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My Firefox browser keeps opening up Bing when I open a new tab
So the other week I downloaded a program called "Any Video Converter" to help me on a project I was working on, and I guess it must've been laced with some malware virus because whenever I open a new tab in Firefox, my browser automatically opens it up in Bing. I tested it out in my Chrome browser but it only affected Firefox.
I ran a scan in Malware Bytes Anti-Malware but it didn't detect anything... :c
Has this happened to anyone else? How do I get rid of this virus!?
Asịsa ahọpụtara
I don't know what else you might have tried so far, so I'll try to address a number of common issues with the new tab page. First, the setting is hidden, so here's how you can change it:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste newtab and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the browser.newtab.url preference and enter your preferred page:
- Page thumbnails (default) => about:newtab
- Blank tab => about:blank
- Built-in Firefox home page => about:home
- Any other page => full URL to the page
Press Ctrl+t to open a new tab and verify that it worked. Fixed?
If problems persist, some potential diagnoses and remedies:
If Firefox won't let you edit this setting: you may have something called SearchProtect on your system. This needs to be removed from the Windows Control Panel. If the status says "locked" we will need to help you investigate an "autoconfig" file.
If Firefox lets you save your change but ignores it: one of your extensions may be overriding it. You can review, disable, and/or remove extensions on the add-ons page. Either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Extensions. Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right and disable (or remove) anything unknown.
If the change works during your session, but at the next startup is back to the unwanted page: you might have a user.js file in your personal Firefox settings folder (your Firefox profile folder). This article describes how to track down and remove the file: How to fix preferences that won't save.
Any luck?
Gụọ azịza a na nghọta 👍 3All Replies (3)
Asịsa Ahọpụtara
I don't know what else you might have tried so far, so I'll try to address a number of common issues with the new tab page. First, the setting is hidden, so here's how you can change it:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste newtab and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the browser.newtab.url preference and enter your preferred page:
- Page thumbnails (default) => about:newtab
- Blank tab => about:blank
- Built-in Firefox home page => about:home
- Any other page => full URL to the page
Press Ctrl+t to open a new tab and verify that it worked. Fixed?
If problems persist, some potential diagnoses and remedies:
If Firefox won't let you edit this setting: you may have something called SearchProtect on your system. This needs to be removed from the Windows Control Panel. If the status says "locked" we will need to help you investigate an "autoconfig" file.
If Firefox lets you save your change but ignores it: one of your extensions may be overriding it. You can review, disable, and/or remove extensions on the add-ons page. Either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Extensions. Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right and disable (or remove) anything unknown.
If the change works during your session, but at the next startup is back to the unwanted page: you might have a user.js file in your personal Firefox settings folder (your Firefox profile folder). This article describes how to track down and remove the file: How to fix preferences that won't save.
Any luck?
Also, if you haven't done a thorough clean-up, here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons and other hijackers. I know it seems long, but it's really 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. Be suspicious of everything you do not recognize/remember, as malware often uses important or innocent sounding names to discourage you from removing it. Take out as much trash as possible here.
(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.
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.
Success?
I tried the first solution and it fixed the problem! Thank you so much!
Edeziri