I Didn't ASK For This! - Comments Page 1

I have also been informed to stop system protection (the recovery function) for a hard drive that has malware during the removal process as sometimes the malware hides in the recovery files and every time you reboot the malware returns.

Bob, first I want to thank you for your very informative columns, and, second, in your suggestion to go to the Control Panel, I have found that sifting through by date is easier than by name. Generally when something is launched onto my computer and I see the changes, I know pretty darn close to the day it occurred. Looking through the recent dates will rapidly take you to a name do not recognize, and 99% of the time it is what you don't want. Again, thanks for your columns. Denis Toothe

Great article. We spend a lot of time trying to remove Ask.com toolbars at work. It makes some change that affects how our company software programs run. (I don't think Java cares that its reputation is degraded as it is doing nothing to help itself with its own vulnerabilities in the Java code.)

ASK Malware

Really good article! I screwed up and got the ASK trash through adobe. Took 3 days to finally get rid of the toolbar, etc. Real pain.

I uninstalled the toolbar AND Firefox, rebooted and ran 3 different anti malware things, one of which was MBAM, rebooted, reloaded Firefox and finally got rid of it.

Folks that follow your instructions will get rid of it too. Good article.

Hello Bob, this article is right on target but I feel safe from it, since I do not use Windows. For the last decaded or so I have been using dual boot PC with Windows Xp, Vista and 7 along with Ubuntu Linux. Windows 7 was so frustrating that I wiped it out and now I use Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit exclusively in my PC and Toshiba laptop. This article is a shocker because I used to love AskJeves,com but once I got hooked on Google I had very seldom used it. Your article is very well written and an eye opener.

I have used Winpatrol for several years. The free version works fine and it alerts me to any changes in startup, hone page and other changes when an program is installed. It has save my bacon a couple of times when a program has not been caught by my AV program and even alerts me to startups for legitimate programs that I may not want to run. I haven't noticed any overhead issues.
I recommend this to all the people I help with computer issues.

I have "accidentally" installed this software by not watching the prompts correctly. I immediately remove it but I use Ccleaner uninstall feature instead of Windows. It's easier to find and loads faster. I also use a program called WinPatrol. This informs me if anything tries to make a change to my system such as the default start page. I have caught many hijacks this way. I've also noticed that some software puts the unwanted toolbars and such under a customer button or option. Many users won't bother to look there and all it provides is the ability to remove the check mark.

For the Java you can reduce the attempts on updates. Use the Java console located on control panel, go the the Advanced tab, scroll to the bottom and check the "Suppress sponsor offers when installing or updating Java".

Bob this a very good article. I recently downloaded some software and did not pay enough attention to the sidebars and got a malware, 'Findware search' it took over my browsers and it took several days to clean all the bits and pieces out of my computer, especially the browsers. Hitman Pro, did the job after many attempts with other, even Combofix missed it, which many pros use. I am sold on Hitman Pro. James L. Thornton

Just wondering....if you know when ASK got installed on your computer, and you are using a Windows operating system, would just doing a "restore" to a point in time before ASK was installed get rid of it?

EDITOR'S NOTE: That should work, too.

Is ib.adnx similar? It has made my life a living hell.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's adware, and should be removable with MBAM.

I've used Revo Uninstaller to successfully remove Ask software. As Denis said, best results are obtained by sorting by date installed, and Revo does this well.

I've found something that helps me avoid drive-by downloads; a small program called Unchecky (unchecky.com) runs in the background and automatically unchecks the boxes I sometimes miss with my "next...next...next" install habits. Unchecky has saved by bacon several times.

Dave, thanks for the heads-up on Java.

I recently began using small utility called Unchecky which is great at UNchecking all of those unnoticed boxes(from Java, Adobe, etc.) which would enable unintentional downloads of ASK (and other PUP's). It has also warned me when I thought I was agreeing to a continuation of a wanted download that I needed to decline this section because it was now allowing something else. It has saved my keister a number of times...I love it!

I find that for Step 1, it's better to use Revo Uninstaller or Geek Uninstall (my preference).

I've always used either Spybot or HijackThis as a secondary after using MalwareBytes. Does anyone know if they are still relevant and as good as they used to be?

Will my BitDefender antivirus be smart enough to weed out this ASK software? I haven't encountered this nuisance in years, but would like to know if BidDefender kill this...

I recently began using small utility called Unchecky which is great at UNchecking all of those unnoticed boxes(from Java, Adobe, etc.) which would enable unintentional downloads of ASK (and other PUP's). It has also warned me when I thought I was agreeing to a continuation of a wanted download that I needed to decline this section because it was now allowing something else. It has saved my keister a number of times...I love it!

That was a very interesting article about Ask.com. I wasn't aware that the website has been sold 10 yrs. I haven't had any problem with my browser. After reading your article, you can be assured I won't use it again. Thank you for sending out an email regarding this website.

You must download malwarebytes BEFORE cleaning the browser. Otherwise it is impossible to not use the browser until after running Malwarebytes. (unless it is already on the system)

On Outlook I always see the button for 'unsubscribe'. I believe this is required by law. Why isn't ask.com also required to do this. How about equality under the law. If they make it hard to be free then aren't they kidnapping my computer? By the spirit of the law this sounds illegal.