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Resolved Question

Restoring Google as my default Firefox Search engine

Feb 26, 2016 6:51PM PST

The "Ask" folks surreptitiously managed to replace my default Firefox Google Search engine with Ask..

With Firefox's hazy procedure stated in its Tools> Options, I am not able to restore Google as my search engine.

Please help.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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

Best Answer

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remove ask
Feb 26, 2016 8:27PM PST

check your firefox app and see if you have an ask app, toolbar or plugin. get rid of it. Also go to the operating systems add/remove program (cannot be specific since no os was mention) and make sure nothing from ask is there.

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-the-Ask-Toolbar

you may also be able to remove it by doing a system restore to a restore point prior to when it installed.

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Thank you very much!
Feb 26, 2016 9:03PM PST

By restoring my computer system to yesterday's time marker, I got rid of the Ask search engine's URL, which had got surreptitiously "embedded" earlier today so as to make Ask search window appear every time I opened a new tab.

I am also able to have Google as my default search engine whenever I enter whatever search words in Firefox's "Search or enter address" window.

Thanks for the above most straightforward solution for getting rid of stealthy Ask. I had not thought of that solution!

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Answer
Clarification regarding my above problem
Feb 26, 2016 8:13PM PST

I have chosen in the past NOT to have a Search window in the tool bars. Rather, I have preferred all along in the past to have Google search as my home page in Firefox.

The above is what I want back in my Firefox browser.

In Firefox's Tools > Options, there is a menu item for having whichever desired search engine as one's default; however, when I select there Google as my default search engine, my doing that is somehow ineffective. The Ask search window's URL somehow continues to appear as my home page URL EVEN AFTER I try to remove it in my home page URL choice! The whole thing is puzzling.