hello, i don't think a host file would be successful in addressing the problem, since it sounds that the problem is already on your system. try those steps instead:

1. please go to the firefox menu ≡ > addons > extensions & remove any suspicious entries (toolbars, things that you have not installed intentionally, don't know what purpose they serve, etc).
2. also go to the windows control panel / programs and remove all toolbars or potentially unwanted software from there.
3. finally, run a full scan of your system with different security tools like the free version of malwarebytes & adwcleaner which are both specialised in removing adware and browser hijackers.

Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page

Haaaaaaaaaa, I run Linux and do not have a unknown toolbar.

I currently have removed Firefox again, because of the Bing Invasion problem. Firefox was fine, and only required an occasional cleanup managing search engines as does Opera & Chrome. But now that Firefox has embraced Bing's money it seems that the newest browser has been designed/encoded to install Bing often.

Maybe that is part of the financial agreement between Microsoft/Yahoo & Mozilla I haven't got a clue. What I am currently doing is not installing Firefox, until I can find a permanent method to keep Bing out of my computer.

Blocking host files has always been a solid way to cut down on computer advertising. Blocking the correct host files, should work well to keep the Bing Virus at bay.

I am certain I am not the only person that is having this problem, what we all need is a secure method to eliminate the reoccurring problem of a new Bing install.

sorry i didn't realise you were on linux - the above instructions are obviously intended for windows systems. mozilla has a search deal with yahoo in the us (not bing or microsoft) which means that yahoo is the default engine. however users have of course the possibility to change it to any other engine of their choosing (refer to Search bar - add, change and manage search engines on Firefox) - if such a custom selection doesn't have an effect, something else will be wrong. in this case, could you reinstall firefox and then go to the firefox menu ≡ > help ? > troubleshooting information, copy the contents of that page and paste them here into a reply on the forum? this might give us a clue what is going on...

For the record: Yahoo search is Microsoft Bing, with a different name.

Yahoo search was a great search engine in the past, that knowledge was given to Microsoft to improve Bing, and Yahoo signed an financial agreement with Microsoft to use Bing.

I can remove Bing, but it always returns in 6 hours, or in several days. It has the qualities of malware, in that it keeps reappearing. There is no method I can find of keeping Bing search off my system, other than to not install Firefox.

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 34.0.5 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:34.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/34.0 Multiprocess Windows: 0/1

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days

All Crash Reports

Extensions

Graphics

Adapter Description: X.Org -- Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV670 Device ID: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV670 Driver Version: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.5 GPU Accelerated Windows: 0/1 Basic Vendor ID: X.Org WebGL Renderer: X.Org -- Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV670 windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: cairo AzureContentBackend: cairo AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

Important Modified Preferences

browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 1 browser.places.importBookmarksHTML: false browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20141203173539 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20141126041045 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 34.0.5 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 34.0.5 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1421161010 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.1 media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1421161010 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1420584204 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1420584204

Important Locked Preferences

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.7 Version in use: 4.10.7

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.17.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.17.2 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.17.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.17.2 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.17.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.17.2 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.17.2 Version in use: 3.17.2

Experimental Features

Check the programs that are on your computer

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

Go thru the list. If you find something that you don't know what it is, use a web search.

Both Bing and Yahoo search engine plugins come with Firefox. And in the US Yahoo is the default search engine as of Firefox 34.

Load this internal URI in Firefox (in the Location Bar and hit Enter).

chrome://browser/content/search/engineManager.xul

Then you can click on and highlight a Search Engine, and then use the Remove button in the lower-right corner to remove any search engines that you don't want to have.

Then go into Options > Search and select a different default search engine. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/search-bar-add-change-manage-search-engines-firefox#w_set-a-default-search-engine