Firefox, Adium wont stay default applications on Macbook

The annoying issue of Firefox not staying as default applications is probably caused by FileVault

I've finally come to the bottom of an incredibly annoying problem with my Macbook. I've seen a couple of forums outlining the problem, but no real solutions or causes are outlined. Let's state the obvious facts.

• You go to Safari preferences in order to make Firefox your default browser
• You go to iChat preferences in order to make Adium your default chat client.
• You go to Mail preferences in order to make Google Notifier your default email application.
• Everything seems fine. Web pages open in Firefox. Email opens in Gmail.
• Once you restart your computer, everything goes back to the default Apple programs. Now, even after you said not to, web pages once again open in Safari by default.

Most forum posts are stating the obvious things like deleting various preference files, repairing permissions and so on. It wasn't until I read this post that I found the rascal problem. It's FileVault that is causing the reset of values. Once I turned off FileVault, all my program preferences were just as I had left them--even after restart. That fixes the problem, only if you can do without FileVault. I don't need Apple Mail, iChat or Safari. Now I can't use FileVault. I tell you what, Apple is loosing it's luster with me.