Firefox will not run since it says I will have to close it first. Further I am unable to set my homepage settings to the required one by me.

Question

My homepage switched to a website I do not wish. I am unable to get my desired homepage back by using the menu. Later on Mozilla won't even run. he message I get that it should be closed first. Whilst the program is closed.

Answer 1

Your User Agent shows that you have '''Ask Toolbar''' installed. Ask Toolbar has been causing many problems in the Firefox 3.6.13+ versions. So '''Remove/Uninstall''' that extension.
-> click '''Firefox''' button and click '''Exit'''
There are a couple of places to check for the Ask toolbar:
-> Check the Windows Control Panel for the Ask Toolbar -
* http://about.ask.com/apn/toolbar/docs/default/faq/en/ff/index.html#na4
-> '''Start Firefox in Safe Mode''' (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes)
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
* Firefox Safe Mode window will open. DON'T SELECT ANY OPTIONS, just click '''Continue in Safe Mode'''
-> Check your list of extensions, you may be able to uninstall it from there -
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Uninstalling+add-ons
-> Removing a Search Engine -
* https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Search%20bar#w_removing-a-search-engine
-> Now to Open the '''about:config''' page, type '''about:config''' in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key, just like you type the URL of a website to open a website. When you see a warning, you can confirm that you want to access that page.
* Preferences that have been modified are shown as '''bold(user set)'''.
* Preferences can be '''Reset to the default''' or changed via the right-click context menu.
-> In the '''Filter bar''' at to top of the about:config page, type '''keyword.URL''' to isolate that single entry.
* Right click it and choose '''Modify''' -> Replace the text with http://www.google.com/search?q= and then click OK.
-> In the Filter bar at the top again, remove "keyword.URL" and then copy/paste '''browser.startup.homepage'''
* right-click it and choose '''Reset''' from the menu.
-> In the Filter bar at the top again, remove '''browser.startup.homepage''' and then copy/paste '''browser.search.selectedEngine'''
* right-click it and choose '''Reset''' from the menu.
-> In the Filter bar at the top again, type '''ask.com'''. This will show the remaining '''ask.com''' related preferences.
* '''Reset''' all '''ask.com''' related Preferences to their Default values.
-> Close the tab and then Restart Firefox.
Check and tell if its working.