Yes, but the problem is that in most of the cases no sign of Ask.com Toolbar or other programs related to Ask.com shows up in "Add/Remove Programs".
So the AdwCleaner can be very useful to check if the computer actually has these softwares installed.
Yes, but the problem is that in most of the cases no sign of '''Ask.com Toolbar''' or other programs related to Ask.com shows up in "Add/Remove Programs".
So the AdwCleaner can be very useful to check if the computer actually has these softwares installed.
A reported problem is Firefox hangs when viewing Flash videos and, in certain locales, it's related to bug 719561 (Updater.exe from Ask Toolbar causes Firefox to hang when viewing Flash videos in YouTube and certain websites) so we should document the problem and solution. (One workaround is to disable plugin-container by changing the value of the preference dom.ipc.plugins.enabled to false but we don't want to suggest this, since it disables crash protection.)
The Fix problems with your home page or search article now links to a thread about removing the Ask Toolbar but right now the focus of that article is to provide links to help fix problems caused by unwanted software that "hijacks" Firefox by changing the home page and search, so I don't know if that's the best place to document this particular issue. However, Michael Verdi asked about AdwCleaner in another thread recently started by scooobidiver, here: /forums/contributors/708114 ... related to a common question on the French support forum ("Q: How do I fully uninstall Search or Babylon? A: Scan with AdwCleaner") so maybe Michael (or another admin) can weigh in about linking to this tool?
Yes. That's why I've already added AdwCleaner in the French version of Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware because it seems more efficient about problems caused in Firefox than Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SuperAntispyware (no French website), it has no bad feedback in the French support forum, and its database is public. I've also added ask, babylon, etc. as keywords to this article.
The English version of this article links to a few malware removal tools and some specialized forums so we could link people there to remove the Ask Toolbar (whether or not it's malware is a matter of opinion) but do we want to add a link to the French AdwCleaner tool to that article, for non-French locales?
Getting back to the subject of this thread, the hang issue with the Flash plugin:
We already have the Flash Plugin - Keep it up to date and troubleshoot problems article and the Firefox hangs or is not responding - How to fix article so (at least in the Italian, French, and other locales seeing this) so one of these articles (or another article?) should explain that this issue can be caused by the Ask Toolbar's included Updater program. We can explain that the Ask Toolbar is a "potentially unwanted program" (PUP) that the user may have installed on his computer without knowing it. We can add the issue to either of those articles and
Link to AdwCleaner but warn that this is a tool with most of the documentation in French, that checks for and can delete many other potentially unwanted programs. We should add that this tool might cause performance issues when run on some systems or could cause other installed programs to 'break" (use at your own risk!)
Link to the Ask.com's removal instructions and explain that, even if Ask Toolbar doesn't show up in the Windows list of installed programs, you should still download and run the ToolbarUtilityTool.exe removal tool.
As I see it:
A reported problem is Firefox hangs when viewing Flash videos and, in certain locales, it's related to [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=719561 bug 719561] (Updater.exe from Ask Toolbar causes Firefox to hang when viewing Flash videos in YouTube and certain websites) so we should document the problem and solution. (One workaround is to disable [[What is plugin-container|plugin-container]] by changing the value of the preference '''''dom.ipc.plugins.enabled''''' to '''''false''''' but we don't want to suggest this, since it disables crash protection.)
The [[Removing Babylon, SearchQU or MyStart]] article now links to a thread about removing the Ask Toolbar but right now the focus of that article is to provide links to help fix problems caused by unwanted software that "hijacks" Firefox by changing the home page and search, so I don't know if that's the best place to document this particular issue. However, Michael Verdi asked about AdwCleaner in another thread recently started by scooobidiver, here: [/forums/contributors/708114] ... related to a common question on the French support forum ("Q: How do I fully uninstall Search or Babylon? A: Scan with AdwCleaner") so maybe Michael (or another admin) can weigh in about linking to this tool?
Scoobidiver mentioned [/forums/contributors/708073?page=2#post-45010 here on page 2] of this thread that the French version of [[Is my Firefox problem a result of malware]] now links to AdwCleaner:
''scoobidiver [[#post-45010|said]]''
<blockquote>
Yes. That's why I've already added AdwCleaner in the French version of [[Is my Firefox problem a result of malware]] because it seems more efficient about problems caused in Firefox than Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SuperAntispyware (no French website), it has no bad feedback in the French support forum, and [http://general-changelog-team.fr/changelogs/292-adwcleaner-changelog its database] is public. I've also added ask, babylon, etc. as keywords to this article.
</blockquote>
The English version of this article links to a few malware removal tools and some specialized forums so we could link people there to remove the Ask Toolbar ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask.com#Ask_Toolbar_browser_add-on_controversy whether or not it's malware is a matter of opinion]) but do we want to add a link to the French [http://general-changelog-team.fr/outils/289-adwcleaner#englishadwcleaner AdwCleaner] tool to that article, for non-French locales?
Getting back to the subject of this thread, the hang issue with the Flash plugin:
We already have the [[Managing the Flash plugin]] article and the [[Firefox hangs]] article so (at least in the Italian, French, and other locales seeing this) so one of these articles (or another article?) should explain that this issue can be caused by the Ask Toolbar's included Updater program. We can explain that the Ask Toolbar is a "potentially unwanted program" (PUP) that the user may have installed on his computer without knowing it. We can add the issue to either of those articles and
*Link to [http://general-changelog-team.fr/outils/289-adwcleaner#englishadwcleaner AdwCleaner] but warn that this is a tool with most of the documentation in French, that checks for and can delete many other potentially unwanted programs. We should add that this tool might cause performance issues when run on some systems or could cause other installed programs to 'break" (use at your own risk!)
