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"Search the web" search engine is adding itself automatically

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  • 43 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Ubermonkey

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I updated Limewire, before it stopped working, and clicked through the process quickly and didn't notice it was going to install the toolbar and Ask.com search engine until after I'd already said ok. Now, every time I restart Firefox, my default search engine is changed to an unknown generic search engine called "Search the Web". I believe it is adding itself after the browser finishes loading, because when I look at the icon immediately after I open Firefox, it is the Google icon for a moment, then changes to the Search the Web icon (a generic blue/green globe). When I enter a search parameter into the Search the Web engine, I get an error message that says it can not connect to the server.

I go into Manage Search Engines every time and delete it when it appears. I've also uninstalled the Limewire toolbar, checked my add-ons (there was never an ask.com add-on), changed my Tools --> Options preferences back, deleted the Ask.com folder in my program files and checked about:config to make sure all the browser.search.* parameters as well as the keyword.url parameter are set to google.com. I still can't get rid of the search engine. ran Spybot Search and Destroy and it did not report any spyware on my machine. What else can I do to get rid of this?

I updated Limewire, before it stopped working, and clicked through the process quickly and didn't notice it was going to install the toolbar and Ask.com search engine until after I'd already said ok. Now, every time I restart Firefox, my default search engine is changed to an unknown generic search engine called "Search the Web". I believe it is adding itself after the browser finishes loading, because when I look at the icon immediately after I open Firefox, it is the Google icon for a moment, then changes to the Search the Web icon (a generic blue/green globe). When I enter a search parameter into the Search the Web engine, I get an error message that says it can not connect to the server. I go into Manage Search Engines every time and delete it when it appears. I've also uninstalled the Limewire toolbar, checked my add-ons (there was never an ask.com add-on), changed my Tools --> Options preferences back, deleted the Ask.com folder in my program files and checked about:config to make sure all the browser.search.* parameters as well as the keyword.url parameter are set to google.com. I still can't get rid of the search engine. ran Spybot Search and Destroy and it did not report any spyware on my machine. What else can I do to get rid of this?

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Disable all the Test Pilot plugins.

Question 857409