zillla said

forgot to mention using the small search field next to the address field, you have default search, next in a list search with (google listed) and then in my case add mozilla support, If I enter a search subject into the small field then click on the mag glass and select google it searches google and returns google , but this would need to be done each and every time if you select the default search from the mag list it searches in yahoo.

We know this should not be happening. If you get the chance before doing the clean install lets see if we can capture what happens. Please try the following

1. (do not press Enter) Type something short in to the right hand search bar. hello works fine
2. Use Keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Q
   That opens the Network Console
3. Now (with the cursor still in the searchbar) press Enter
   that does the search and reports details
4. The console info will probably have scrolled. Put the cursor in the console middle left. Use the keyboard up arrow to scroll up to the first entry.
5. Take a screenshot and attach it to your next post.

The info may give a clue as to what is happening. There is other info we could extract but let's see what it looks like.

Don't worry if you don't see this post till later. It is not in any way vital or time critical.

I think some progress has been made , I was about to look at the public file , and was looking through some of my notes, I had made from the pass. Although I cant remember I must have had this issue before , I had jotted down a work around , so I thought I would give it ago and so far it seems to have worked, dont ask me how it works as I have no idea.

uninstall thunderbird, restart sys, do a scan just to see if anything was going undetected and if so delete, (My scan was clear). Restart once more and download a new version of thunderbird, install and do one more reboot. I re launched FF checked the right hand search field and google icon was in the default position, up to then, google was in the lower position and a blank folder in the default position. At present when I search using the right hand field it returns in google.

I dont know if you have an explanation, the only thing I can think of is shared files that were incompatable with prog versions and by doing the above it has refreshed the shared file , This suggestion could be rubbish.

That may be what happened.

zillla said

.... I dont know if you have an explanation, the only thing I can think of is shared files that were incompatable with prog versions and by doing the above it has refreshed the shared file , This suggestion could be rubbish.

That explanation should be rubbish BUT part of it is credible.

Mozilla Applications ideally have at least one separate profile for each separate Application, and if there are additional installs or version each one also has its own profile.

The Thunderbird and Firefox profile should be separate. The applications though are quite flexible as to where the profiles can live. I know it is possible for Firefox profiles to be shared between different versions of Firefox, different users, even different Operating Systems. All recipes for problems, as is mingling with other files and folders.

I do not know if you have more than one user on your System. You should check the location of each Firefox and Thunderbird profile. They both use similar methods to check easily from an open application. If any profile is shared let me know and we will make sure they are re-arranged and put in more sensible separate locations.

• Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data_how-do-i-find-my-profile
• Profiles - Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data_how-to-find-your-profile

Background information - including expected locations. See articles

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder
• No need to read, but also http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox & http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird

.... I was about to look at the public file ....

as in

Log in to your domain name root ....  
Open up the public_html directory. 

Hmmm. that was not really applicable. Your other idea was good though.

sorry only one user ever on this machine

location of profile FF:- C:\Users\batman\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

location of profile TB:- C:\Users\batman\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles

happy to say that after booting system this morning Google still default and working nothing has altered,

Could windows update have anything to do with FF / TB issues. I have noticed that any software changes I have made, has resulted with some heavy duty updates, one was for 244 updates. FF & TB is the only software that has had any changes of late. (since this thread started) not sure what going on there either, I halted the updates and opted to manually install anything I was aware I needed, IE ms office updates. On another occassion 122 and they took all night to install. although there is nothing wrong leaving pc on overnight I personally feel and silly as it may seem that should anything happen I would be unaware. Maybe I should get a baby monitor!

once again thanks for your comments

Maybe somehow Thunderbird was sharing the Firefox profile but is not doing so after you reinstalled. That did seem unlikely though and a reversion would have caused Thunderbird to lose track of emails or Firefox to lose bookmarks and logins, so you would notice a change. You are using standard & separate profile locations now.

Windows updates can impact on Firefox but it is not very common. It is a good idea to keep Windows updated, and the updates are more likely to go smoothly if done frequently. What is probably more likely to affect Firefox regarding speed is its own updates and that of security software.

Searches going wrong is often malware. There are moneymaking and moneymaking advertising opportunities from corrupting Firefox searching. Some malware will have a serious impact on the computer it may even result in the computer taking part in email spamming and malicious attacks.

Another good practice is to set up a none Admin Operating System account for day to day use and activities, and password protect your initial computer logins on your daily and Admin accounts. That can help reduce the damage that malware can inflict.

would you happen to have any advice on FF going to sleep , I now find that If I leave FF for an estimated 30 it takes an age to wake up , it sits there seemingly doing nothing. It does finally wake up but is very laggey (if thats a word) same with TB for some reason they seem yo hibernate its no good if a quick email is needed send or receive or a quick search this happens if the system is left it seems ok all the time there is activity on the pc.

If you leave an application inactive possibly your OS is then starting up lower priority tasks such as disk indexing or updating of security software.