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Why is this message popping up - "Firefox could not download the search plugin from: file:///C:Users/owner/Appdata/roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/vh...etc

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Here is the whole message I am getting: "Firefox could not download the search plugin from: file:///C:users/owner/Appdata/Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/vh70W3W6.default/extensions/toolbar@ask.com/searchplugins/ask.com.xml.

Once I hit OK, it goes away, but it is really annoying each time I click on a link or even open Mozilla.

Here is the whole message I am getting: "Firefox could not download the search plugin from: file:///C:users/owner/Appdata/Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/vh70W3W6.default/extensions/toolbar@ask.com/searchplugins/ask.com.xml. Once I hit OK, it goes away, but it is really annoying each time I click on a link or even open Mozilla.

All Replies (3)

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hello mdinstl, please try removing the ask-toolbar from your system: Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page

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It's also possible that a clean-up program removed the Ask add-on but one of Firefox's settings files was not updated to match. If all else fails, try the solution in this thread to force Firefox to update its list of search plugins and, hopefully in the process, forget about that one: Where are my installed search engine plugins located in FF21?

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Try to delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.

Firefox will rebuild the search.json file from the default search engines in the "browser\searchplugins" folder in the Firefox program folder and the searchplugins folder in the Firefox profile folder.

You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:

  • Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)