Remove Ask.com Search and Ask Toolbar (Uninstall Guide)

Ask.com Search is a legitimate search engine, however there are plenty of browser hijackers which redirect the users search queries to Ask.com and install the Ask Toolbar.
These browser hijacker will hijack your installed web browser homepage and search engines so that it will display the Ask.com Search home page and search engine instead of your normally configured ones. When installed this type of malware will modify your web browser configuration so that the home page becomes Ask.com.

Ask.com Search got on your computer after you have installed another free software or add-on that had bundled into their installer this program.

For example, when you install vPlay, you will also agree to change your default browser home page and default search engine to Ask.com, and install the Ask Toolbar.
However, when you uninstall vPlay from your computer, your web browser’s default settings will not be restored. This means that you’ll have to remove Ask.com Search from your favorite web browser manually.

How to remove Ask Toolbar and Ask.com redirect (Removal Guide)

• To remove Ask Toolbar and Ask.com redirect, follow these steps:

• STEP 1: Uninstall malicious programs from Windows
• STEP 2: Scan your computer with Malwarebytes Adwcleaner
• STEP 3: Scan your computer with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
• STEP 4: Scan your computer with HitmanPro
• (OPTIONAL) STEP 5: Scan your computer with Zemana AntiMalware
• (OPTIONAL) STEP 6: Reset your browser to the default settings

STEP 1 : Uninstall malicious programs from Windows

In this first step, we will try to identify and remove any malicious program that might be installed on your computer.

1. Go to the uninstall menu.
   

   Windows 10 or Windows 8

   1. To uninstall a program on Windows 10 or Windows 8, right-click on the Windows Start button and choose “Control Panel” from the pop-up menu.
      
   2. When the “Control Panel” window opens click on the “Uninstall a program” option under “Programs” category.
      

   Windows 7 or Windows Vista

   1. If you are using Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, click the “Start” button, then click on the “Control Panel” menu option.
      
   2. When the “Control Panel” window opens click on the “Uninstall a program” option under “Programs” category.
      

2. When the “Programs and Features” screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and uninstall any suspicious program from your computer.
   Known malicious programs:
   Ask Toolbar, Ask Toolbar Updater, Ask Updater and any program developed by Ask, Spigot or Mindspark Interactive Network.
   The malicious program may have a different name on your computer. To view the most recently installed programs, you can click on the “Installed On” column to sort your program by the installation date. Scroll through the list, and uninstall any unwanted or unknown programs.
   If you cannot find any unwanted programs on your machine, you can proceed with the next steps.
   If you are having issues while trying to uninstall a program, you can use Revo Uninstaller to completely remove this unwanted program from your machine.

   

STEP 2: Scan your computer with Malwarebytes AdwCleaner

Malwarebytes AdwCleaner is a free utility that will scan your computer for adware programs that may have been installed without your knowledge.

1. You can download Malwarebytes AdwCleaner from the below link.
   MALWAREBYTES ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will start the download of “Malwarebytes AdwCleaner” on your computer)
2. Before starting Malwarebytes AdwCleaner, close your web browser, then double-click on the Malwarebytes AdwCleaner icon.
   
   If Windows prompts you as to whether or not you wish to run Malwarebytes AdwCleaner, please allow it to run.
   
3. When the Malwarebytes AdwCleaner program will open, click on the “Scan” button as shown below.
   
   Malwarebytes AdwCleaner will now start to search for the adware and other malicious programs.
4. To remove the malicious files that were detected in the previous step, please click on the “Clean” button.
   
5. Malwarebytes AdwCleaner will prompt you to save any open files or documents, as the program will need to reboot the computer to complete the cleaning process. Please do so, and then click on the “OK” button.
   
   When your computer reboots and you are logged in, Malwarebytes AdwCleaner will automatically open a log file that contains the files, registry keys, and programs that were removed from your computer. Please review this log file and then close the notepad window.

STEP 3: Scan your computer with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a powerful on-demand scanner which will remove the Ask Toolbar and Ask.com redirect from your machine. It is important to note that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

1. You can download download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the below link.
   MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “Malwarebytes Anti-Malware”)
2. Once downloaded, close all programs, then double-click on the icon on your desktop named “mbam-setup” to start the installation of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
   
   You may be presented with a User Account Control dialog asking you if you want to run this file. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. When the installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Setup Wizard which will guide you through the installation process.
   
   To install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on your machine, keep following the prompts by clicking the “Next” button.
   
4. Once installed, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will automatically start and will update the antivirus database. To start a system scan you can click on the “Scan Now” button.
   
5. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for the Ask Toolbar and Ask.com browser hijacker. When Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is scanning it will look like the image below.
   
6. When the scan has completed, you will be presented with a screen showing the malware infections that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has detected. To remove the malicious programs that Malwarebytes Anti-malware has found, click on the “Remove Selected” button.
   
7. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now quarantine all the malicious files and registry keys that it has found. When removing the files, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot your computer, please allow it to do so.

STEP 4: Scan your computer with HitmanPro

HitmanPro finds and removes malware, adware, bots, and other threats that even the best antivirus suite can oftentimes miss. It’s designed to run alongside your antivirus suite, firewall, and other security tools.

1. You can download HitmanPro from the below link:
   HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “HitmanPro”)
2. Double-click on the file named “HitmanPro.exe” (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or “HitmanPro_x64.exe” (for 64-bit versions of Windows).
   
   Click on the “Next” button, to install HitmanPro on your computer.
   
3. HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for malware.
   
4. When it has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found as shown in the image below. Click on the “Next” button, to remove malware.
   
5. Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   

(OPTIONAL) STEP 5: Scan your computer with Zemana AntiMalware

1. You can download Zemana AntiMalware from the below link:
   ZEMANA ANTIMALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will start the download of “Zemana AntiMalware”)
2. Double-click on the file named “Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.exe” to start the installation of Zemana AntiMalware.
   
   You may be presented with a User Account Control dialog asking you if you want to run this file. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. Click on the “Next” button, to install Zemana AntiMalware on your computer.
   
   When you reach the “Select Additional Tasks” screen, you can opt-out the “Enable Real Time Protection” option, then click on the “Next” button.
   
4. When Zemana AntiMalware will start, click on the “Scan” button.
   
5. Zemana AntiMalware will now scan computer for malicious files. This process can take up to 10 minutes.
   
6. When Zemana AntiMalware has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found. Click on the “Next” button, to remove the malicious files from your computer.
   
   Zemana AntiMalware will now remove all the detected malicious files and at the end a system reboot may be required to remove all traces of malware.

(Optional) STEP 6: Reset your browser to the default settings