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Resolved Question

Bing. my great nemesis!

Jul 22, 2014 6:42AM PDT

Does anyone know how I can I stop Bing.com Search page from opening on my screen? It happens with IE10, and FF 30.0 which is my default browser. It automatically opens immediately in FF after going online as though it were my Start page). It opens in IE the first time I open the browser after going online. Bing doesn't show up again until the next time I go online. Even if I already have web pages open when I go online, it will automatically open a new browser window. My Home Page is set to about:blank for both browsers.

Bing is removed from IE10's Manage Addons. In Manage Addons, Google is my only search tool. Bing.com, as well as the Bing WebBug is listed in the Hosts file . I have added Bing.com in Intenet Options\Security\Restricted Sites. And bing is not in my FF 30.0 Addons.

I have run AVAST!, Malware Bytes and Desktop Cleanup. All definitions and critical updates are installed. I have also manually deleted Temp and %Temp% files that were left behind. In addition, I have deleted index.dat files.

Bing does not appear in Hijachthis scans. There are a few instances of unassigned "BHO...Search=" in HJT results that are not flagged by the folks at HJT but I removed them anyway. Changes do not take affect when I remove Default MS Search registry entries:
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=255141
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896

When I rescan with HJT these R1 entries still show up. However, I successfully backed up and removed them manually from the Registry. I checked the Registry again and they are still gone.

I am using Windows 8.0 64-bit on a 64-bit machine. All updates and definitions are up to date. My browswers are IE 10 and FF 30.0. The FF is my default browser.

I sure hope some one can help me get rid of this Bing thing, it's really driving me nuts trying to get rid of it.

Thank you.

Charlie

Discussion is locked

caktus has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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FF
Jul 22, 2014 7:01AM PDT

You can hit the Reset button in troubleshooting area of Help, but less drastic would be try other things first.

Disable all extensions and addons, then restart FF and see if it's still doing it. Don't enable them again just yet.

open a page in the url or location line to about:config and put bing in the search box. Remove any references to it.

Empty your cache in FF

If this doesn't get rid of it in FF, let us know.

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Bing is now gone, so far.
Jul 23, 2014 3:17AM PDT

Thank you for your reply, James.

I disabled the addons, etc. But that didn't fix the problem.

In about:config I found the entry "browser.search.order.3" User Set String Bing" I was unable to remove the entire line, but I was able to delete the Value "Bing." But that too did not fix the problem.

Emptying FF's cache seems to have fixed the problem, Happy so far; Crossing my fingers. For some reason, it seems the problem no longer plagues IE as well; Happy Crossing my other fingers.

Thank you for your help, James I'll come running back if Bing manages to creep back into my life.

Thanks again.

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The Bing thing is back.
Jul 28, 2014 1:58AM PDT

The Bing thing is back. Only once, yesterday. The Bing window seemed to open exactly when I inadvertently hit 2 or 3 incorrect keys including Shift, Ctrl or Fn, I'm not sure exactly which keys and I can't manage to duplicate it. Anyone have any ideas?

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interesting
Jul 28, 2014 3:08PM PDT

check your keyboard shortcuts settings and see if any of them are tied to launch a program that might be where Bing is hiding.

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RE: The Bing thing is back.
Jul 28, 2014 10:09PM PDT

Thank you, James, for responding.

Been trying to find info on how to check that with W8 for days now. Every time I would click on a "Yes" type option, the associated Metro screen shortcut Tile would fill the screen and nothing would happen until I would hit the W key starting the useless cycle all over again. Eventually, I gave up on bothering with W8 idiosyncrasies, even the W8.1 update notices that keep annoying me. But this morning I found instructions for accomplishing the task you suggested and it seems Bing and all it's nooks and crannies should now be uninstalled. Happy

Thanks again, James.

Charlie

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Link about hunting.
Jul 29, 2014 12:32AM PDT