Ask.com Toolbar
What is Ask.com Toolbar?
The Ask.com Toolbar is a web-browser add-on that can appear as an extra bar added to the browser's window and/or menu. It is often installed (sometimes without warning) during the installation of other software. Ask.com has entered into partnerships with some software security vendors, whereby they are paid to distribute the toolbar alongside their software.
The browser extension includes various features that will modify the default or custom settings of the browser including the home page, search settings and in some cases will modify Internet Explorer's load time threshold, place a lock file within Firefox to prevent competing software from changing its settings as well as disable the browser's Content Security Policy in order to allow for cross site scripting of the plugin.
What the toolbar does:
- When you use the Toolbar to submit a query, the Toolbar forwards such query information to Ask servers.
- Changes the default search engine in your web browser's built-in search box.
- Changes the default home page of your web browser.
- Adds alternative "page not found" functionality.
- Enable search from the address bar of your web browser.
- Allows software updates of the application once a new version is released.
About (from Ask.com)
Our Ask Toolbar was specifically designed to provide a great user experience free of spyware, adware, data collection or other similar activities. The Ask Toolbar is a free browser add-on that allows you to search the Web using the Ask.com search engine directly from Internet Explorer , Google Chrome , or Firefox brows... Read more
Overview
- Starts automatically
- Loads into the web browser
- Installed as part of a co-bundle
- Hijacks the web browser's home page
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Ask.com Toolbar has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.
Program details
URL: sp.ask.com/en/docs/about/ask_eula.shtml
Help link: about.ask.com/en/docs/about/index.shtml
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Ask.com\
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /I{86D4B82A-ABED-442A-BE86-96357B70F4FE}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Estimated size: 862.91 KB
Language: English (United States)
Files installed by Ask.com Toolbar
| Program executable: | UpdateTask.exe |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\Ask.com\UpdateTask.exe |
| MD5: | 11bad7a5d9b44341e8f17339fcf49ad1 |
Additional files:
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GenericAskToolbar.dll - Toolbar (Ask.com Toolbar)
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TaskScheduler.exe
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UpdateTask.exe
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updater.exe (by Ask) - Updater (Ask Updater)
Behaviors exhibited
Internet Explorer BHO
- GenericAskToolbar.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'Ask.com Toolbar' with the class of {D4027C7F-154A-4066-A1AD-4243D8127440} (Ask.com Toolbar BHO).
Internet Explorer Toolbar
- GenericAskToolbar.dll is loaded as Internet Explorer Toolbar with the name 'Ask.com Toolbar' with the class of {D4027C7F-154A-4066-A1AD-4243D8127440}.
Internet Explorer Web Browser
- GenericAskToolbar.dll installs an IE Web Browser in Internet Explorer named 'Ask.com Toolbar' with a class of {D4027C7F-154A-4066-A1AD-4243D8127440}.
Scheduled Task
- UpdateTask.exe is scheduled as a task named 'Scheduled Update for Ask Toolbar' (runs daily at 11:05).
Startup File (All Users Run)
- updater.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'ApnUpdater' which loads as "C:\Program Files\Ask.com\Updater\Updater.exe".
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
| updater.exe |
| Memory: | 8.06 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0003456671% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00023325% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00011242% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 11,333,596 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 114 Bytes | |
How do I remove Ask.com Toolbar?
You can uninstall Ask.com Toolbar from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program Ask.com Toolbar, click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Ask.com Toolbar.
- If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.
How do I reset my web browser?
If your web browser homepage and search settings have been modfied by Ask.com Toolbar you can restore them to their previous default settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools button, and then click Internet options.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset. Select the Delete personal settings check box if you would also like to remove search providers, Accelerators and home pages. When Internet Explorer finishes applying default settings, click Close, and then click OK.
- The changes will take effect the next time you open IE.
Mozilla Firefox
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu and select Troubleshooting Information.
- To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens. It will close and be reset.
- When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and Firefox will open.
Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
- Select Settings. In the "Search" section, click Manage search engine. Check if (Default) is displayed next to your preferred search engine. If not, mouse over it and click Make default. Mouse over any other suspicious search engine entries that are not familiar and click X to remove them.
- When the "Show Home button" checkbox is selected, a web address appears below it. If you want the Homepage button to open up a different webpage, click Change to enter a link.
- Restart Google Chrome.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 53%
Win Vista (SP1) 3%
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HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
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USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 83%
Keep it 17%
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Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
53.13% |
|
| Windows Vista |
34.38% |
|
| Windows XP |
7.29% |
|
| Windows 10 |
5.21% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
47.31% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
30.11% |
|
| Microsoft Windows XP |
6.45% |
|
| Windows 10 Home |
4.30% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Basic |
4.30% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
2.15% |
|
Geography
95.03% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
95.03% |
| United Kingdom |
2.48% |
| Dominican Republic |
0.62% |
| Philippines |
0.62% |
| Romania |
0.62% |
| Israel |
0.62% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Toshiba |
28.40% |
|
| Hewlett-Packard |
27.16% |
|
| Dell |
24.69% |
|
| ASUS |
6.17% |
|
| Acer |
3.70% |
|
| Sony |
3.70% |
|
| Intel |
2.47% |
|
| MSI |
1.23% |
|
| American Megatrends |
1.23% |
|
| Lenovo |
1.23% |
|
Common models |
| TOSHIBA Satellite L305 |
4.49% |
|
| TOSHIBA Satellite M305 |
3.37% |
|
| TOSHIBA Satellite A505 |
3.37% |
|
| Dell Studio 540 |
3.37% |
|
| ASUSTeK CM5570 |
2.25% |
|
| ASUSTeK K60IJ |
2.25% |
|
About Ask.com
Ask focuses on search traffic through various methods, the number being installation of its toolbars through a lot of bundle and rebrand programs.
Publisher URL: www.ask.com