Restore Google Search in Linux Mint 8 Firefox

I agree with others that the Linux Mint branding of the Google Search feature in Firefox (top-right corner search) is a bit annoying. To disable this branding:

1. Create a text file called google.xml and paste the following:

<SearchPlugin xmlns="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/"><ShortName>Google</ShortName><Description>Google Search</Description><InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding><Image width="16" height="16">data:image/x-icon;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAIAAACQkWg2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAaRJREFUeNpiVIg5JRURw0A0YAHio943kYV%2B%2Ff33%2BdvvX7%2F%2FMjEx8nKycrGzwKXOiPKzICvdeezLhCV3jp15%2Bfv%2FX0YGhv8MDDxMX2qKTIw0RK10eYD6QYqATvoPBkt3f5K0W9Ew4fjTFz%2F%2Bw8Dm3W8UPeZxqFa%2BevsFyD0twgfVsOfkRxHrtfV9u5BVQ8Crd98%2FffkGYQM1QJ20%2FfSPv79eNxQGYfpSVJADmcvEAHbr7oOX2dj%2FERNKIA2%2F%2F%2Fz%2FxfCDhYVoDUDw5P6vf9%2B5iY0HVmZGQWm%2BN3fff%2Fn2k4eLHS739x%2FDiRs%2Ff%2F%2F5x8HO%2FOHzN3djfqgNjIwMgc6qzLx%2Fpy47j2zY%2Feff06tXhOUucgxeun33AUZGpHh4%2Bvo7t8EyIJqz%2FhpasD59%2B5dNrqdnznZIsEL9ICXCsWuBCwvTv%2FymS5PWPP32ExEALz%2F%2BB5r848cPCJcRaMP9xaYQzofPPzfuvrnj0Jst%2B5%2F8%2Bc4sLPeDkYlRgJc93VPE18NIXkYUmJYQSQMZ%2FP3379uPH7%2F%2F%2FEETBzqJ0WqLGvFpe2LCC4AAAwAyjg7ENzDDWAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg%3D%3D</Image><Url type="application/x-suggestions+json" method="GET" template="http://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?output=firefox&amp;client=firefox&amp;hl={moz:locale}&amp;q={searchTerms}"/><Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="http://www.google.com/search"><Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/><Param name="ie" value="utf-8"/><Param name="oe" value="utf-8"/><Param name="aq" value="t"/><!-- Dynamic parameters --><Param name="rls" value="{moz:distributionID}:{moz:locale}:{moz:official}"/><MozParam name="client" condition="defaultEngine" trueValue="firefox-a" falseValue="firefox"/></Url><SearchForm>http://www.google.com/firefox</SearchForm></SearchPlugin>

2. Then use root privileges to replace the existing google.xml files in the following locations with the one you just created:

• /usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/google.xml
• /usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-US/google.xml
• /usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/google.xml