New tab automatically loads search conduit
I've been having terrible trouble with an unwanted service called search conduit which has wormed its way into my firefox. First it changed my homepage, which I reverted. Then whenever I searched something in the address bar, instead of google, search conduit would handle it instead. I read some other questions on here, and found out how to stop this by changing the browser search value in about:config.
However, one problem remains. Every time I open a new tab, instead of being a blank tab like it used to, search conduit's page loads instead. So I went to about:config and changed browser.newtab.url to about:blank, which is what other answers that I read suggested. Problem solved, or so I thought. But nothing has changed; when I open a new tab it's not blank - it's still search conduit.
This is beyond a joke. It's actually disobeying orders. It's "overruling" me! I was going to uninstall firefox and download it again, but that's too much hassle what with bookmarks and the like.
How do I purge the devious search conduit once and for all? I've looked in add-ons and plugins but I can't find it. I'm at my wits end.
Chosen solution
by TylerdownerScan for Malware
Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try some of the following programs to scan for malware:
- MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
- TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility
- Microsoft Security Essentials (A good permanent anti-virus if you don't already have one)
Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.
Reset Firefox
The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions, Open websites, and some Preferences.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
- Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
- Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
- Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the Reset Firefox – easily fix most problems article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Read this answer in context 3Helpful replies
I just reset firefox, which fixed it. It also got rid of all my extensions, which I had to hunt down again. But it was worth it. Thanks all.
Go to answer 2u may get answers to failures, and get some knowledge about its damages here: (link removed by mod)
there are also steps to follow up best wishes
Go to answer 1Additional System Details
Installed Plug-ins
- np-mswmp
- Shockwave Flash 11.4 r402
- Google Update
- McAfee MSC FF plugin DLL
- iTunes Detector Plug-in
- Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape 10.1.4
- The QuickTime Plugin allows you to view a wide variety of multimedia content in Web pages. For more information, visit the QuickTime Web site.
- 4.1.10329.0
- RealNetworks(tm) RealDownloader Chrome Background Extension Plug-In
- RealNetworks(tm) RealDownloader HTML5VideoShim Plug-In
- RealDownloader Plugin
- NPRuntime Script Plug-in Library for Java(TM) Deploy
- GEPlugin
- NVIDIA 3D Vision Streaming plugin for Mozilla browsers
- NVIDIA 3D Vision plugin for Mozilla browsers
- NPWLPG
- McAfee Virtual Technician plugin for Mozilla (Gecko Version: 1.8b1)
- The plug-in allows you to open and edit files using Microsoft Office applications
- Office Authorization plug-in for NPAPI browsers
Application
- User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0
More Information
Chosen Solution
Scan for Malware
Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try some of the following programs to scan for malware:
- MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
- TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility
- Microsoft Security Essentials (A good permanent anti-virus if you don't already have one)
Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.
Reset Firefox
The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions, Open websites, and some Preferences.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
- Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
- Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
- Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the Reset Firefox – easily fix most problems article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Did you try Safe mode disabled all extensions to check whether one of them is causing this?
You can reset some preferences to the default with the SearchReset extension:
Note that the SearchReset extension only runs once and then uninstalls automatically, so it won't show on the "Firefox > Add-ons" page (about:addons).
If you do not keep changes after a restart then you can check for problems with preferences and try to rename or delete the prefs.js file and possible numbered prefs-##.js files and a possible user.js file to reset all prefs to the default values.
Helpful Reply
I just reset firefox, which fixed it. It also got rid of all my extensions, which I had to hunt down again. But it was worth it. Thanks all.
Helpful Reply
u may get answers to failures, and get some knowledge about its damages here: (link removed by mod)
there are also steps to follow up best wishes
Modified by Tylerdowner
I resolved this issue :) finally by my own!! it took 1 week for me. lol conduit search came from BITTORRENT named bittorrent control toolbar.
step 1- reset from about:config [not worked for me:( ] step 2- removed %temp% files and removed browsing data from browser. step 3- go to "firefox startmenu icon on top"--->add-ons-->plugins--> disabled those stuffs which looked me unfamiliar. step 4- go to "firefox startmenu icon on top"--->add-ons-->extensions----->removed all bittorrent stuffs and unfamiliar alien things. step 5- installed firefox addon named "newtab homepage". step 6- restarted firefox. IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!