InboxAce

[skilletlicker]

Hi folks,
There was a box which I now suspect was an ad this afternoon when I logged onto DC. It said I had a private message, but lacked the necessary utility to read it. Click here, it said, and we'll get you fixed up... Or words to that effect. Well, since I haven't been around lately I wasn't suspicious so I did what it told me. The result was installation of InboxAce and the Ask Toolbar, neither of which I want or need, so far as I can tell.

Is InboxAce really necessary or have I been hornswoggled by a deceptive ad?

 

[Addie]

You were taken. You can remove it. Go to your "Control Panel." Click on "remove/install programs." Find Ask.com and click on remove.

 

[Dawgluver]

Yes. Please report this, and thanks for checking in! Nice to have you back!

 

[skilletlicker]

Thinks Addie

 

[skilletlicker]

Yes. Please report this, and thanks for checking in! Nice to have you back!

I woulda thunk it was reported by posting this thread in the Admin: Tech Support Forum.
Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Sometimes removing these things is not as easy as advertised.

Add/Remove programs is where to start, but not always a clean slate results.
If its an application, you cannot remove it from the add/remove program tool.

 

[MrsLMB]

A good antivirus, a good ad blocker and malwarebytes.

My advise is run malwarebytes right away. You might be surprised at what you have hiding on your machine after an incident like that.

And using add and remove programs will not get rid of that.

 

[skilletlicker]

Thanks for the advice. You know, neither inboxace nor the ask toolbar are viruses or malware. They are just marginal programs that I'm not interested in using. Getting rid of them was a minor annoyance. Inboxace was a program that was uninstalled from the control panel. The ask toolbar just required a change in the browser settings.

The point of this thread was to politely point out the use of false and deceptive advertising practices such as the fake user interface described in the original post. I'm grateful to the owners of DiscussCooking and in no way intend to be rude, but they are the ones who profit from such ads. I want them to make a profit and the ad for some diet supplement currently at the bottom of this page doesn't bother me one bit.

I don't want to make a bigger deal of this than it deserves. It is pretty commonplace on the net and most users, including me most of the time, will recognize the slimeball ads when they see them but it's not a bad idea to register the occasional complaint. This thread was my attempt to do that. I was surprised to see a forum moderator then tell me to report it. To whom? Maybe I'll go snoop around the Social Knowledge LLC website, but probably not. I think I already did my bit.