How do I get rid of Ask.com as address bar search?
Hi - I need to use Firefox because an online course only works with it. However, I will never use it for anything else unless I can get rid of Ask.com as my default address bar search. I have been through the support files and have tried everything. There is no Ask toolbar. There is no chromewebapp.sqlite file or user.js file (may be wrong on spelling as I'm doing this from memory). I reset keyword.url and changed it to http://www.google.com/search?q=. I reset that other file (something about stone...again, I'm doing this from memory!). I reset Firefox. I completely uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled it.
I believe this is connected to Norton Safe Search. However, the Norton Toolbar is disabled and Safe Search is disabled. I did want to be able to use the Norton Toolbar and never had this problem with it in the past.
Can you help or should I just go back to using Chrome?
All Replies (9)
Hi mad.creator, when you reinstall Firefox usually it picks up the same settings you had before, so it's usually not a solution to configuration problems left in the wake of an add-on.
Could you try running the Search Reset extension to reset all your search providers back to their Googly defaults:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/searchreset/
Any luck?
Well, I have Ubuntu and any time I click on a web page, say to fill in a blank for a contest they are offering, or to go to an item, like shopping, I get a stupid Bing search page instead. Finally got rid of it for now, anyway, by opening browser window, clicking on tools, then on add ons. Then went to extensions and there were two. One was something called Produtools which said it supposedly optimized searching in several different ways. Sounded like the evil source to me so I removed it and no more blasted bing. I detest bing, especially when it interferes with my browsing the internet, etc.
Modified by prairiesun1
I did everything above and that horrible search never left my firefox. I got it out of other browsers and almost gave up on Firefox, but Ask.com wasnt going to make me do that without a fight (because I love Firefox). So, I finally got rid of that invasive browser bar invasion by ask.com when I upgraded to the latest Firefox.
Maybe after doing the suggested steps above, it is necessary to either upgrade or install a fresh copy of Firefox to get the fixes to stick. Before I did that, ask.com kept reappearing even after I adjusted the about:config setting and even after I did the other fixes above.
The ask.com skyscraper in Oakland, CA should be visited by either a) a team of lawyers filing a class action lawsuit for invading people's browser's and stealing their time or b) the FBI who will arrest the leaders for spam tactics.
I am unable to get rid of Ask search toolbar and the browser is CRAP My Firefox browser is inaccessible and unusable. I have uninstalled and downloaded the latest Firefox without success. Why do we not get help from the developer? Why is this problem not listed as a known issue
Help please from Firefox developer.
Hi asknot, there are a number of volunteers who answer questions in this forum. Ask usually enters your browser through an extension. Try this:
(1) Disable ALL nonessential or unrecognized extensions on the following page. The name of the extension may not reveal its affiliation with Ask, so if in doubt, disable.
orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons > Extensions category
If a link to restart Firefox appears above any of the disabled extensions, click the link to complete the disabling process.
(2) Run the Search Reset extension:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/
(3) Check for a user.js file as described in this article: How to fix preferences that won't save.
Does that help?
I tried all of the above, and changing the search back to Google was only part of the problem. First thing I did was change back my "home" page from ask.com. I still had that pesky toolbar, however, and I didn't want to have to go through "View," then close the ask.com toolbar every time I opened Firefox. Then, I tried the "keyword enabled" route and changed as directed, then the proxy route, and they didn't do it either. FINALLY, I went into the add-ins on Firefox and there was the program that was the "carrier" for ask.com, the carrier which I had already uninstalled (or so I thought) through the Control Panel add/remove program scenario. (By the way, ask.com could not be found in the programs to uninstall!) I clicked "remove" on the "add-in," then shut down Firefox, and when I brought it back again, the ask.com toolbar was gone!!! Hope this helps someone. That ask.com is so insidious, it leeches onto the program that it was installed with, making it impossible to find, and thus get rid of it!
I found a add-on extension 'new tab tool'. Removed this and seems to have solved the problem
Modified by szhjcn
I had the same problem and the common solutions didn't work. As it turns out, Ask.com (evil as they are) got sneaky - they added a new Firefox extension called "New Tab" which was overriding new tab default page and address bar search. Uninstalling the New Tab extension did the trick. If you click on New Tab extension, you'll see that it's associated with Ask.com.
Read and sign this petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/oracle-corporation-stop-bundling-ask-toolbar-with-the-java-installer Oracle Corporation: Stop bundling Ask Toolbar with the Java installer!!!
My own laptop get this nasty toolbar last week, and i have to search a lot to remove it completely. Finally removed it with the help of a ask toolbar removal guide. So how is the petition going? Already half years run away and still can see ask toolbar complains everywhere. is it possible to punish Oracle for its nasty deeds?