Firefox Keeps Re-enabling Bing

Cephus404 · 11 Jan 2018

Callender said:

I reckon it's possible that something went wrong with your uninstall. Try installing it again then remove it and check to see that any FF addon was also removed.

Deleted Bing again, reset to Google, reinstalled, told it to leave current settings since it won't let you default to Google within the installation. Uninstalled. Rebooted. Restarted Firefox. Back to Bing.

Went into the registry and cleaned out all keys for Web Companion, reset Google, rebooted, restarted Firefox... back to Bing.

Callender · 11 Jan 2018

Okay I'm out of ideas. Anyone else want to make suggestions?

In the meantime if think of anything to add I will post back here.

Cephus404 · 11 Jan 2018

Callender said:

Okay I'm out of ideas. Anyone else want to make suggestions?

In the meantime if think of anything to add I will post back here.

Yeah, if it was easy, I wouldn't be posting here. Something really bizarre is going on and I have no clue what it might be. Thanks for trying at least.

Callender · 11 Jan 2018

One more idea: Go to Control Panel - switch view to small icons. Click "Internet Options" > Security Tab > Trusted Sites. Remove anything found.

Cephus404 · 11 Jan 2018

Callender said:

One more idea: Go to Control Panel - switch view to small icons. Click "Internet Options" > Security Tab > Trusted Sites. Remove anything found.

Did, the Lavasoft site was in there, deleted it, reset everything, rebooted... Bing is back.

This is driving me crazy. I might just completely trash Firefox, install the 64-bit version and see if the problem follows along.

Cephus404 · 11 Jan 2018

Nope, didn't help. Totally fried Firefox, reinstalled the 64-bit, Bing is still there.

Berton · 11 Jan 2018

Cephus404 said:

Did, the Lavasoft site was in there, deleted it, reset everything, rebooted... Bing is back.

This is driving me crazy. I might just completely trash Firefox, install the 64-bit version and see if the problem follows along.

Export your Bookmarks first the uninstall Firefox. I use the 64-bit version 57.0.4. In testing I closed Firefox, went to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox and ran the firefox.exe file, my add-ins [Appearance] loaded so there may need to be some cleanup after the uninstall, probably something in C:\Users\YOURNAMEHERE\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.

Callender · 11 Jan 2018

From another thread:

If you uninstall FF then reinstall it you need to remove everything before rebootting and reinstalling because otherwise the new install of FF will look for and use your settings from the your old profile.

You could keep the profile backup you made with Hekasoft if you need it because it's stored in a different format.

Callender said:

Get a copy of GeekUninstaller (portable) and run it. https://geekuninstaller.com

Find Firefox in the list of programs and double click it.
Choose yes when deleting profile data.
Allow it to scan for leftovers.
From the results list delete everything directly related to the Firefox Program installation or application data.

Reboot when finished.

Run Cccleaner if you've got a copy. Check here for Firefox leftovers and delete if found:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
Press the [Windows key+R] to open a Run dialog, type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\ and click OK to open the Mozilla folder, then delete the Firefox folder if found.

Reboot.

Download a fresh copy of firefox and install it.

If you still get the problem there must be a toolbar, BHO or other program somewhere. But it's strange how no scanners have picked anything up.

Cephus404 · 11 Jan 2018

The nuclear option does seem to have worked, at least it hasn't reverted back to Bing yet. I'm going to mess around with it for a little bit to see if this has it fixed. Thanks.

Barman58 · 11 Jan 2018

Saw this a little late but immediately thought of a malware owned Scheduled Task due to the persistence of the issue ...

There are some options here... Slightly different method as this creates a search tab, but the concept is similar

New Bing tab at start up | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support

If the issue returns, (hopefully you will never need it)