Should I remove MediaCaster by Ask?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
79% remove it21% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #13,226
United States Rank #39,446
Reach 0.0232%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 8.60 days
253.81 days >
Average installed length: 133.36 days
Versions
Version | Distribution |
12.45.1.1271 |
1.75% |
|
12.40.6.947 |
0.44% |
|
12.40.4.416 |
0.22% |
|
12.38.0.3406 |
0.88% |
|
12.35.0.2734 |
0.22% |
|
12.35.0.2479 |
1.53% |
|
12.34.1.2247 |
0.66% |
|
12.29.0.1530 |
3.06% |
|
12.27.0.1061 |
3.94% |
|
12.15.2.537 |
44.42% |
|
12.11.0.5199 |
42.89% |
|
Rankings
- #13,221 Entratel by Sogei S.p.A
- #13,222 HP User Guides 0129 by Hewlett-Packard
- #13,223 Media Player Codec Pack 3.9.6
- #13,224 Cross Fire AL by Z8Games.com
- #13,225 Microsoft Office 365 - ru-ru
- #13,226 MediaCaster by Ask by APN
- #13,227 McAfee Browser Protection Service
- #13,228 Belkin N600 DB USB Wireless Adapter
- #13,229 KPN Assistent
- #13,230 Parking Dash by Oberon Media
- #13,231 Lenovo Mobile Access
MediaCaster by Ask
from APN, LLC
What is MediaCaster by Ask?
MediaCaster is an Ask.com advertising-supported web browser toolbar that may modify the browser's home page, search provider and new tab pages. Changes to the browser include the following modifications:
- Modify the default home page and new tabs and protect these search settings
- Modify the default search engine in your Internet Browser, including the browser's built-in search box
- Addition of alternative error page functionality, such as “Page Not Found”
Overview
The most used version is 12.15.2.537, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The main program executable is ToolbarIcon.exe. Typically most users end up uninstalling this just after a few days. The software installer includes 14 files.
- Possible malware installed by this program
- Automatically starts with Windows
- Typically distributed through a pay-per-install bundle
- Hijacks the web browser's home page
- Hijacks the browser's default search provider
- The wisdom of the crowd agrees, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in MediaCaster by Ask.
tbnotifier.exe (f332813cc013d6af5c5a0c32a3aed725) has been flagged by the following 4 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
Baidu-International |
4.0.3.15817 |
Adware.Win32.Asktoolbar.45 |
ESET-NOD32 |
9.12098 |
a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask.M potentially unsafe |
K7 AntiVirus |
13.2016900 |
Unwanted-Program |
K7GW |
13.2016900 |
Unwanted-Program ( 004c42951 ) |
MediaCaster by Ask 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: www.apn.ask.com/products/toolbars
Help link: apnstatic.ask.com/static/toolbar/everest/documents/faq/index.html
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\vnt
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /X{4254522D-5637-006A-76A7-A75C790C0B00}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Files installed by MediaCaster by Ask
Program executable: | ToolbarIcon.exe |
Path: | C:\Windows\Installer\{4254522D-5637-006A-76A7-A75C790C0B00}\ToolbarIcon.exe |
MD5: | 2b37e1d54f3c2bfc4f2b042dab3767fd |
Additional files:
-
vntldr.exe - Virtual New Tab (Virtual New Tab Loader)
-
vntsrv.dll - Virtual New Tab Server
-
tbnotifier.exe - Ask TBNotifier (Ask Toolbar Notifier)
-
apnnativemsghost.exe - APN Native Messaging Host
-
com.apn.native_messaging_host_panpiecllaicaafneoofcmdgmbcihhnd.json
-
tbnhlpr_x64.exe - APN Toolbar Notifier Helper
-
idcldr.exe - IDC (IDC Loader)
-
idcsrv.dll - IdcSrv (IDC Server)
-
idcsrvstub.dll - IDC Server Stub
Behaviors exhibited
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- tbnotifier.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named 1.
Startup File (User Run)
- vntldr.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'VNT' and executes as "C:\Program Files\VNT\vntldr.exe".
2 Startup Files (All Users Run)
- tbnotifier.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'ApnTBMon' which loads as "C:\Program Files\AskPartnerNetwork\Toolbar\Updater\TBNotifier.exe".
- vntldr.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'VNT' which loads as "C:\Program Files\VNT\vntldr.exe".
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
- tbnotifier.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\AskPartnerNetwork\Toolbar\Updater\TBNotifier.exe'.
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
vntldr.exe |
Memory: | 1.63 MB | |
Total CPU: | 0.0000866634% | |
Kernel CPU: | 0.00003063% | |
User CPU: | 0.00005603% | |
CPU cycles/sec: | 385,474 | |
I/O reads/min: | 64.15 KB | |
How do I remove MediaCaster by Ask?
You can uninstall MediaCaster by Ask 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 MediaCaster by Ask, 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 MediaCaster by Ask.
- 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.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 52%
Win XP 0%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
|
Uninstall it 79%
Keep it 21%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 |
61.57% |
|
Windows 10 |
32.97% |
|
Windows XP |
4.59% |
|
Windows Vista |
0.87% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
Windows 7 Ultimate |
26.75% |
|
Windows 7 Home Premium |
16.45% |
|
Windows 7 Professional |
12.50% |
|
Windows 8.1 Single Langua... |
8.11% |
|
Windows 8.1 |
7.46% |
|
Windows 8.1 Pro |
5.70% |
|
Geography
6.90% of installs come from Brazil
Which countries install it?
Brazil |
6.90% |
United States |
5.57% |
Russia |
5.12% |
MA |
4.90% |
DZ |
4.23% |
Saudi Arabia |
3.79% |
Turkey |
3.56% |
DK |
3.12% |
Poland |
3.12% |
UA |
2.67% |
Greece |
2.67% |
Philippines |
2.45% |
Egypt |
2.45% |
France |
2.23% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard |
21.75% |
|
Acer |
19.81% |
|
Dell |
16.56% |
|
ASUS |
15.91% |
|
Toshiba |
7.47% |
|
GIGABYTE |
6.17% |
|
Lenovo |
5.19% |
|
Samsung |
4.87% |
|
MSI |
0.97% |
|
Apple |
0.65% |
|
Sony |
0.65% |
|
Common models |
HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
4.82% |
|
ASUS All Series |
4.22% |
|
Dell Inspiron 3521 |
4.22% |
|
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
3.61% |
|
Gigabyte G41MT-S2PT |
3.01% |
|
HP ProBook 4540s |
2.41% |
|