Posted on 03/19/2014 7:11:35 AM PDT by lafroste
I made the grave mistake of downloading the app for Ask.com. The stupid thing took over my browser and is causing a variety of computer glitches. Now, instead of google, my "default" search engine is Ask.com. I find it to be totally unusable. The search results are bizarre and off topic and completely worthless. My question is how do I get rid of the d@&ned thing. It's not listed as software by my computer so I can't uninstall it. How do I get rid of this invasive and destructive parasite? Thank you for your help (I love this place)
Are you logged in?
Sometimes you can go into toolbars and uncheck it.
Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware or Piriform’s CCleaner ought to be able to dig it out of there for you. CCleaner will let you target just that one, while Ad-Aware will go through and clean out *all* the crap that has accumulated in your browser.
Sounds like an add-on for the browser, you should be able to disable it
Major bump for later.
Did you ask Ask.com?
In FireFox, you can manage your search engines by clicking on that arrow that points downward in the search engine toolbar (not sure that’s what it is called).
Priceless!
Look carefully, and you will see that nearly all "freebies" have a box that is checked by default to say - yes...install this too. You have to be sure to uncheck the boxes next to any unwanted extras before installing.
This is beyond annoying. I have worked on some computers that have so many toolbars that there is hardly any room left for the browser window.
Had a similar problem recently. I caught a “getsavin” exploit. It would add hyperlinks to text of web pages that linked to other sites. Was not an installed program. I finally got rid of it with a full scan using Malwarebytes.
There are malware removal forums out there as well that I have used. They do not react quickly (volunteers) but have helped me in the past.
Probbly need to go in first and remove the toolbar with a program that does a thorough uninstall like this:
http://download.cnet.com/IObit-Uninstaller/3000-2096_4-75161625.html
Depending on your browser you will either need to disable the Ask.com extension in Google Chrome or the BHO (browser helper object) in Internet Explorer. You will be able to find them in your browser menu:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/113907?hl=en
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298931
Type in the question “What happened to Jeeves?”
It will go into a logical conundrum spin-cycle and it’s head will explode like that android in that classic episode of Star Trek.
Pretty sure that is how I got jacked. It was, ironically, from doing an "online scan."
I think they may have in entry in Add/Remove Programs(Programs and Features in Win7) within the Control Panel.
It could also be a browser addon than can be disabled/removed.
Google it. I’m SURE you aren’t the only one who has ran into this.
tagged for later view
free tool called ccleaner is helpful for a lot of these things.
Just to add - Often times, when installing a 'free' application, you have to choose the 'Advanced Installation' option during the install to reach the point where you can unselect the unwanted addon apps they bundle in with the installer.
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