Hello.
I strongly recommend you to remove Ask from your computer because it's:
- Promoting its toolbars on sites targeted to kids.
- Promoting its toolbars through ads that appear to be part of other companies' sites.
- Promoting its toolbars through other companies' spyware.
- Installing without any disclosure whatsoever and without any consent whatsoever.
- Soliciting installations via "deceptive door openers" that do not accurately describe the offer; failing to affirmatively show a license agreement; linking to a EULA via an off-screen link.
- Making confusing changes to users' browsers -- increasing Ask's revenues while taking users to pages they didn't intend to visit.
See
here for more info.
If you choose to follow my recommendation then please go to
Start >
Control Panel >
Add/Remove Programs and remove the following programs if present.
Then please find and delete this folder in bold (if present):
C:\Program Files\
AskSearchPlease disable Ad-Watch, as it may hinder the removal of some HijackThis entries. You can re-enable it after your computer is clean. Please see here for instructions on how to disable it:
1. Right-click on the Ad-Watch icon in the system tray (located down by the system clock for most configurations)
2. Choose *Settings* from the dropdown menu
3. Under the *General Settings* tab turn OFF (red x) the option to "Load Ad-Watch at Startup" (if enabled)
4. Click on the *Status* button in the left hand menu
5. Turn OFF (red x) the option for *Regshield*
6. Close that window, then right-click on the Ad-Watch icon shield again down in the system tray next to the clock.
7. Choose *Turn off Ad-Watch* from the drop menu
- Open HijackThis
- Choose "Do a system scan only"
- Check the boxes in front of these lines (if present):
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.ask.com/?o=101677&l=dis
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R3 - URLSearchHook: DefaultSearchHook Class - {C94E154B-1459-4A47-966B-4B843BEFC7DB} - C:\Program Files\AskSearch\bin\DefaultSearch.dll (file missing)
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {E72036E9-6AB4-4491-8E4C-9AD958F7EED6} - (no file)
- Press "Fix Checked"
- Close Hijack This.
Please download and run this tool.
Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from
HereDouble Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
- Make sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
- If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
- Once the program has loaded, select "Perform Quick Scan", then click Scan.
- The scan may take some time to finish,so please be patient.
- When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
- Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
- When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart. (See Note)
- The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
Note:
If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts.
Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process.
If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately.Post the contents of the MBAM Log.