I downloaded an add-on to have firefox reset itself everytime I close/reopen. Now I want to remove it. It's not listed as an add-on. How can I get rid of it?
I downloaded an add-on to have firefox reset itself every time I close and reopen it. Now I want to remove it, but it's not showing as an add-on. How can I get rid of it?
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Is it a seperate program that can be found in the "Programs" section in the control panel.
What is it called?
I don't believe it was a program - don't see anything new in that section of the control panel anyway. I thought it was an extension/add-on that was only used once and automatically deleted itself. But, a week later my browser is still resetting every time I open/close. Perhaps there's something else wrong that is causing this. I've had yahoo hijacking my search engine also - even after I have done about:config and had my settings set to search google only.
I believe this is what I used in an attempt to get rid of yahoo. Now I still have the yahoo problem and my browser resets itself every time I open/close.
Look thru your add-ons list and make sure you know what each one is
there for. Also,
check the programs that are on your computer
Windows > Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs.
Go thru the list and use a web search to check any that you don't
know what they are.
Troubleshoot Firefox Issues Caused By Malware
SearchReset is supposed to uninstall itself after running once. It shouldn't be working more than once.
Exactly what is being "reset" in Firefox?
You can check the target line in the Firefox desktop shortcut (right-click: Properties) to make sure that nothing is appended after the path to the Firefox program.
Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.
- Download the full Firefox installer and save the file to the desktop
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
- Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
- (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
- (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"
- It is important to delete the Firefox program to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.
LAST RESORT ! ! Reset Firefox
You can check for the presence of a mozilla.cfg file in the Firefox program folder to initialize some prefs.
This also involves the presence of a .js (JScript) file, probably in "defaults\pref" folder, that specifies to process this mozilla.cfg file.
If you have .js files apart from the channel-prefs.js file, that sets app.update.channel, in the defaults\pref folder then open this file in an editor like Notepad and please post its content. Also please post the content of the mozilla.cfg file.
There shouldn't be a mozilla.fcg file present unless you've created it yourself to initialize some prefs.
If you have this mozilla.cfg file then best is to do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before reinstalling a fresh copy of Firefox.
After the computer has either sat idle for about 30 minutes or my browser is closed/reopen: the home page is reset my search engine goes to yahoo passwords and saved form data is gone. Websites like comcast, banks, etc., make me re-verify my account (go through and answer all security questions) or reset my password.
However my internet settings and about:config all have the same/correct settings (save passwords, google as default search engine, etc.,)
I removed and reinstalled firefox. Same dadgum problems....
Are you sure it was an add-on, and not a utility program?
Look thru your add-ons list and make sure you know what each one is
there for. Also,
check the programs that are on your computer
Windows > Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs.
Go thru the list and use a web search to check any that you don't
know what they are.
Did you try a clean reinstall?
Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.
Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
All these programs have free versions.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - AdwCleaner:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml - SuperAntispyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/ - Microsoft Safety Scanner:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx - Windows Defender:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-defender - Spybot Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Kasperky Free Security Scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
- Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446
See also:
- "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
Thank you for all of the replies. I ran all of the anti-spyware that you suggested. The super anti-spyware is the only one that detected any problems. Once I ran it, my computer allowed me to save the home page and passwords again.
The only issue I'm still having is this: when I open a new tab and type something in the toolbar, it opens a yahoo search engine with suggestions. Previously when I did this, it would open up a google search with possible matches. If I restart my computer and try this, it will default to google search. However, once it sits idle for 30 minutes or so it goes to yahoo as I just mentioned.
Download the Mozilla Search Reset {web link} This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.
Thank you. I've tried that, as well as a re-install. Same problems....
You can check the target line in the Firefox desktop shortcut (right-click: Properties) to make sure that nothing is appended after the path to the Firefox program.
Are you sure it was a program and not the user settings? Please check;
Press the <Alt> or <F10> key to bring up the tool bar. Followed by;
Windows; Tools > Options Linux; Edit > Preferences Mac; application name > Preferences
Then Privacy. Let us know what the settings are. Near the bottom of the page is the Clear History. To its right is a settings button. Tell us what all the settings are.
I don't have a desktop shortcut, but thank you for the suggestion.
My privacy settings are: do not track, remember search and form history, accept cookies from sites and clear history when Firefox closes.
It will now allow me to change and save these settings (wasn't allowing me before).
The setting are locked ?
They were. Once I did an reinstall and used some of the malware scans it allowed me to change and save the settings as it normally should.
This yahoo search is the last remaining strange thing that it's doing. And, it only happens when I type something to search directly in the toolbar. At that point it, will open a yahoo page with suggestions of websites instead of a google page with suggestions. (Settings are set to search google as default.)