*Link to the [http://asksupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2908 Ask.com's removal instructions] and explain that, even if Ask Toolbar doesn't show up in the Windows list of installed programs, you should still download and run the ToolbarUtilityTool.exe removal tool.
Link to the Ask.com's removal instructions and explain that, even if Ask Toolbar doesn't show up in the Windows list of installed programs, you should still download and run the ToolbarUtilityTool.exe removal tool.
It would be nice, but I think it wouldn't be correct to arise the suspicion without any evidence.
Anyway, I even would like to see someone from Ask.com, just to see what they have to say about this issue....
<blockquote>Link to the Ask.com's removal instructions and explain that, even if Ask Toolbar doesn't show up in the Windows list of installed programs, you should still download and run the ToolbarUtilityTool.exe removal tool. </blockquote>
It would be nice, but I think it wouldn't be correct to arise the suspicion without any evidence.
Anyway, I even would like to see someone from Ask.com, just to see what they have to say about this issue....
Link to the Ask.com's removal instructions and explain that, even if Ask Toolbar doesn't show up in the Windows list of installed programs, you should still download and run the ToolbarUtilityTool.exe removal tool.
It would be nice, but I think it wouldn't be correct to arise the suspicion without any evidence.
Anyway, I even would like to see someone from Ask.com, just to see what they have to say about this issue....
''underpass [[#post-45048|said]]''
<blockquote>
<blockquote>Link to the Ask.com's removal instructions and explain that, even if Ask Toolbar doesn't show up in the Windows list of installed programs, you should still download and run the ToolbarUtilityTool.exe removal tool. </blockquote>
It would be nice, but I think it wouldn't be correct to arise the suspicion without any evidence.
Anyway, I even would like to see someone from Ask.com, just to see what they have to say about this issue....
</blockquote>
Maybe the Ask Toolbar is listed in the Windows Control Panel programs list under a different name, such as Comodo "Safe Surf", ZoneAlarm "Spy Blocker" or "Avira SearchFree Toolbar plus WebGuard"? (a screenshot for Avira's Ask toolbar listing is shown [http://www.mostiwant.com/blog/download-avira-antivir-personal-free-antivirus-software-with-webguard-protection/ here]).
Ref:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_toolbars#Uninstalling_via_Windows_Control_Panel
I found a long list of various toolbars, including Ask, installed with other software here:
*http://evilfantasy.wordpress.com/installers-hall-of-shame/
The bug appears to consistent outside of the Ask toolbar and therefore would be out of our control.
We've been able to reproduce the error outside of the Ask Toolbar using another application. This program is from an independent source (CodeProject.com). The source was downloaded and the program was built in our office. The utility program that we use to display the MSAA tree was found to also hang Firefox under similar circumstances.
The reason that this hang appears to happen only on foreign language systems is that the MSAA element our application is looking for is never found (translation issues – see below) causing it to constantly dig deeper into the MSAA tree.
We continue to investigate the issue to see if there's anything we can do it to avoid it.
The main problem is that the plugin container does not seem to crash nor send any other error message - Firefox simply hangs and cannot be restored.
It would be a start if the plugin container could crash so to reveal the error condition.
From what many users said, nothing is present in the Add/Remove Programs list.
But I cannot say if it is true, since we did not have any screenshot.
edit: a guy from Ask.com commented in the bug
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=719561#c13
<blockquote>The bug appears to consistent outside of the Ask toolbar and therefore would be out of our control.
We've been able to reproduce the error outside of the Ask Toolbar using another application. This program is from an independent source (CodeProject.com). The source was downloaded and the program was built in our office. The utility program that we use to display the MSAA tree was found to also hang Firefox under similar circumstances.
The reason that this hang appears to happen only on foreign language systems is that the MSAA element our application is looking for is never found (translation issues – see below) causing it to constantly dig deeper into the MSAA tree.
We continue to investigate the issue to see if there's anything we can do it to avoid it.
</blockquote>
The main problem is that the plugin container does not seem to crash nor send any other error message - Firefox simply hangs and cannot be restored.
It would be a start if the plugin container could crash so to reveal the error condition.
Ask developers will fix it in a few days, so I think it isn't worth documenting it.
''AliceWyman [[#post-45047|said]]''
<blockquote>
We already have the [[Managing the Flash plugin]] article and the [[Firefox hangs]] article so (at least in the Italian, French, and other locales seeing this) so one of these articles (or another article?) should explain that this issue can be caused by the Ask Toolbar's included Updater program.
</blockquote>
Ask developers will fix it in a few days, so I think it isn't worth documenting it.
Ask is in the process of scheduling a bug fix to the APNU which should address the problem. The fix should take approximately 24 hours to get rolled out.
Ask developers will fix it in a few days, so I think it isn't worth documenting it.
Yes, I saw that in the related bug report, [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=719561#c20 bug 719561 comment 20]:
-----
eric.engleman 2012-02-08 16:28:26 PST
Ask is in the process of scheduling a bug fix to the APNU which should address the problem. The fix should take approximately 24 hours to get rolled out.
-----
''scoobidiver [[#post-45121|said]]''
<blockquote>
Ask developers will fix it in a few days, so I think it isn't worth documenting it.
</blockquote>
