Google is my DEFAULT search engine.. But, it's been taken over by Bing, and I can't get rid of it. Can anybody help?

Hello JA:

Thanks...  FF allows the user to choose its default search engine, and mine is set to Google..  I did not check my PC's settings.  Gonna do that now. Subsequent to posting my question, I looked for a solution on the internet..  I see that I'm not the only one with the problem, but I didn't find a solution..

This is a fairly new event..  Only a couple weeks, maybe.  I've used FF for years, and google has always worked..  In fact, google has its own window on my menu bar..  Still, when I put a subject IN the google window, Bing does the search.

Strange..

goody

Hmm... That could be a virus or malware too. Have you run a scan?

Hello again, JA:

I'm very security conscious..  I have several layers of virus protection, and scans are run automatically..  But, I can do a manual one, and I'm gonna do that again too..  But, I've had automatic ones since this problem, but I'm gonna do it anyway...

You know, even when I bring up googles website, and plug my search stuff in there, Bing STILL does the search..  It IS like Bing HAS taken over.. 

goody

Downloaded anything recently that may have had adware? *You may want to try restoring all the default engines in your browser. Or you could just use MBAM, it's pretty good at removing Adware / Pups that cause issues like that. This post was edited by ForkNdaRoad at April 16, 2017 12:04 PM MDT

I have been fighting with some kind of malware for about two months now. I got it when I was using McAfee and Malwarebytes. I have thrown every 'removal' program at it and it won't go away. I finally took my PC into a professional that reinstalled Windows and the stupid thing came back right away. It doesn't matter how cautious you are, viruses and malware happen. You can minimize the risk, but you can never 100% protect yourself. McAfee actually issued a refund because they couldn't fix my virus. They claimed they don't cover browsers. O_o I'm sure there are more reputable companies out there than them, but these companies are usually a few steps behind attackers/ virus designers. They may catch some vulnerabilities on their own, but they study what people are getting hit with and then teach their programs to detect and remove them. So, whatever you're using may not be current or the designers of your antivirus may not even be aware that the virus/ malware you got hit with exists. Plus, some virus designers intentionally design their code to get around specific antivirus programs. It's always helpful to try a secondary antivirus if you've been hit with something for this reason.

There's obviously something hijacking your browser. Like Fork said, Malwarebytes is usually pretty good at catching unwanted programs. You might want to run a deep scan with something like that and then check your settings, both at the browser and PC level again. Also check extensions. If it's not one of those, maybe try deleting FireFox and reinstalling it again. I'm no pro, but that's what I would run through as my first few lines of attack. If you're familiar with what processes run, you can bring up a list of what's running on your PC and paw through it. You may see an unknown program listed. Or, you can bring up your uninstall list and sort it by the last modification/ install date. Then, remove whatever's new that you didn't intentionally add. You can also find the folder with your temporary internet files and delete that. I'm used to Chrome, so I'm not sure how FF handles that, but I can delete my stuff within the browser and the temporary folder on my computer and Chrome will just build a clean version right away again- provided I don't have any extensions doing naughty things.