Newbie - suspicious possible malware?

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

Hello, this is my first post.  I apologise now if this is in the wrong place, or even if it should be here at all.  I am pc illiterate, and skimming through the forums it looks scarily knowledgeable!

 

I have Norton 360, which happily has always done its job well to my knowledgel.  Suddenly this week, on my Google search bar (language!) in the top left corner appears the Ask symbol.  I have checked that Google is my default search engine, and I can see no sign of Ask anywhere.  I haven't installed Ask, nor do I want it.  Is it malware?  How do I get rid of it?  I googled this query, and it suggested it was malware, and a very complicated way of getting rid of it.  I am concerned that I will make the problem even worse by downloading something of which I am unsure of the provenance.  Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

2

Hello, this is my first post.  I apologise now if this is in the wrong place, or even if it should be here at all.  I am pc illiterate, and skimming through the forums it looks scarily knowledgeable!

 

I have Norton 360, which happily has always done its job well to my knowledgel.  Suddenly this week, on my Google search bar (language!) in the top left corner appears the Ask symbol.  I have checked that Google is my default search engine, and I can see no sign of Ask anywhere.  I haven't installed Ask, nor do I want it.  Is it malware?  How do I get rid of it?  I googled this query, and it suggested it was malware, and a very complicated way of getting rid of it.  I am concerned that I will make the problem even worse by downloading something of which I am unsure of the provenance.  Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

3

Hi polly88

 

You should be able to disable the Ask toolabr from the internet Explorer settings.

 

If you are using IE8 or IE9  select from the top left of windows Menu Bar or press

ALT to bring up the Menu Bar and  Select Tools - Manage Addons- Toolbars and

Extensions- then select  the Ask Toolbar from the list provided and then select Disable.

 

Or if you have the little icon that looks like a gear in the Command Bar in the right

hand corner of the window use this to also access the Internet Explorer Settings

and manage the addons in your browser. Select the Small Gear icon-  Manage

Addons- Toolbars and Extensions- Ask Toolbar- Disable.

 

PC_confused made the great point that alot of downloads have secondary programs

or addons ticked to install with the original users choice by default.

This can be very annoying and sometimes tricky as to load and install things

we certainly do not want on our computers so it is good PC_confused noted

this in his reply to you.:smileywink: We all have to be aware of these things.

 

You can enable the Ask Toolbar addon at any stage if you change your mind and

would like to use it just by following the disable instructions and enable it instead.

 

I hope that info helps, let us know how you go.

 

Cheers. :smileyhappy:

 

PS the options i have given might work for earlier versions of IE i am not 100% sure.

4

Hi polly88

 

Note- this info is for  if you still cannot get rid of Ask  from the search bar using

the info in my previous post.  :)

 

Just been surfing the net and googling like crazy so you might find this

info interesting to help you with your issue with it also depending on what

browser you are having issues with weather it is Internet Explorer or Firefox ?

The links provided are from the Ask website its self and they seem

to be detailing your type of issue.-

 

http://asksupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2908/related/1

 

http://asksupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2743/session/L3RpbWUvMTMyMzMzNDE2Ni9zaWQveEx6NlgyTGs%3D

 

http://asksupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3611/session/L3RpbWUvMTMyMzMzNDE2Ni9zaWQveEx6NlgyTGs%3D

 

http://asksupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2724/session/L3RpbWUvMTMyMzMzNDE2Ni9zaWQveEx6NlgyTGs%3D

 

I hope these links can possibly help to resolve  your issue. :-)

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

Thank you so much for replying, and for moving the post to the right forum!  You're right, I did download updates a few days ago.  I won't worry about it now.  It was only that I saw when Googling that it might be a trojan or something, that I began to worry.

6

Glad we could be of help, getting your question solved.  As you can see, a lot of people jump in and try to share their knowledge.