Liam from NSW Australia writes:
I have very recently changed my Laptop and now have a Windows 8 Notebook. I want to set it up the same as my previous computer using Mozilla Firefox with just three operating Tabs, namely – iGoogle /Gmail Inbox / Calendar. Some how ‘My Web Search’ seems to want to take over. I have gone into Firefox and selected the three tabs that I want and saved them. In Options I requested that iGoogle would be my Home Page when the computer starts up. The problem is however that this instruction is ignored and ‘My Web Search’ returns. How do I get rid of ‘My Web Search’?? Thank You
Hello Liam,
My Web Search is malware that was unknowingly downloaded and installed when you downloaded some other software, although I can’t say what that might have been. It hijacks your browser’s homepage and adds a toolbar to your browser. Typically when this happens, it’s not easy to remove, but it is possible. (You can find out more about how this happens by clicking here.)
First, you want to uninstall the program by going to the Control Panel. Open the control panel, and look for the blue text that says Uninstall a Program. Look for the text My Web Search (it could be a toolbar, a plugin, or something else). If there is more than one, uninstall each one.
Then, open FireFox, click on Tools, then click Add-ons. Under Plug-ins, look for MyWebSearch and if it is there, click on Remove or uninstall. Actually, this may be a good time to look and see if there are any other unwanted tool bars in there you’d like to remove, as well.
Now, you will need to reset your homepage back to your preferred start up options. You can do this by going to Tools, then Options. Make sure you are in the General tab, and set your homepage/tabs options that you prefer.
If it has hijacked your tabs, as well, you do have to do one more step. You need to type about:config in the address bar, and click I’ll be careful, I promise! if asked. In the search bar at the top, type browser.newtab.url. Double click and make sure the value is about:newtab, or you can right click and click Reset.
I’d also suggest running a malware scan, such as Malwarebytes, to scan for any other unwanted programs. Hopefully these steps help and will clean up that browser.
-Audra
I too had the same problem with another software I tried to download. I was certain I went to the main website for it as I knew before add-ons get attached but I always found that you could uncheck a box to stop them being downloaded. However I believe these sites have gotten sneakier & not let you uncheck anything, in fact they don’t always tell you they are adding programs. I had to do a complete reinstall of Win7 when this happened the other day as porn sites got added, which was a shock as the site was supposed to be reputable & no matter how many times I tried to uninstall it wouldn’t let me. So one has to be very careful today. Thank you for all your good advice.
I keep my computer clients away from Firefox. It’s too difficult keeping them safe and without utilizing several tools, a pain to get rid od search engine viruses such as mywebsearch and Babylon