Ask Toolbar is a browser hijacker program that might appear in your browser as a search toolbar. You can also see it in browser extensions and it connects you directly to ask.com search engine. It can be quite uncomfortable to use your browser because Ask.com search engine takes over your browser and you can’t change to any other more effective search engines. Also, your default homepage might be changed to ask.com, without your authorization. So, default search engine and homepage were changed to search.ask.com and ask.com without your consent, this proves that Ask toolbar hijacker uses aggressive methods to invade users’ computers. I know you want to get rid of the ask homepage and ask toolbar, but before that let’s see what else this hijacker can do.
As I mentioned before, Ask Toolbar is technically not a virus, it’s a malware program from the family of browser hijackers, also known as redirect viruses. It can be spread on the internet by various cunning methods, including spam emails attachments, bundling with freeware programs and auto install by Trojans. So, you should never open attachments in spam emails and do not download any freeware programs from unofficial and suspicious websites. However, if you have some Trojans viruses on your computer, they might open a backdoor and automatically download and install Ask Toolbar hijacker on your computer without your consent. Also, pay attention when installing or updating Java, many users reported that they got ask toolbar and ask search engine after updating their java.
The first sign of the Ask hijacker infection is modified default homepage and search engine to search.ask.com. Also out of nowhere the Ask Toolbar may appear in the browser. For innocent users it looks like genuine search engine and they use it. But they don’t know that while they are using ask search engine they are exposing their personal data to the third parties. Ask Toolbar browser hijacker can collect your browser history, search queries, your location and even your address for marketing purposes, to provide you with ads based on your preferences. Also, Ask malware might collect your logins and passwords and even online banking information. You can lose your social network and email accounts and even become a victim of credit cards fraud.
If you want to get rid of Ask Toolbar you can follow the removal guide written below. It is a comprehensive, step by step tutorial that doesn’t require any advanced computer knowledge, simply follow it and perform all of the steps in the correct order and you will be able to delete Ask Toolbar and restore your default homepage and search engine. However, if you want to save your time, we recommend you to use automatic removal tool.
Symptoms of Ask Toolbar infection on your computer can be: computer crashes, unusual homepage or search engine on your browser, unwanted pop-up ads and advertising banners. We recommend to download our automatic removal tool. This removal tool has been tested for Ask Toolbar threat removal and it is easy to use.
After performing all of the steps above you should have all of your web browsers clean of the ASK TOOLBAR and other suspicious add-ons and extensions. However to complete the removal procedure we strongly advise to scan your computer with antivirus and anti-malware tools like SpyHunter, HitmanPro 32-bit, HitmanPro 64-bit or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Those programs might help to you find registry entries of malware and remove them safely.
My antivirus couldn’t find Ask Toolbar, but with the help of tutorial I was able to clean my pc – Randy Sanford
Thank you for detailed information about Ask Toolbar – Brian
I never thought that removing Ask Toolbar would be that easy – Judith Folsom
Thanks very much for providing me instruction about how to get rid of Ask Toolbar – Markus Lemond