GeekTech

Do you all remember that lovely little thing that firefox 2 did whenever it couldn't find what you entered in the URL address line? It would always bring up the google search page with your query. Well Firefox 3 had to be dumb and make it search gay-o-l instead. The results were always horrible and you had to physically type google.com just to find what you were looking for. Well I finally cracked the secret on how to change firefox 3 to use google instead of AOL. :o)


Step 1: Start a new tab (or window) CRT + T

Step 2: type "about:config" in the URL line and accept the warning message. (don't worry, this is safe)

Step 3: In the search bar at the top of the page, type "search"

Step 4: Look for an entry titled "browser.search.selectedEngine" and change this value to "Google Search" (Right click on the line and select Modify)

Step 5: At the bottom of the listed entries, right click on the last entry titled "keyword.url". If you look at the right of the line, it will give a URL of the aol search. Right click the entry and select "Modify".

Step 6: Change the URL to the following: "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="


***Note: It is important that you use the exact phrases above, especially the one for the google url. If you simply type google.com it will end up looking for "google.com+(Your+Search+Phrase)"



Changes take effect immediately and it works marvelously. In case you didn't know, you can enter anything you want in Firefox's URL address line. If it cannot find a website for it, it will bring back the google search results. This saves time because you do not have to go to google.com or firefox's homepage.

Labels: FYI, Modifications, secrets, tips