/search?q=

The URL to add in "keyword.URL" becomes a link in this post, so right click it and choose "Copy Link Location" to copy it to the Windows clipboard. Then hit CTRL+V to paste it. Saves you having to type the whole thing.

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Hi Xircal .no where in the about:config has esnips entry. zero text entry. funny thing is it doesn't even alter my home page entry in the options tab. But still loads with a different url order such as instead of esnips.search.(search.esnips. or eis.search.esnips.... etc. ) Browser protect brings out the warning dialog box when I press apply it still loads the page but not altering my home page entry. Then I press my home button it goes to my home page. once i set that next instances of my fire fox loads default home page automatically but If I close all the browser windows and start fire fox again problem repeats.. appreciate your time and help. blessings

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See this article on the subject: How to remove eSnips

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when I checked the error console there are many warning entries like below Warning: Expected declaration but found '.'. Skipped to next declaration. Source File: http://search.esnips.com/media/css/global_search.css Line: 15

Warning: Expected declaration but found ':'. Skipped to next declaration. Source File: http://search.esnips.com/media/css/global_search.css Line: 127 will this be of any help tweaking it.

thanks and appreciate it, blessings.
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I'm off on vacation for a month from today so I won't be able to respond again until mid-July. But I'm sure one of the other guys will be able to takeover if the problem persists.

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The esnips downloader can be removed from you IE browser through esnips' built in uninstaller in your programs menu. As of yet, the best I have found for firefox is a couple hour fix and then it re-hijacks my homepage. So I guess i'll be using explorer until they find a fix on here. It seems the problem is firefox's security and perhaps not just esnips cuz the IE is not being as harshly affected. And I thought firefox had better security : p

Modified by masterhanger

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Fully install the esnips downloader with all the advanced "features" and then restart windows in "safe mode".

Next, do an uninstall from the esnips downloader in your program menus file.

Then, use the computer's "search option" (found in the start popup menu or under the "accessories" tab there) to search for the word "esnips" in all files including "hidden" ones. In Vista this must be an "advanced" search and hidden files must be checked.

While this is searching (it'll take several minutes to complete), minimize it and open Firefox which will not go online because you are in "safe mode", but when it does open, type "about:config" in the address bar, and search for esnips there. Reset all areas to the default google setting or the empty setting (by right clicking & choosing "reset"). When this is done, put your preferred startup address in the address bar and set it as your homepage (do this by choosing tools menu, going down and clicking on "options" and hit "use current page" that should be shown in the box above it).

When the "search" finishes, you will have 12-15 entries. Delete them all.

Restart windows. Firefox should be freed up. No, you are not done. It will try to re-hijack your startup page within the next 24 hours, so go to firefox add ons and search for "browserprotect" in the extensions. This is a highly rated addon that prevents these hijack attempts. Install this, restart your browser.

After the above, which does resist the hijack, but does not keep it from trying, you can complete the fix, in a day or so, once it has tried to re-hijack your home page a few times (allowing it to try a few times assures it will write the esnips page in a "user_pref" file) and you have stopped it by using "browserprotect", do the following which I found at... http://ask.metafilter.com/170298/Firefox-homepagekeyword-hijacked-How-do-I-rescue:

Search for "user_pref" (no quotes, use advanced search & include hidden files), right click and choose "edit". Delete all the following entries and any others that have "esnips" written in them.

user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://eis.esnips.com/page/search/?client_uuid=bda82ac0-85c3-4b48-b0d2-41fde8d1391d"); user_pref("browser.search.defaultenginename", "eSnips Search"); user_pref("browser.search.order.1", "eSnips Search"); user_pref("browser.search.selectedEngine", "eSnips Search"); user_pref("keyword.URL", "http://eis.esnips.com/page/search_provider/?client_uuid=bda82ac0-85c3-4b48-b0d2-41fde8d1391d&q=");

After I deleted these lines, it's no longer trying to hijack back to the eSnips page at all.

...After this, mine seems to be fixed and back to a good speed. Good luck.

Modified by masterhanger

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I have done whatever you said more than five times Each time esnips(god damn its creator)comes back

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Xircal I tried instructions about how to remove esnip It doesn't work at all

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mm24, you gotta go through my steps. don't forget the "browserprotect" plugin. do the safe mode thing; and then run an advanced search for esnips and user_prefs (right click on these & search for esnips entries to delete)

Its been 2 weeks on 2 computers (XP & Vista) and I am clean. Take these steps one by one (although if you have windows 7, I don't know). Good luck!

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attempt failed

Modified by Unus

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sorry

Modified by Unus

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I found that when eSnips hijacked Firefox it also hijacked Chrome. IE was unaffected. Tried all previous suggestions with no success. Here is what I finally did. 1. Uninstalled Chrome (I seldom use it). 2. Saved my bookmarks in Firefox. 3. Installed an add-on in Firefox to export saved passwords. (I have a lot of saved passwords in Firefox). 4. Exported the saved passwords. 5. Uninstalled Firefox. 6. Made one more pass through registry to make sure that all references to esnips and Logia were removed. 7. Did a fresh install of Firefox. 8. Imported saved bookmarks. 9. Installed the Firefox add-on for exporting/importing saved passwords. 10. Imported the saved passwords.

After all of the above, Firefox appears to be eSnips-free.

I think just removing Chrome and then cleaning Firefox (using about:Config and also removing all eSnips and Logia references from registry) would have done the job, but I am not about to re-infect my system with eSnips to find out.

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Well, dschrock is right. I had this problem and now I'm esnips free! Here's what I did:

1- I accessed Firefox configuration page, typing "about:config" in the address bar, and I searched for "esnips", I found four entries, and I reset them all.

2- I went to the computer registry, through "run>regedit", and I searched for "esnips", and I altered/deleted whatever came up from the search result. I modified values that displayed an esnips url to http://www.google.com/search?q= , and deleted those that showed just esnips name, as well as logia. I did the search many times, until I was sure that the registry is esnips free.

After going through these steps, my browser was squeaky cleaned.

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Hi Guys, I also Had this problem and im very glad that its now gone, its like the others but i make it simplier and dont need browserprotect or even restart your computer. wheres what I did: 1 uninstall the esnips program found in control panel. 2 type about:config in your addressbar. 3 In the filter type esnips. 4 And then, right click on all ‘user set‘ under the ‘status’ column and click on reset 5 after that go to search find prefs.js also search for hidden files and folders. 6 and last find prets.js and look at the date modified and try to remember when did you download esnips. and delete the prets.js file that has the modified date same when you install esnips. And your Done : ) NOTE: restore your mozilla to default to have a better result.