See:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_search_or_add_new_engines

I tried the steps you suggested in your reply and the problem remains. My search window has no search engines available in it. Just an image of a page with folded corner icon and a drop down triangle beneath. If I click on the drop down, my only option is "manage search engines". When I click on this, I am taken to the add-on's pages, where a diligent search of the available apps there turned up no google, wiki, bing, yahoo, etc. Please help....I hate using IE.

Do you still see any default search engines in the searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\)?

If not then do a clean (re)install and delete the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\).

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

• Firefox 9.0.x: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html

Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible.

• Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall the current version or you lose your bookmarks and other data in the profile folder.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

• It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox

Your bookmarks and other profile data are stored elsewhere in the Firefox Profile Folder and won't be affected by a reinstall, but make sure that you do not select to remove personal data if you uninstall Firefox.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Clean_reinstall

Thanks for the reply, at the beginning of your message, you said:

'Do you still see any default search engines in the searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\)? '

Yes, the following files are there: (all are .xml)

amazon.com bing ebay google twitter wikipedia yahoo

since your message says to do a clean install if they are NOT there, and they are....I'm wondering what to try next.

You can try to delete the search.sqlite and search.json files in the Firefox Profile Folder.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Open Containing Folder

There was no search.sqlite file...I deleted the search.json file. No change.

Maybe that is the problem if there is no search.sqlite database file.

Are there any other files with a search name?

Yes, there is a file: "search.RDF" also, the search.json file has reappeared, still no search.sqlite

Also, in the Modified Preferences list, the entry for keyword.URL reads "http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q="

I found this by searching the page for the word "google". I checked my other computer, also Firefox 9 and working correctly, and this modified preference does not exist. Is this a clue? Thanks RW

Another clue...when I go the the drop-down in the search window and to "manage search engines", the list is empty, buttons are greyed out.

The keyword.URL pref is used to set the search behavior of the location bar if you do not type a valid URL with full domain like www.xxx.com and doesn't have affect on the search bar.

The file search.RDF must be a leftover from an old Firefox 1.0 or 1.5 installation, so you can remove that file as it is no longer used. If you are really using that profile for such a long time then it might be time to create a new profile to get rid of all those remnants from a long past.

See "Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#w_8-make-a-new-profile

See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

I tried opening firefox with a new profile and there was no change. In desperation, I copied profile folder to desktop, completely uninstalled, and reinstalled firefox. Copied old bookmarks and cookies to new profile folder, then restored bookmarks from these files. It seems to be working so far...at least the search bar is back and working and bookmarks are intact. I guess it was a bad install causing the problem. I still need to get a few things working yet, but have not more time for this now. It's been an all-day project. thanks for the help.