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Removing Yahoo Toolbar in Firefox 12

  • 14 replies
  • 171 have this problem
  • 25 views
  • Last reply by jammer918

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I cannot get rid of the Yahoo Toolbar in Firefox 12. It does not show up under extensions or add-ons.

I have eliminated all Yahoo programs (Toolbar, IM, and some updating program) in the control panel Add/Remove Programs.

I have restarted the Firefox in safe mode. There are still no Yahoo Add-ons or Extensions that show up.

I then went Help | Troubleshooting Information | Show Folder

I clicked on Show Folder.

There's a folder called "Yahoo! Inc". When I open Yahoo Inc., there's another folder called ytoolbar. I have deleted Yahoo! Inc both when Firefox was open and when it was closed. As soon as I restart Firefox, the Yahoo Inc. folder is recreated.

I am unable to remove the Yahoo Inc. folder permanently.

This is one invasive program.

How do I get rid of it?

I cannot get rid of the Yahoo Toolbar in Firefox 12. It does not show up under extensions or add-ons. I have eliminated all Yahoo programs (Toolbar, IM, and some updating program) in the control panel Add/Remove Programs. I have restarted the Firefox in safe mode. There are still no Yahoo Add-ons or Extensions that show up. I then went Help | Troubleshooting Information | Show Folder I clicked on Show Folder. There's a folder called "Yahoo! Inc". When I open Yahoo Inc., there's another folder called ytoolbar. I have deleted Yahoo! Inc both when Firefox was open and when it was closed. As soon as I restart Firefox, the Yahoo Inc. folder is recreated. I am unable to remove the Yahoo Inc. folder permanently. This is one invasive program. How do I get rid of it?

Chosen solution

The problem is solved. I deleted one subdirectory in Extensions folder, even though no extensions were visible. Here's a screenshot: http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/319/extensionssubdirectoryamw.jpg

Here's where the folder was located: C:\Users\KHS\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\is9gtev5.default\extensions

The highlighted subdirectory contained a lot of Yahoo stuff. So I just blasted the entire subdirectory. The other key point was that the subdirectory was created on the Yahoo installation date.

Problem is solved.

Read this answer in context 👍 16

All Replies (14)

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1. Go to C:\program files\Mozilla Firefox\

2. Find yahoo.xml file and delete it.

Also, can you post the screenshot of your extensions.

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Hi sunveer, thank you for replying.

1) There is no yahoo.xml file. (see below) 2) Yes, I will post a screenshot. I believe (not sure) this information is also shown in my question beside "System Details" on the right hand side.

Add-ons http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7663/firefoxaddonsx.jpg Silverlight is the last Add-on.


Yahoo.xml In the C:\program files\Mozilla Firefox\, there is no Yahoo.xml. Here's a list of the files in alphabetical order: http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7815/programfilesmozillafire.jpg

Offending Yahoo Directory Here's a picture of my Firefox profile where the offending Yahoo directory is shown: http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4022/firefoxprofile.jpg

I look forward to your and others' assistance.

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I requested you to post a screenshot of your extensions not plugins.. You are right I have already seen your plugins in the system details but not the extensions. So, please post screenshot of extensions.

I recommend to create a new profile

Note : Please mark the problem as "Solved" if any reply helped you out.

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Thank you for your reply sunveer. There's no extensions as shown in the following picture:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9207/firefoxextension.jpg

Before creating a new profile, I'd like to remove Yahoo. I don't like having a program that keeps inserting directories and files. I really don't want this thing lurking in my pc.

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I am telling to create new profile only to remove Yahoo folder.

Also, search your entire system with the word yahoo and see if there is any file anywhere else associated with firefox.

Note : Please mark the problem as "Solved" if any reply helped you out.

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I want to address the root cause of my problem. That is, I want to remove Yahoo's existence from my computer. I don't merely want to create another profile while Yahoo is lurking around in the background. I want Yahoo gone.

Here's the latest Yahoo files. I installed Yahoo stuff yesterday, 5/16/2012. http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7710/yahoofiles.jpg

I appreciate your assistance.

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I went to the Firefox profile and looked in the extensions section. One of the subdirectories has more subdirectories that were created yesterday. Please see below: http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/3364/firefoxextensionsnewfil.jpg

What is an rdf file, as in "install.rdf"?

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Delete all the files that you searched as given in this pic http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7710/yahoofiles.jpg to the recycle bin so that in case any problem occurs, you can restore those files.

Note : Please mark the problem as "Solved" if any reply helped you out.

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sunveer, I have created another profile. When I opened up Firefox with a new profile, all additional toolbars were missing--a good thing. One problem, though, is that I am missing my Norton 360 toolbar. So I have posted a message over at Norton. For those interested, please see: Norton 360 Toolbar For A New Profile In Firefox 12.

Once I get that problem resolved, then I will port over my bookmarks and passwords. Those are relatively easy to do, taking only five or ten minutes.

So I am getting close to a final resolution. Thank you for your help. :)

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Just another thought. Could I simply save my bookmarks and passwords, and then uninstall Firefox? And, could I go to a directory (not sure which one) and delete all remaining directories and files?

Would delete C:\Users\KHS\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\ ?

Would this procedure repopulate my add-ons such as the following?

- Wacom
- Adobe Acrobat
- Logitech
- Microsoft Office
- NVidia
- Rim

Modified by Stecyk

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Chosen Solution

The problem is solved. I deleted one subdirectory in Extensions folder, even though no extensions were visible. Here's a screenshot: http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/319/extensionssubdirectoryamw.jpg

Here's where the folder was located: C:\Users\KHS\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\is9gtev5.default\extensions

The highlighted subdirectory contained a lot of Yahoo stuff. So I just blasted the entire subdirectory. The other key point was that the subdirectory was created on the Yahoo installation date.

Problem is solved.

Modified by Stecyk

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I had problems following the discussion above. I managed to find the hidden directory containing all the Yahoo Toolbar files from this article: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

The directory is %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile folder>\extensions\<Yahoo Toolbar directory>

For example, mine was C:\Users\Chris Hollis\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\uh07uw1k.default\extensions\{635abd67-4fe9-1b23-4f01-e679fa7484c1}

Deleting this directory did get rid of the Yahoo Toolbar for me.

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Some general comments that may help

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For XP: From Mozilla's Firefox menu click on HELP, then Troubleshooting Information, then click "Reset Firefox"....RESTART Firefox and the Yahoo! toolbar is no longer attached...

Modified by jammer918