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No matter what I try firefox constantly defaults to Bing, how do i permanently set it to google?

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  • 5 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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I have followed every guide I can find online, reset firefox more than once, and no matter what I do Bing keeps getting set as my default search engine for the address bar once firefox has been closed and reset. How can I permanently remove Bing as the default engine and have this setting saved so that it is not undone after every update?

I have followed every guide I can find online, reset firefox more than once, and no matter what I do Bing keeps getting set as my default search engine for the address bar once firefox has been closed and reset. How can I permanently remove Bing as the default engine and have this setting saved so that it is not undone after every update?

Chosen solution

This could be an issue caused by AdAware or Web Companion from Lavasoft. You can look for a file named dsengine.js in these locations. You should only find channel-prefs.js in the "defaults\pref" location, any other file found here is suspicious.

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\defaults\pref\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\defaults\pref\

You can look for a file named dsengine.cfg in the main Firefox program folder.

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\

Delete the dsengine.js and dsengine.cfg files when present.

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Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open your Add-ons Manager. Hot key; (<Control> [Mac=<Command>] <Shift> A)

In the Add-ons Manager, on the left, select Extensions. Remove “ Bing “ Anything.

Also look for SafeSearch, SearchAssist Incognito, FileConverter Addon, SearchLock, DiscreteSearch, WebSearch, Findwide Search Engine

Now do the same in the computer’s Programs Folder.

Windows: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs. Mac: Open the Applications folder. Linux: Check your user manual.

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Chosen Solution

This could be an issue caused by AdAware or Web Companion from Lavasoft. You can look for a file named dsengine.js in these locations. You should only find channel-prefs.js in the "defaults\pref" location, any other file found here is suspicious.

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\defaults\pref\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\defaults\pref\

You can look for a file named dsengine.cfg in the main Firefox program folder.

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\

Delete the dsengine.js and dsengine.cfg files when present.