Hi, you should be able to change that by: Type about:config into the address bar, press Enter, accept the warning, scroll down until you find what you want to change, then right click > Modify. You may need to restart Firefox for changes to take effect. More - Configuration Editor for Firefox.

However, Ask is well known malware, so before doing the above, try working through Remove Ask Toolbar and Ask.com Search by Malware Tips.

Note that not all removal programs will detect all malware, so you may need to run several or all of them.

After removal you may need to reset your home page and search, which you can do by running the add-on SearchReset.

If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you.

I had no infestation by "ask.com" nor by "Spigot" nor by "Mindspark." I was able thanks to you to modify the preference item using about:config. But when I checked the variable right after blanking it out the "ask" url was still there, and my home page has since been changed several times from "Startpage" to "ask." What now? There was reference to the files where these preferences are stored.

keyword.URL is an obsolete preference for what URL is used for searches from the address bar. The home page preference is named browser.startup.homepage and usually is set through the Options page (Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings).

Could you list the symptoms more in more detail? Specifically, what happens when you try to edit the preference in about:config:

• You can't save changes to it

• You can save changes but it changes back --
  • Soon thereafter, without closing your session
  • When you exit Firefox and start it up again
  • When you shut down Windows and start Firefox up again

• The preference stays correct but Firefox ignores it --
  • Ctrl+n and/or Home button uses an unwanted page
  • Desktop shortcut uses an unwanted page

By the way, try

https://www.startpage.com/

for your home page. Using the secure (HTTPS) address bypasses the redirection from insecure to secure (in case there is a problem with that extra step).

Got rid of it by refreshing Firefox and the obsolete keyword.URL went away.

The keyword.URL pref is no longer supported. The normal way to remove such a pref is to choose Reset in the right-click context menu and close and restart Firefox. It shouldn't be necessary to reset Firefox and create a new profile to achieve this.