If you have realized that new toolbar installed on your PC and your home page was unexpectedly changed, most likely that some software may have installed in a bundle a 3rd-party browser toolbar on your system.  One such annoying toolbar is the Ask toolbar. This toolbar is a BHO: Browser Helper Add-on.

It is very important to pay attention to additional checkboxes during the installation to avoid installing of unwanted applications or toolbars. The toolbars can slow down your internet browsers and also may cause redirected searches or failed keyword searches. To protect your browser settings in the future download Web Companion. 

Usually, Ask search engine (ask.com) is promoted via other free programs and once installed on your computer; they will hijack your browser homepage and replace your default search engine.

Ask Toolbar Manual Removal

In most cases, you can go to Add\Remove Programs and quickly find Ask.com listed and uninstall it.  

For Windows 7:
- Click the "Start" button and select "Control Panel"
- Click "Uninstall a Program" option found under the "Programs" category
- Select the program with the Ask logo and the text "Ask Toolbar"
- Click "Remove"

For Windows Vista:
- Close all open Web browsers
- From the "Start" menu in Windows, select "Control Panel"
- Under the "Programs" icon, select "Uninstall a program"
- Select the program with the Ask logo and the text "Ask Toolbar"
- Click "Uninstall" and then "Continue" to remove the Toolbar

For Windows XP:
- From the "Start" menu in Windows, select "Control Panel"
- Click on "Add/Remove Programs".
- Select the program with the Ask logo and the text "Ask Toolbar"
- Click "Change/Remove"

 For Windows 8:
- Go to Charm bar (Windows key+C) and then” Settings”, then "Control Panel"
- Choose “Programs and Features”
- Choose the Ask toolbar and delete it

But once the toolbar is removed, you may still see Ask.com as your homepage when you open up a new browser.  In order to change that, follow the instructions below, depending on which browser you use:

Disabling Ask toolbar from Internet Explorer
•    Launch Internet Explorer browser and click the option Tools.
•    Choose the option Manage Add-ons from the sub menu that opens.
•    From the Manage Add-ons window, locate Ask toolbar and remove the check mark in the box for Enabled.
•    Select Search Providers. First of all, choose another search engine (Google, yahoo, Bing) and make it your default search provider (set as default).
•    Then select Ask Search and click Remove button to uninstall it (lower right corner of the window).
•    Restart Internet Explorer.

Disabling Ask toolbar from Mozilla Firefox

•    Open Mozilla Firefox and go to Extensions.
•    Locate Ask Toolbar from the list of add-ons. Mozilla provides you with two options. You can either Remove the toolbar or Disable it temporarily. Click any of the options.
•    After that, go to Firefox, and then choose Help, and then Troubleshooting information and then Reset Firefox.

Disabling Ask toolbar from Google Chrome
•    Launch Google Chrome and click the icon located on the right top corner.
•    Select the option Settings from the sub menu.
•    Click on Extensions from the left pane of the Windows, which is located just above the option Settings.
•    You may Disable the toolbar by removing the check mark from the option Enabled. If you wish to remove the toolbar, click the recycle bin icon found next to the Enabled option.

•    Click on Chrome menu button once again. Select Settings.
•    Click Manager Search engines button under Search.
•    Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

 
•    Select Ask Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.