You start up your browser one day and see a new toolbar that you don’t remember installing. Or you boot your Windows PC, and suddenly there are several new icons on your desktop from an unknown source. Or you buy a new PC, and it’s already crammed with programs that you never intend to use.
How does all this junkware make it onto your computer? How can you avoid it in the first place or get rid of it once it’s on your system? Read on to find out.
Q: The Yahoo! toolbar has somehow been installed on my computer, and it now appears on my browser. How does this happen, and how can I get rid of it?
A: Toolbar makers — including Yahoo!, Google, Ask, and others — have devised numerous ways to get you to “opt in” to having their products installed. In the case of the Yahoo! toolbar, you might have accidentally agreed to its installation by installing a related application such as Yahoo! Messenger, or you may have fallen victim to the downright sneaky installation of the toolbar through Oracle’s frequent updates of Java, a popular technology behind numerous programs and web applications.
You can also all too easily agree to install toolbars from Yahoo!, Google, or others these days by neglecting to de-select the option while installing any number of freeware applications, which increasingly include tie-ins to these unrelated applications. The trend is annoying, and unfortunately your only defense is vigilance while installing all applications. Merely clicking Next repeatedly during installation, for example, can get you a lot of software you don’t want.
The good news is that most such unwanted junkware applications can easily be uninstalled by using your operating system’s normal uninstallation routine. The Yahoo! toolbar, for example, is listed separately in Windows’ Programs and Features…