So you finally acquiesce to the nagging prompt that the Java runtime needs to be updated.\u00a0 You click OK and the download starts.\u00a0 You wait a few minutes and the installation begins.\u00a0 You click the Next button repeatedly, because you just want to be done with this update.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, you just installed the Ask toolbar in your browser and changed your homepage and search provider to Ask.\u00a0 And you never meant to.<\/p>\n
But, if you paid careful enough attention during the installation, there was the tiny \u2013 pre-checked \u2013 mark that \u201casked\u201d if you wanted to install the Ask toolbar and all of its attendant changes.<\/p>\n
Over the years, I have seen Internet Explorer browser windows with more than five toolbars:\u00a0 Yahoo, Google, Ask, and others.\u00a0 Why would you need<\/em> all of those?\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t have any explanation.\u00a0 Still others figure it is all part of what they are supposed to have when they use IE (as if Microsoft had decided to update something for them). \u00a0Even fewer know how to remove them.<\/p>\n One major problem with all these toolbars is that they slow down your web browser.\u00a0 In addition, they add clutter to your screen.\u00a0 Some increase the risk of virus and spyware infections.\u00a0 Of course some toolbars are the result<\/em> of spyware, so it is not always your fault.<\/p>\n With the Java update, Oracle gets paid by Ask for each user that gets this toolbar and uses it.\u00a0 You, as the \u201cvictim,\u201d need to jump through hoops to get your settings back to the way they were before the installation.\u00a0 Unfortunately, even the Windows Restore feature may not work well enough to make things right.<\/p>\n So, what can you do?<\/p>\n For one, you simply have to pay attention during the installation.\u00a0 Different vendors insert this \u201cpermission\u201d step at different points.\u00a0 Simply clicking the Next button is a lazy approach.\u00a0 Take your time.\u00a0 Make sure you read each window carefully.\u00a0 Uncheck the box that was filled in for you about any toolbar you don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n By the way, my SPF+ and SHADE subscribers do not encounter this problem – the installation is handled automatically, and no toolbar is installed!<\/p>\n Have a lot of toolbars in your web browser?\u00a0 Send me a screen shot and I’ll post the best entries.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So you finally acquiesce to the nagging prompt that the Java runtime needs to be updated.\u00a0 You click OK and the download starts.\u00a0 You wait a few minutes and the installation begins.\u00a0 You click the Next button repeatedly, because you just want to be done with this update. Unfortunately, you just installed the Ask toolbar …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-users","category-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions\/142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}