An external source changing the page shown when a new tab is opened.
I recently downloaded some freeware and, without permission, it installed some malware by the name of My Start by Incredibar that hijacked the home page, new tab page, default search engine, and other functions in Firefox.
The removal of the program itself was a simple task, as was disabling and uninstalling the addon it had installed in Firefox. I thought everything was back to normal, but when I went to open a new tab the My Start site appeared instead of the default blank page.
Will a reinstall without deleting user data solve this problem? I would rather not have to pull a full clean reinstall as I have a lot of addons with custom settings and logins.
פתרון נבחר
Firefox needs to be closed when removing the item from Windows Control Panel. Did you remove both items?
After resetting the about:config "mystart" items, Firefox must be restarted for the items to disappear from about:config.
If you edit the user_pref items in prefs.js while Firefox is open and there are "mystart" or "incredibar" preferences in about:config, your changes in the prefs.js file will be overwritten.
Did you try the add-on that I suggested above? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/
You may need to reset Firefox to its default state and start over with a new profile. Read the following and all links in the following carefully for a full understanding of resetting Firefox. See - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems
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Did you remove it from Windows Control Panel? See Full Instructions below. You need to use the search function in about:config to find and reset all "mystart" settings. Instructions for that are in the follow article under "Remove MyStart by IncrediBar in Mozilla Firefox:", step 6. You can also try using the following Add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/
Full removal instructions
Refer to this page below for details and images of the uninstall procedure - http://deletemalware.blogspot.com/2012/07/remove-mystart-by-incredibar-uninstall.html
- top portion of the above page tells you about "My Start by Incredibar"
- under the heading "MyStart by IncrediBar toolbar removal instructions:" on the above page - start by removing the toolbar from Windows Control Panel - remove "Incredibar-Games..." and "Web Assistant..." as shown in the above page
- on the above page, scroll down to the heading "Remove MyStart by IncrediBar in Mozilla Firefox:" and follow all of the steps under that heading
- there are also instructions on the above page for other browsers that you might have installed on your system
Yes, I have tried everything I know to remove all traces of the program from Firefox. I used Windows to get rid of the original program, and then went in and manually cleaned out the residual folders.
I have uninstalled the program and addon, cleaned my registry, flushed my DNS cache, blocked the incredibar domain from placing cookies through Firefox, went into the about:config menu and reset the browser.newtab.url to default setting, and I even went into prefs.js and manually deleted all the user_pref("extensions.incredibar.x" , x); enteries (that persisted after uninstallation of the addon). And still, when I restart Firefox and open a new tab, the My Start page is there.
I have looked for a solution to lock the preferences or block any changes to the about:config menu, but everything i have found is at least several Firefox versions out of date.I have tried everything I know to remove all traces of the program from Firefox.
It looks like other people on the page you posted are having the same problem with the persistent incredibar page appearing when they open a new tab.
פתרון נבחר
Firefox needs to be closed when removing the item from Windows Control Panel. Did you remove both items?
After resetting the about:config "mystart" items, Firefox must be restarted for the items to disappear from about:config.
If you edit the user_pref items in prefs.js while Firefox is open and there are "mystart" or "incredibar" preferences in about:config, your changes in the prefs.js file will be overwritten.
Did you try the add-on that I suggested above? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/
You may need to reset Firefox to its default state and start over with a new profile. Read the following and all links in the following carefully for a full understanding of resetting Firefox. See - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems
השתנתה ב־ על־ידי TheOldFox
Alright! I think you solved it - I didnt have all Firefox processes closed when I edited my prefs.js file.
I've restarted Firefox Several times and restarted my system and the solution seems to be perminant!
So, in conclusion for everyone who comes looking for an answer- follow all of the above directions if you haven't already, then close all Firefox processes and navigate to your prefs.js file, usually:
C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles\[your profile]\prefs.js
and delete all entries beginning with User_Pref("extensions.incredibar.
Save and close.
Thanks much!
Just looked, and the entries are still present in the prefs.js file, but have disappeared from the about:config menu and seem to be benign. Well, im back to normal now! Thanks again.
Did you check for the presence of a user.js file that might re-add the prefs on each start of Firefox?
Ah! I read through that article and incredibar had a generated a user.js file to reconstitute itself. Sneaky...
Thanks for your help!
You're welcome