See:

• [/questions/779082#answer-286809]

You can find the image data for Bing in this forum post.

• http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=11018123#p11018123

Paste this code in the Scratchpad (Web Developer > Scratchpad;Shift+F4) and use Execute > Run

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Tools/Scratchpad

SearchEngines = {Bing: {"name": "Bing", "searchUrl": "http://www.bing.com/search?q=_searchTerms_","image": "data:image/png;base64,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"}}

localStorage["search-engine"] = JSON.stringify(SearchEngines["Bing"]);

document.location.reload();

Ha Ha, perfect! Exactly what I wanted it to do. Would you please tell me how to change the Awesome bar's search engine to Bing as well? Thanks.

P.S. For future people who may read this post, you have to be on the about:home page for this to work.

See:

• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Location+bar+search

Thanks so much for this. You have been very helpful!

Hey cor-el,

I was wondering if there was a way to make this fix permanent. I tried this fix in Aurora and it works, but every time there is an update the about:home resets back to Google. The search bar still stays with Bing, though. Thanks for all of the help so far.

Probably not.
If there is a change to the mstone pref then Firefox will reset the about:home page to the default.

You can try to set the browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone pref via the right-click context menu to "ignore" (without quotes) on the about:config page and close and restart Firefox.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone

I've tried this fix and I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Thank you very much for the help.

Aurora updated and the about:home page stayed Bing. Thanks very much for fixing this problem.

You're welcome

Howdy again. It's been about two months now (according to the thing) and I Aurora updated to 18.0a2 (2012-10-14) and the Bing search on the homepage isn't working. I tried copying and pasting the thing from above into Scratchpad but nothing happens, it's still Google. The Bing search bar still works, though.

Any help to get the Bing search box on the homepage again would be appreciated.

Is Bing still the search engine that is used on the about:home page?

You can inspect the current search engine via this code in the Web Console panel with the about:home page on display.

1. open the about:home page in a tab
2. open the Web Console via "Ctrl+Shift+K" or "Firefox > Web Developer > Web Console"
3. paste the code in the Web Console command line that gets selected when you open that panel (Ctrl+V):
   localStorage["search-engine"]

I think Google is now the search engine used on the about:home page. I even searched for something and it pulled up Google's results. Here's what I got when I pasted the code you gave me into the Web Console:

[21:14:45.665] "{\"name\":\"Bing\",\"searchUrl\":\"http://www.bing.com/search?q=_searchTerms_\",\"image\":\"data:image/png;base64,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\"}"

That confirms that Bing should be used as the search engine on the about:home page.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).

• Do not click the Reset button on the Safe mode start window or otherwise make changes.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

You can try to delete the chromeappsstore.sqlite and possibly reset the browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone to initialize the search engine on the about:home page and try again to set the search engine to Bing.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone

The Safe Mode didn't help. How do I do either of the two other options?

See:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder to locate the chromeappsstore.sqlite file.

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder

You may first need to use the SearchReset extension to reset the default search engine and some other search related prefs.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/searchreset/

Note that the SearchReset extension only runs once and then uninstalls automatically, so it won't show on the "Firefox > Add-ons" page (about:addons).

I tried doing what you suggested (I deleted the chromeappsstore.sqlit file and installed the SearchReset) and I copied and pasted the code from the first post and nothing happened. The Google Picture on the search box flashed like the code was gonna work and then it failed. I also had the default theme active.

I don't know why the search page isn't working for you.

Try to create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Creating a profile":

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues

There may be extensions and plugins installed by default in a new profile, so check that in "Tools > Add-ons > Extensions & Plugins" in case there are still problems.

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.

See:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

You can also try to reset Firefox:

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting

I tried making a new profile, but it didn't fix the problem. I thought while I was doing this, could the homepage search thing be messed up because I have both Firefox AND Aurora installed?

Thanks.

Are you using the same profile for Aurora and other Firefox version?

You should always use a separate profile for each Firefox version.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_new_Firefox_profile_on_Windows
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Shortcut_to_a_specific_profile
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_multiple_profiles_-_Firefox

I think I am using the same profile for each version. I didn't even know there was such a thing as profiles for Firefox/Aurora. That's pretty cool. Let me see what I can do by creating a separate profile for Aurora.