Yahoo search has kidnapped my searches

[petergo]

hi

running ESR 52.3.0 (32bit ) ........... and do not wish to change
and win 10 pro

past few days when I select open a new tab I get a Yahoo search page in Spanish.

I have in FF options and searches selected Google as a default
In addition, I deleted Yahoo search all that were available in drop down menu

I restarted FF, and it still opens to Yahoo search

I tried to copy the URL for the yahoo page that opens, but the address disappears instantly

appreciate your help to solve this issue please
cheers
peter g

[DanRaisch]

If it's opening to Yahoo Search on launch that's not a search page issue but a home page issue. Open your preferred home page in a new tab, close the tab with Yahoo Search, and then use menu path Tools->Options->General->When Firefox starts->click on the "Use current page" button.

[petergo]

g'day Dan

sorry m8, it's still doing it
I followed your instructions as I understood them
1. opened a preferred page to be home page
2.opened a new tab which comes up Yahoo again
3. closed Yahoo search tab
4. tools/options/general when FF starts and selected use current page
restarted
still opens with Yahoo search ( and in spanish!)

thnx Dan
peter

[DanRaisch]

See the information here to try to change the start page to that selected home page -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.startup.page

[petergo]

Dear Dan

sorry m8, that did not help me, as I do not understand what I am supposed to do, and also when I click on "edit" it tells me I have to have KB account or something like that

can you help me further please, baring in mind, I am an old fart and a dummy <sighs, smiles>

cheers
peter

[DanRaisch]

In the location bar where you would normally enter a URL for a web site, type "about:config" without the quotation marks then press "Enter".

In the "Search" bar at the top of the page displayed, enter "browser.startup.page", again, without quotation marks. Firefox will display that setting with the current value. Right click on that entry to modify the value and enter "!" (without quotes) as your selection. Click on "OK".

Close and restart Firefox and see if the page you set as your home page is displayed at launch.

[Reflective]

Copy/paste the following text in the bold font into the location bar and hit Enter: about:preferences#search

In the Default Search Engine menu at the top do you see Google or Yahoo?

If you see Google, then it sounds like you have some sort of browser hijacker installed. In that particular case download Malwarebytes trial version and run a full scan. You can carry on using it for free after the 12 day trial period expires: https://www.malwarebytes.com/premium/

If on the other hand you see Yahoo at the top click the down arrow to the right of it and select your preferred search engine from the list.

[Happy112]

Kudos for Reflective !

Yahoo Search may be a legitimate search engine, but you may be dealing with search.yahoo.com, which is a browser hijacker, just as Reflective mentioned.

In case of (suspected) malware :

Go to the 3-bar menu (or &nbsp; 'Tools') => Addons => Extensions
and look for any unfamiliar or suspicious looking extensions,
like e.g. :

SafeSearch Incognito
SearchAssist Incognito
Search for Fire Fox 1.6
SafeSearch ch
SafeSearch net
Converter.onesearch org
File Convertor and Search Addon
Findwide Search Engine 1.7

When you find any : remove them.

Do the same in Windows' Control Panel => Programs.

However : most malware will be 'hiding' somewhere , so
let's run malware scans :

Further information can be found in this article :
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tr ... e?cache=no

Run most or all of the listed malware scanners.
They all work differently - what one program doesn't pick up, the other might.

Also see :
https://malwaretips.com/blogs/yahoo-toolbar-removal/

[petergo]

g'day Reflective

I did as you say and thanks for the "text" to copy and paste
I saw'google'

Since your kind words, I received another message from Happy112th

I believe maybe it is a malware thingy
I do run Avast and Malwarebytes free versions and also Malware antiexploiy thingy

On weekends I run eSet scanner

I'm going to do scans now, lots of them, and will post what I find

cheers
peter

[therube]

https://search.yahoo.com

Is legit.
There may be malware domains that play off of something similar to that, but that is legit.


@OP, have you tried...
Safe Mode?
Clearing your (Yahoo) cookies?
Testing in a new, clean Profile?

[Happy112]

https://search.yahoo.com

Is legit.
There may be malware domains that play off of something similar to that, but that is legit.

Have you read the link at the end of my post ?

https://malwaretips.com/blogs/yahoo-toolbar-removal/

We (on the Mozilla support forum) have been dealing with this browser hijacker for quite some time now.

[petergo]

g'day all you blokes that helped me..........
and thanbks for the links

here's the report

1. Avast did not detect anything

2.. Malwarebytes free version did not detect anything

3.. eSet found something called Webcompanion and removed it, and the kicker, and winner, was

4.. Zemana antimalware portable which found 3 things including the yahoosearch.com malware

all's working well again, really apppreciate your help and patience
have a good one
cheers
peter

[Happy112]

Well done, you !
I'm glad everything is back to normal !