How do I prevent unauthorized changes to my home page and search engine options?
For example, one program I downloaded changed my home page to open up to their search engine. Then I saw their search engine was added as an option. Every time I open a new tab, the same page opens up, when I want a blank page if I click to open a new tab
Wšě wotmołwy (1)
It sounds like you have a third party program that has taken over your search engine, home page, and/or the default new tab page. Fortunately, this can be remedied easily:
- Click the menu button
and choose Add-ons.
- In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Extensions panel.
- Select the toolbar you wish to remove.
- Click the Remove button.
- Click "Restart now" if it pops up. Your tabs will be saved and restored after the restart.
After Firefox restarts, install the Search Reset Tool. This will remove the rest of the traces of this program from your Firefox. Afterward, you can change your home page back to a blank page.
For further information, please read Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page.
Be careful with applications you install - some are bundled with other applications which can be malware, some of which change browser preferences like you have experienced. You can download tools which prevent changes to your preferences, just be sure to disable them when you actually need to make changes. More information can be found in the How to fix preferences that won't save article.
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