I installed ICQ 7 the other (ICQ 7.2) and it took over my PC a little. It installed a toolbar for FireFox and Internet Explorer and also set itself as the default search engine. To remove it I went into my control panel, clicked on Programs and Features, removed the ICQ Toolbar. But ICQ was still the default search when I typed something in the address bar (instead of the search bar). So I searched and searched and found the solution in the ICQ forums (Too bad, as of April 3rd 2011, ICQ blogs, groups fight and forums are no longer
supported at ICQ.com)
To remove ICQ toolbar from FireFox
- Go to Tools->Addons and find the ICQ Toolbar and uninstall it.
To change the FireFox search back to normal:
- Open a new tab in FireFox
- Type about:config in the address bar
- Type keyword.URL to find the entry
- Right click on it and choose reset or click modify change that entry to http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q= to return to the normal Google search. (keyword.URL should currently show http://search.icq.com/search/afe_results.php?ch_id=afex&tb_ver=2.0.0.4&q=)
keyword.url function in firefox
You can change the default search URL to anything you want instead of Google. Here’s more info about the FireFox keyword.URL
I HATE THIS PROGRAM!!!
Thank you sooo much!!
Doesn’t work for me , guess us computer illiterates just have to wear this bullshit , how sick can idiots get
Thank you ever so much – I would have never been able to get to this without you. Instructions are super clear. You made my day (actually my night browsing). Best regards, Ursula
Sorry, me again, once more – that is great! The first time that someone checked a comment by sending a verification email. I like that! Makes people and comments more real. Running a blog is difficult enough, fighting spam is one of the things that just consume time for nothing. Regards, Ursula
I’m glad this post helped you out and thanks for taking the time to verify your comment by e-mail!
Thank you! Effin’ Bastards to leave me with this crap!
Thanks a lot – It works!
Nice ‘How to’.
Man, I had the same problem, followed your advise and it worked instantly with Firefox 4.0.1. Bloody jerks at icq to push their search bar this way. Thanx a lot!!!
With the latest ICQ 7.5, I found I also had to set
icqtoolbar.newtab_state to 0
browser.search.defaultenginename to Google
browser.search.selectedEngine to Google
then restart Firefox.
Something has to be added to uninstall this time-stealing and annoying icq-toolbar monster:
You finally have to redefine your start page which has been set to icq.com!!!
Greetings from Berlin/Germany
thanks
doesn’t work for me… icq still pops up… im pulling my hair out
russian scumbags
I had to change the value of browser.search.defaultenginename
After going into about:config, search for “icq” and see which variable you have to change.
awesome! This info helped me so much. I just got a computer after not having one for many years and became a little computer illiterate lately so when I tried to download my old friend from years ago, icq, it betrayed my trust! I am so unfamiliar with all the malware/adware/spyware stuff that they have now but your help was clear and precise and helped me fix the problem myself rather than offering me some other program to fix it for me like some other sites did (downloading some program I am unfamiliar with didn’t seem the solution to fixing the problem I had with downloading programs I thought I was familiar with that turned out to have bad implications afterward). Now i don’t have to worry about it and feel better about having some control over my computer! Thanks!
Glad to hear it! Another IM alternative that I’ve been using for a few years has been the online interface at http://www.meebo.com. So far it’s been a solid solution! You can read more about meebo in the news.