Ask embeds itself when you upgrade or install Flash or a couple of other Adobe add-ons.

First off, Firefox is your browser, and Ask is a search engine. When you installed the Flash upgrade (or whatever it was) it installed the Ask toolbar and set Ask as your homepage.

You can reset your homepage as follows:

In the Firefox browser menu bar, select "Tools" and then "Options" from the drop down menu. Navigate to the "Main" tab and then type your desired home page in the "Home page:" form at the top of the window.

Ask is best removed at the Windows operating level. You can open your control panel and remove it from the menu there. In the list below there is a method for removing it from inside the browser which may or may not work.

You didn't say which version of Windows you're running, so heres a cut-and-paste for all of them:

If you have the Windows 7 or Vista operating system:

Go to the Start Menu and select Control Panel
Under Programs or Programs and Features click on Uninstall a program
Select the Ask Toolbar (or our partner’s brand for a custom Toolbar), then select Uninstall/Change and then, when prompted, click Yes or Uninstall

If you have the Windows XP operating system:

Go to the Start Menu and select Control Panel
Click the Add or Remove Programs icon
Select the Ask Toolbar (or our partner’s brand for a custom Toolbar), then click on the Remove or Change/Remove

If you have the Windows XP in Classic View or Windows 95 or 98 operating system:

Go to the Start Menu and select Settings, and then Control Panel
Select the Add or Remove Programs
Select/highlight the Ask Toolbar (or our partner’s brand for a custom Toolbar) and click on the Remove button
Follow the prompts to uninstall the Ask Toolbar

If you have the Windows Vista operating system:

Close all open Web browsers
Go to the Start Menu and select Control Panel
Under the Programs icon, select Uninstall a program
Select the program with the Ask logo and the text Ask Toolbar (or our partner’s brand for a custom Toolbar)

Here's the method for removing the toolbar from within the browser (Firefox, remember?)

Click on the chevron (down arrow) on the Option button on the toolbar
Select Uninstall from the drop down menu
Click Yes when asked "Are you sure you want to uninstall this product"
Close all open web browsers
Click OK on the popup window

Once you have uninstalled the Ask Toolbar reboot your computer to make sure the registry is updated.

If none of the above works, or it hangs up, or the toolbar is still there, you can use this utility to remove it. If you click on this link it wiil instantly download the tool. Don't do that unless the procedure above didn't work.

http://apnmedia.ask.com/media/toolbar/utilities/ToolbarUtili...

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