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How did ask.com highjack my browser?

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  • 9 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Xircal

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When I turned on my PC this morning, ask.com was the home page, and the only search engine I could use. How did this happen, and did it happen to others?

When I turned on my PC this morning, ask.com was the home page, and the only search engine I could use. How did this happen, and did it happen to others?

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It tends to get installed when you install something unrelated to Firefox like the GOM player for example. There's usually an unobtrusive box with a checkmark in it which you have to remove if you don't want it, but many users are too intent on clicking "Next" to notice.

To get rid of it, do the following.

  1. In the location bar, type about:config and hit Enter.
  2. In the filter at the top, type: keyword.URL
  3. Double click it and remove whatever's in there. You'll see it revert to "Default" and "String".
  4. Go to File | Exit
  5. Restart Firefox, go to the site you want to set as your homepage.
  6. Go to Tools | Options | General.
  7. Make sure it says "Show My Homepage" in the first dropdown menu.
  8. Click the button called "Use Current Pages" to set the homepage to the one you have on the screen.