xp Ask toolbar

[Marvin]

Hi,

Please, can anyone help me with removing the Ask toolbar?

I am getting an error message: "Error 1316.A network error occurred while attempting to read from file C:\WINDOWS\Installer\AskToolbar.msi". I get this when I try removing it with Windows Add/Remove or with CCleaner

[Tarun]

You may want to redownload the installer and see if you can then use that msi installer to remove it.

[Marvin]

Hi Tarun

Yes, I tried that. I can't re-install; the error message "Asktoolbar is already installed" appears.

[James_A]

Ask actually publish instructions on how to remove their toolbar.

In summary, they say to make sure that ALL browser windows (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) are closed and then uninstall from the standard Add/Remove programs in Control Panel.

That, as you may have found already, does not always work.

However, they also provide a downloadable tool to do the job, called ToolbarUtilityTool.exe

From the FAQ page section: Toolbar Uninstall and Home Page Reset:

If you get an error message during the uninstall process or after rebooting your system you still see the toolbar, please run this application to clean up the toolbar:

I have not tried it myself but the direct download link is: ToolbarUtilityTool.exe [WARNING: direct exe file download link]

Also, one of Lunarsoft's member's Fred de Vries has co-developed a removal tool: ASK Toolbar Remover

Read about it (and download it) from here: http://autoclean.com...toolbar-remover

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[Marvin]

The ToolbarUtilityTool.exe link worked. Many thanks.

[James_A]

:)

Thanks for the feedback.

Opinions are divided as to what causes the "Error 1316":

• Some say it is due to IE renaming the file before it installs it. Then msiexec can't find the .MSI file for the uninstall.
  
• Others say it is because one or more browser windows have not actually been closed.
  
• Or it could be because Ask is still set as the default search provider.
  

Whatever the reason, it looks like ToolbarUtilityTool is a better solution than Add/Remove Programs.

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[nuckyluy]

i am also a victim of aks search. It takes over my IE homepage somehow, but i even did not even install anything last month. Luckily i get rid of this nasty browser hijacker with the help of an aks search removal tutorial

 

BUt i still can not figure it out that how did aks search toolbar  appear on my laptop even i did not install anything before?

[greenknight]

It comes bundled with a lot of other programs. I don't know how you'd get it if you didn't install anything, though.

 

I do know that it's a big pain. 

[James_A]

Don't know who virus delete are, but ASK's own removal tool (link given above) is still available, now updated to the January 2013 version.

 

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[greenknight]

Virus delete gets a poor rating from Web of Trust, probably best to avoid that site.