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General discussion

Getting Rid of Babylon's Surreptitious Search Window

Oct 14, 2012 5:01AM PDT

I do NOT have Babylon as one of the search engines in my Firefox browser. Yet when I opened a new window in my browser, Babylon's search window annoyingly popped up in it. How do I get rid for ever of the Babylon search window which popped up?

I did not find any reference to "Babylon" either in my (Windows 7) Task Manager or the Programs in my Control Panel to be able to get rid of "Babylon".

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Did you check browser add-ons?
Oct 14, 2012 5:08AM PDT
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Thanks, Bob
Oct 14, 2012 11:27AM PDT

Bob,

My "Babylon" problem was blessedly rather simple the way I had stated in my previous post, and a simple solution to it too occurred to me after I read your reply. So this note is to thank you for your prompt reply, and also to let other readers know of the simple solution in the event that they have the same simple "Babylon" problem.

After following your suggestion and checking my browser add-ons for both Firefox --my default browser-- and IE, I found that there were no "Babylon"-related add-ons for either browsers. However, as I had written, Babylon's search web page used to strangely pop up when I opened a new window in either Firefox or IE. Other than that annoyance, I have not noticed any serious problem like a virus infection in my computer through "Babylon." (I have AVG protection.).

It occurred to me to go to Tools > Options > General > Home Page, and look up
the web page link which was already there. I found that Babylon had indeed SOMEHOW sneakily introduced its search link as my Home Page. So I just replaced it with the one which I wanted, and my problem is solved.

Thanks again. You and other moderators at CNET keep doing a marvelous job helping probably thousands of people with their diverse problems.

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My bad.
Oct 14, 2012 1:31PM PDT

Just last month I cleaned this off my Dad's PC and while Grif's scanners did the job the HOME PAGE was a babylon.com site. So one last step. Sorry if I forget to mention this one from time to time.
Bob

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Babylon Uninstall
Dec 10, 2012 12:02AM PST

Uninstall Babylon then use the following Add-on form Firefox

SearchReset 0.2 No Restart
by Gavin Sharp

This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.