To set your Homepage go to Tools > Options > General > type the correct Homepage and click OK.

Or close Firefox and reopen with your preferred page only, do as above and click Use Current Page

Or start as above and click Restore to Default

If you have problems with preferences, see:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved

You can check in "Windows Control Panel > Programs" for recently installed programs to see if any suspicious software shows up.

• Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Uninstall or change a program
• Click the Installed column to sort by this heading

thank you for the suggestions, however, I tried all of them to no avail. I need something that will work permanently.

Your System Details looks very light/empty. Can you start by giving us the troubleshooting information from the Firefox installation that's having problems. This is an essential step in troubleshooting.

• Click the Firefox button at the top left, then click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information from the sub-menu. If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Help menu at the top and select Troubleshooting Information from the menu.

Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.

• At the top of the page, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
• Now, go back to your forum post and click inside the reply box. Press Ctrl+V to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.

What did you try from the Preferences not saved article?

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved

When does this change to ask.com happen?

Is that only after restarting Firefox or also during the current session?