It is quite common that when installing Java on your PC , the search bar of the ask.com search engine is inadvertently installed . Although it can be avoided during installation by simply unchecking the appropriate box, rush usually leads us to realize it when it is too late. Although it is not a security threat of any kind, it can be uncomfortable.
Removing this item from the browser is straightforward, although it may take a while to make sure that no trace of it remains. We explain how to do it in the most effective way.
The first thing to keep in mind is that, when you have to update to the next version of Java , you have to look at the first installation screens to prevent the bar from being installed again. The screen looks like this, and you must uncheck the box where you accept the Ask.com installation :
Once installed, all you have to do is remove it from your browser. To do this, press Alt to display the application menu, open Tools and then click on the Manage add-ons entry .
The window shown below will offer you a list of the loaded plugins. In case you can't locate the one you want to delete, in this case Ask Toolbar , open the Show drop-down and choose All . You should now see the bar you want to remove. Click on it to select it.
At the bottom of the window you will see all the details of the selected item. For now, just hit Disable to stop the plugin from being activated in the browser.
Another change carried out by the installation of the ask.com bar is the inclusion of this search engine in the list of search engines available for Internet Explorer . It is not essential to delete it, and it does not have to be the default search engine, but if you want to do so, click on Search providers , ask.com and Remove . This will also remove it from the list.
You can now close this window, with which you will see that the bar has disappeared from the browser. However, although disabled, it is still installed in the system, so open the Control Panel and the Add or Remove Programs item . Once here, you will see that there are two items on ask.com : Ask Toolbar and Ask Toolbar Update . You only need to remove the first one, as the automatic update tool will be removed also when you remove the first one.
Simply click on it and choose the Uninstall option . At this point you will probably have to close the browser to be able to uninstall the tool permanently. The reason is that, although inactive, the plugin is still in use by Internet Explorer .
Once you have completed these steps, the ask.com bar will have disappeared from your system. Remember that you should be careful not to reinstall it when updating Java to the next version. In the case of other browsers such as Chrome , Firefox or Opera , the procedure is practically identical, with the exception that in each case you must access the list of browser add-ons by a different path.