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Firefox default start page uses facemoods search engine instead of google

  • 9 replies
  • 168 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by LCOMP

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Hi, I have issue with Firefox. Today I’ve notice that when I’m using search option on default Firefox 4.0 start page (about:home), results are displayed with Facemoods search engine instead of Google. I have uninstalled Facemoods from system and Firefox, yet it didn't work.

Hi, I have issue with Firefox. Today I’ve notice that when I’m using search option on default Firefox 4.0 start page (about:home), results are displayed with Facemoods search engine instead of Google. I have uninstalled Facemoods from system and Firefox, yet it didn't work.

Chosen solution

There have been reports about Ask and Yahoo getting set as the search engine for the about:home "search container".
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/769519 - trustnoone's posting
Try resetting those two prefs and see what happens.

Type about:config in the URL bar and hit Enter.
If you see the warning, you can confirm that you want to access that page.

browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone
Right-click each one and select Reset.

Read this answer in context 👍 4

All Replies (9)

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I haven't heard of this one before. The uninstall must have left behind a few settings.

The page corresponding to "about:home" must be set in a hidden preference. You can search for and reset it using the about:config feature.

(1) Type or page about:config in the address bar and press Enter (click the button promising to be careful, and please be careful)

(2) In the filter box, type or paste facemoods and pause while Firefox searches

(3) The bolded lines show changes from the original Firefox setup. Some you might want to save, but mostly you would want to reset them to default. Right-click each one you want to change and choose Reset.

This blog post describes an additional fix for the address bar search feature if you use that: Fly With Me: Remove Facemood From Firefox.

Finally, I found a very long cleanup guide on the Spybot S&D forums which might be useful if the above doesn't solve it: Manual Removal Guide for Toolbar.Facemood - Safer-Networking Forums.

Does it work?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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Thanks, but unfortunately it didn't work

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Chosen Solution

There have been reports about Ask and Yahoo getting set as the search engine for the about:home "search container".
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/769519 - trustnoone's posting
Try resetting those two prefs and see what happens.

Type about:config in the URL bar and hit Enter.
If you see the warning, you can confirm that you want to access that page.

browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone
Right-click each one and select Reset.

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Thank you very much!

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When I restart Firefox, it uses facemoods as search engine again and both browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID and browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone keep changing from default to user set

browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID changes value to "20110413222027" and browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone to "rv:2.0.1"

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I have the same problem and literally nothing can solve this. Maybe facemoods modified Firefox' files?

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This should work:

Type about:config in the URL bar and hit Enter. If you see the warning, you can confirm that you want to access that page.

Right-click each one of these and select Reset.

browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone browser.search.selectedEngine browser.search.defaultenginename

(the last two will containt 'Facemoods Search' or similar)

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Worked! Thank you very much!

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Hi, I had the same problem, Try right-clicking on your search bar and you should get 'edit search engines'. There you can reset your default search engine and delete facemoods. Hope this helps!