Can’t turn off Google Safesearch

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Not really sure if this is the right forum …

Anyone else having trouble with turning off Google safesearch?

I have one of 3 PCs at home, on the same LAN, from which Google will not accept a safesearch turn off from any browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE) I’ve tried.

The PC runs Windows 7 Home Premium with SP1.

I have seen some things on the open net about this, like this being a default for the way my ISP is set up (doesn’t explain the 2 PCs that I can toggle safesearch successfully on), or it being the result of connecting to my office’s more restricted system (can’t toggle it whether I’m logged in or not). It also doesn’t seem to be related to the level of the account on Windows that I try to do the change from.

So I came here to try you folks 🙂

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use duckduckgo instead

Not really sure if this is the right forum …

Anyone else having trouble with turning off Google safesearch?

I have one of 3 PCs at home, on the same LAN, from which Google will not accept a safesearch turn off from any browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE) I’ve tried.

The PC runs Windows 7 Home Premium with SP1.

I have seen some things on the open net about this, like this being a default for the way my ISP is set up (doesn’t explain the 2 PCs that I can toggle safesearch successfully on), or it being the result of connecting to my office’s more restricted system (can’t toggle it whether I’m logged in or not). It also doesn’t seem to be related to the level of the account on Windows that I try to do the change from.

So I came here to try you folks 🙂

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I’ve moved over to http://www.duckduckgo.com on a few of my computers and am changing others as I update them.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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Are you saying that you’ve followed the instructions in Google’s help (below) and it doesn’t work?

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/510?hl=en Lock or unlock SafeSearch

If not, it sounds to me that the problem may well relate to some search policy restrictions being imposed by something else on your network.

Using DuckDuckGo is OK, to an extent, but its search results are not as comprehensive as Google’s. You may find that Firefox’s own Search Page, which is Google based but with much of the targeted junk removed, may not suffer the Google SafeSearch restrictions.

Frankly, I hate this nanny state stuff and I think it’s far better to teach our kids what is good and what is bad and how to stay safe on-line so that they grow into responsible adults. Do we really want some arrogant corporate with an overblown sense of it’s place in society to decide what we should or should not be doing? Our governments do enough of that stuff without letting the private sector in on the action.

Sorry, rant over – I’ll get my coat!

Cheers, Chris

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Yes, I have followed Google’s directions, and I can’t get SafeSearch to turn off.

I thought about the network policy, but this is occurring on a home PC even when all browsers and VPN connections to my employer are closed.

Google’s page accepts the change, and tells me that my preferences have been saved.

Then with the first offending search, it’s turned on again.

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Do you have cookies turned on and accept third-party on this one machine?

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Yes.

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Were you logged in to a Google Account when you made the change? A number of settings are stored in your account (Google News for instance) and you need to be logged in to be able to change or use them. I think Safesearch may be one of them.

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There’s a tip in here: Clear cache and cookies | Google Troubleshooting to try incognito or private browsing before clearing cookies or cache:

Tip: If web pages aren’t displaying correctly, you can try using your browser’s incognito or “private browsing” mode to see if the problem is caused by something other than cache or cookies.

Related:
You may have a corrupt google cookie, try clearing them, and your cache (temporary Internet files). How to Delete Cookies in Windows 7 and Vista

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Calimanco: That’s a good idea. I wonder if I create a brand new Google account that’s never been linked to my office network whether it will work.

Anak: another good idea.

I will check both of these out, and get back to the thread later on.

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