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Address bar search is not working

harlleye
harlleye
Posted

When I type keywords into the address bar, it used to return a list of google search results. Now, it returns "The address isn't valid". I know I can use the search bar to search google, but the ability to search keywords straight from the address bar is my number one favourite feature of Firefox and I want it back.

The problem started after I returned the keyword.URL setting in about:config to default after it was maliciously changed to some Russian search/spam site, which also added a bunch of useless links to my bookmarks bar. This is the second time this has happened, no idea how, but the first time I fixed it the address bar search started working again right away.

I have not installed any new plugins or add-ons recently.

I have checked that keyword.enabled is set to true, and keyword.URL is blank, which are the default settings. Are there any other settings that might have been changed/that I should change to make this work again?

Chosen solution

by jscher2000

You could try this add-on to see whether it cures it: SearchReset

If not, you could use this for keyword.URL, which appears to be the default in Firefox 14 (just based on what I get running a search): 


https://www.google.com/search?ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&q=
Read this answer in context 8
  • Question details
    Product Firefox

Additional System Details

Installed Plug-ins

  • Shockwave Flash 11.3 r300
  • Next Generation Java Plug-in 1.6.0_33 for Mozilla browsers
  • NPRuntime Script Plug-in Library for Java(TM) Deploy
  • Google Update
  • VLC media player Web Plugin 2.0.2
  • A plugin to detect whether the Adobe Application Manager is installed on this machine.
  • The QuickTime Plugin allows you to view a wide variety of multimedia content in Web pages. For more information, visit the QuickTime Web site.
  • iTunes Detector Plug-in
  • 4.1.10329.0
  • Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape "9.5.1"
  • Easy and convenient screenshot tool
  • Picasa plugin
  • Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) plug-in for Mozilla browsers
  • Office Plugin for Netscape Navigator

Application

  • User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1

More Information

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jscher2000
jscher2000
  • Top 10 Contributor
1177 solutions 11120 answers
Posted

Chosen Solution

You could try this add-on to see whether it cures it: SearchReset

If not, you could use this for keyword.URL, which appears to be the default in Firefox 14 (just based on what I get running a search): 


https://www.google.com/search?ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&q=
jscher2000
jscher2000
  • Top 10 Contributor
1177 solutions 11120 answers
Posted

It's also possible that your system is not yet clean. This isn't the best board for removal of sophisticated malware, but I can at least suggest two tools for supplemental scans:

Malwarebytes Anti-malware : http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free

SUPERAntiSpyware : http://www.superantispyware.com/

cor-el
cor-el
  • Top 10 Contributor
  • Moderator
8459 solutions 79889 answers
Posted

You can also check for possibly installed extension.

If you do not keep changes after a restart then see:

harlleye
harlleye
Posted

Question owner

Thanks for the links. I have the unpleasant feeling that the recurring nature of the original bug means my system isn't clean, so hopefully these will help get rid of the original issue.