# Anyone know how to uninstall this @#$$%^ "search" bar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850 "2004-03-23T04:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/1 "2004-03-23T04:39:00Z")
I seem to have picked up a search bar called “Intelligent Explorer Plugin”. It sits in the system tray and launches whenever I click on its stupid little icon. I did not ask for this “feature”, but it somehow got past ZoneAlarm and Norton AntiVirus. It doesn’t seem malicious, but I don’t want the &^%&% thing. I can’t find it in Contol Panel-\>Add/Remove Programs. It doesn’t exist in the Start Up menu. I can’t find it by searching. I have run AdAware 6.0 and it didn’t get rid of it (though it did dump a bunch of other cr%p for me). Any one know how I can get rid of this thing? This really hacks me off. Most civilized people would never bust into my home and leave something on my living room couch that I didn’t ask for. What gives these Internet businesses the idea that it is okay for them to sneak into my computer and leave stuff that I didn’t ask for? Do people really make money this way? Is it a good idea to begin your relationship with a potential customer by sneaking up on them? I would never do any kind of business with these “Intelligent Explorer” a\*\*holes. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/2 "2004-03-23T04:44:52Z")
Spybot, Ad-aware and HijackThis. Probably will take all three. [http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads.php?cat=sp#det](http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads.php?cat=sp#det) ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/3 "2004-03-23T04:46:19Z")
[Spybot](http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download) If that doesn’t work, then it’s time to bring in the big guns. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/4 "2004-03-23T04:51:10Z")
Hmm. A Google search on “Intelligent Toolbar” uninstall gives a bunch of hits, but most of them seem to be that you have to go to THEIR SITE and download an uninstaller. This would make me very, nervous… However, I found this: [http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/uninstall2.mht](http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/uninstall2.mht) which among other things offers manual uninstall instructions – they seem safe enough. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/5 "2004-03-23T04:53:09Z")
Once you have succeeded in deleted the offending toolbar, dump IE as well. You won’t have such problems in Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, Opera or Safari. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/6 "2004-03-23T04:55:52Z")
What I’d like to know is: How does this crap infect your computer in the first place? How do they sneak it onto your hard drive? Does it come from visiting certain web pages? If so, which kinds of pages are likely to infect? Or is it slipped in by some other means? What evasive action can you take? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/7 "2004-03-23T05:04:21Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > What I’d like to know is: How does this crap infect your computer in the first place? How do they sneak it onto your hard drive? Does it come from visiting certain web pages? If so, which kinds of pages are likely to infect? Or is it slipped in by some other means? What evasive action can you take? Most of it sneaks in through browser exploits and ActiveX controls. Some gets installed along with programs of the _verboten_ type, and some just appears. And I second the call to switch to Firefox. Stable, fast and easy-to-use. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-uninstall-this-search-bar/235850/8 "2004-03-23T05:08:54Z")
They are ActiveX plugins. > [@](#): > > ActiveX® controls are among the many types of components that use COM technologies to provide interoperability with other types of COM components and services. ActiveX controls are the third version of OLE controls (OCX), providing a number of enhancements specifically designed to facilitate distribution of components over high-latency networks and to provide integration of controls into Web browsers. These enhancements include features such as incremental rendering and code signing, to allow users to identify the authors of controls before allowing them to execute. Source: [http://www.microsoft.com/com/tech/ActiveX.asp](http://www.microsoft.com/com/tech/ActiveX.asp) In short, ActiveX is exploited to the point where IE as a browser is no longer your own.