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How do I get rid of the annoying box that keeps poping up asking me to confirm that I no longer want firefox as my homepage?

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I changed my homepage away from firefox and now am being punished with an annoying box that pops up every time I log on.... asking me, of course, if I want to return to firefox for my homepage. Please tell me how I can get rid of that box? If I cannot figure it out I will remove firefox from my computer altogether. I won't be harassed into doing something that I don't want to do. Somebody must have thought this popup trick was a pretty clever strategy, but it is not --- and it clearly is not funny!!!! Thank you!

John C. Alessio

I changed my homepage away from firefox and now am being punished with an annoying box that pops up every time I log on.... asking me, of course, if I want to return to firefox for my homepage. Please tell me how I can get rid of that box? If I cannot figure it out I will remove firefox from my computer altogether. I won't be harassed into doing something that I don't want to do. Somebody must have thought this popup trick was a pretty clever strategy, but it is not --- and it clearly is not funny!!!! Thank you! John C. Alessio

All Replies (5)

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This is not from Firefox. It could be an add-on, or your protection programs.

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No, it has to be something triggered by firefox software. I have changed my homepage before and never had this problem. I certainly didn't have this problem when I changed TO firefox initially.

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The popup box says: "Firefox Homepage Change Notification.....your homepage has been changed by another application"

then it gives me two choices:

"revert to my previous homepage"

"continue with the new homepage"

And it comes up every time I log on!

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options)
key, and then starting Firefox. A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh).

Is the problem still there?

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jcalessio9 said

I have changed my homepage before and never had this problem. I certainly didn't have this problem when I changed TO firefox initially.

That's exactly why you should be suspicious that your system may have become infected...

Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons, hijackers, and other troublemakers. I know it seems long, but it's not that bad.

(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Take out as much trash as possible here. (If in doubt, feel free to post a screenshot.)

Be especially suspicious of anything with a name similar to SearchProtect or other "protect" names.

(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
    firefox.exe "about:addons"

In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions. Bear in mind that all extensions are optional.

Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.

Any improvement?

(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.