# Home Page Disappered **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637 "2012-01-06T16:59:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/1 "2012-01-06T16:59:24Z")
I shut my computer down last night. When I started it this morning, Google has appointed itself to be my new home page. What’s up with this? Has this happened to anyone else? If not, why me? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/2 "2012-01-06T17:40:23Z")
What browser are you using? What is the actual URL of the home page? Is it [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) or is it something else? For example, the firefix about:home page goes to a page with a google search and a firefox logo above it. If firefox is set to automatically update, it may have done so and may have somehow lost some of your preferences in the process. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/3 "2012-01-06T17:43:44Z")
I just restarted my computer and now this thread is my home page. I guess I’ve got a virus but how and where i got i don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/4 "2012-01-06T17:45:39Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > What browser are you using? > > What is the actual URL of the home page? Is it [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) or is it something else? > > For example, the firefix about:home page goes to a page with a google search and a firefox logo above it. If firefox is set to automatically update, it may have done so and may have somehow lost some of your preferences in the process. This is exactly what happened; what can I do about it? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/5 "2012-01-06T17:45:55Z")
What happens if you set your home page manually? Does that get changed? It might have been a one-time occurrence (many reasons why, not all of them something to worry about). ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/6 "2012-01-06T17:47:58Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I just restarted my computer and now this thread is my home page. > > I guess I’ve got a virus but how and where i got i don’t know. Or else (if you’re using Firefox) someone went into Tools/Options and set “When Firefox starts” to “Show my windows and tabs from last time.” ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/7 "2012-01-06T17:48:14Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > What happens if you set your home page manually? Does that get changed? It might have been a one-time occurrence (many reasons why, not all of them something to worry about). I did reset it manually but the problem persists. I’m running the latest version of Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/8 "2012-01-06T17:52:44Z")
I just went to the Huffington Post home page and did a restart; now the Huffington Post is my home page. I hate when happens. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/9 "2012-01-06T17:55:39Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I just went to the Huffington Post home page and did a restart; now the Huffington Post is my home page. I hate when happens. When you say it’s your “home page,” do you mean that it’s the first page that automatically comes up, or that it brings you to that page when you click the Home button on the toolbar? Or both? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/10 "2012-01-06T18:01:23Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Or else (if you’re using Firefox) someone went into Tools/Options and set “When Firefox starts” to “Show my windows and tabs from last time.” This is exactly what happened although I have no memory of doing this myself and I live alone. Damn these senior moments anyway. So the problem is apparently fixed. Thanks for the inputs. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/11 "2012-01-06T18:03:15Z")
No sweat. I’ve done the same thing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/12 "2012-01-06T20:08:45Z")
Your computer does not have a homepage. Your browser does. Whatever browser you are using sets it’s home page according to the preferences you tell it. Go to those preferences and see what is listed. Maybe it’s set to keep the home page on the last current page visited. Sounds silly, but it does not sound like any virus to me. I can’t explain why the setting would change, but that’s where to change it back to what you want. Two clicks and you are done. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-page-disappered/608637/13 "2012-01-06T22:12:33Z")
See post #10