Is there someway of installing Mozilla Firefox without including the Yahoo stuff that is embedded? I like Firefox, but detest everything about Yahoo software with the burning hatred of a thousand suns. I find it to be very intrusive, and as hard to get rid of as the worst virus.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I apologize for not understanding your question. However, on Mac and Linux, I have never seen Firefox packaged with anything other than minimal “add ons” and certainly never Yahoo. The search box in the upper right may allow you to use Yahoo’s search engine, but that isn’t software, it’s just an interface. So I think you already have a Yahoo plugin installed somewhere on your computer or else I am totally clueless about the Windows version. Perhaps if you give an operating system and maybe a description of what “Yahoo stuff” you are seeing (or fearing?), I/we could help you better.
I have the latest Firefox for Mac and can also confirm there is no Yahoo “stuff.” Assuming you have the Windows version, could you trying looking under Tools/Ad-ons and seeing if there is anything you can disable or delete?
Have you tried Tools–> Add Ons–> Extensions–> find the Yahoo extension and click the “remove” button.
I swear I’ve seen the Yahoo toolbar included in some update or another, like for Java or Adobe or something. One of those things that gets installed if you’re not vigilant about making sure any boxes for extra crapware are unchecked as you update something you want. Also, installing FF from anywhere but from Mozilla will also add extra stuff nobody wants.
I agree with the earlier answers. The only Yahoo stuff that may come with a normal Firefox install is that one of the search engine options in the search box at the top right may be Yahoo, and you may have it showing by default. If you click the downward pointing arrow at the left hand end of the search box you can click one of the other search engines there so that it shows by default, or you can go to “Manage search engines” (which also appears there) and delete the Yahoo option altogether (not that it is doing you any harm).
Otherwise, perhaps you have a Yahoo toolbar installed. If so, it probably got installed by some other software (not Firefox itself) that you downloaded, when you missed seeing the box you needed to uncheck to not get the toolbar. In that case, it should not be difficult to remove, either via an option you may be able to find by clicking (or right clicking) somewhere on the bar itself, or through Firefox’s Add-ons screen (accessible via the Tools menu). The Yahoo toolbar isn’t malware, but you probably don’t want it.
Thanks, guys. I’ll try reinstalling Firefox from Mozilla and be more careful.
Regarding the Yahoo toolbar, in my previous installation it suddenly appeared, and nothing in the Firefox Add-on screen mentioned that it was there. I finally had to do a System Restore to get rid of it. Then yesterday the Yahoo search engine showed up and took over, and again nothing in Firefox, or in the Windows Control panel Add or Remove Programs routine showed it. So I finally erased (not deleted, erased) the entire Mozilla folder.
I’m getting awfully sick of Yahoo.
The problem is not with Firefox, per se. Somewhere an application installation included the Yahoo toolbar. You either missed it during installation (to prevent its installation), or it was done automatically. Or you’ve been hit by malware.
In either case, until you find and correct the larger problem, you will remain “infected” by the Yahoo toolbar.
Always make sure that you download Firefox from the genuine Mozilla site. If you google Firefox you’ll see that many different sites offer it for download. It’s some of these sites that package Firefox with all sorts of crap.
Well, I downloaded Firefox from the Mozilla site, and that damned Yahoo search came up again, so evidently it is installed even using a download from the Mozilla site. It is very intrusive - ever two or three minutes it will display a page, completely obscuring the entire screen, that gives voluminous and obscure information about a failed search, and this page will stop anything I have been trying to do until I hit the back arrow.
There is no mention of any Yahoo plug-ins or add-ons in the tools menu of Firefox so I can’t disable it. I’ve about given up on Firefox - do you guys have any other recommendations of a good browser?
I’m using Windows XP Professional on a standard desktop.
BTW, that Yahoo page has been displayed five times since I started typing this message. The first thing I’m going to do after sending this off is to uninstall Firefox.
Firefox doesn’t do that. You have malware on your computer.
Something is very wrong. As engineer_comp_geek said, Firefox doesn’t do that. Even if you somehow got the Yahoo toolbar (normal cause being not paying attention when another program is installed) you shouldn’t be getting a page displaying as you describe. I’d check for viruses and malware.
ETA - You mention the page describes a failed search. A failed search for what?
I use Windowx XP, Windows 7, and Linux, current versions of Firefox throughout.
You definitely need to scan your computer for viruses and malware. Something is very wrong and it has nothing to with Firefox. Even the Yahoo toolbar shouldn’t behave that obtrusively.
Yeah, I’ve been using FF for years and have never seen anything like that. Sounds like malware to me, too. I use Yahoo, too (not the tools, but email and the news) and have never had a pop up or anything like you’re describing.
I didn’t see “add/remove programs” mentioned yet. Not all yahoo crapware is a browser add-on. You might try deleting anything that says “yahoo” in your control panel -> add/remove programs menu, then reinstall firefox and see if that fixes it.
By the way, adobe and java are big offenders here. Make sure you are extra careful installing anything from those guys.
That doesn’t sound like the Yahoo! Toolbar. Are you sure that the pages you’re seeing are from Yahoo and not someone else? Because I’ve always been able to uninstall Yahoo Toolbar and any of their other software right from Add/Remove Programs. My guess is that you have some virus but not anything from Yahoo. (Yes, the company is in trouble but they don’t deal in malware or adware.) I recommend that you run Malwarebytes or another good anti-virus/anti-malware program.
Okay, I’m going to throw this out…
Are you talking about the search bar to the right of the address bar? You can change the default search engine there, using the little down arrow in the left hand side of the search bar. Maybe it got switched at some point in the past? I know Firefox retains some settings even after uninstall/reinstall - there’s a folder that will keep some information even after uninstall.
I have just run Malwarebytes virus scan, and Microsoft Security Essentials virus scan, and neither came up with any problems.
The following is a copy of the offending sheet that comes onto the screen. I don’t have the foggiest idea of what the search is supposed to find.
It seems strange that the only time this screen is shown is when I’m in using Firefox as a browser. Internet Explorer does not seem to harbor this thing.
Is the information on this page helpful? (“Why has Yahoo! installed itself as default search engine behind Firefox ‘front page’ and how do I turn it off?”)
Not too helpful. The right seach engine is shown on the Firefox screen, but that page I showed in the above post keeps coming up.
I’m starting to look for an alternate browser.
Well, an alternate browser may make your problem go away because whatever is causing Yahoo to try to go to that link in Firefox doesn’t do the same thing in the other browser. The fact remains that it is something else on your system, not Firefox itself. MANY people on this board (and multitudes elsewhere) use Firefox and don’t get this.
Since I like to live dangerously (I do do virtually all my netsurfing from Linux, so I figure that cuts down my risks marginally) I tried cutting and pasting that lllooonnnggg URL into a Firefox tab. I got File not found." as a response.
Isn’t akamai an ad server? I see that as part of the URL. I wonder if by sheer fluke you touched off a bug in an ad server? No idea how realistic that hypothesis is.