startup problem

"James D Andrews" <> wrote in message
news:jbkcel$nui$...
> Jo-Anne was thinking very hard and all he could come up with was:
>> "Jeff Strickland" <> wrote in message
>> news:jbj7hd$r3f$...
>>>
>>> "Jo-Anne" <Jo-> wrote in message
>>> news:jbgk3a$j3$...
>>>> "Jeff Strickland" <> wrote in message
>>>> news:jbg9mn$nt7$...
>>>>>
>>>>> "Jo-Anne" <Jo-> wrote in message
>>>>> news:jbdsu8$itg$...
>>>>>> Thank you, Don! The thing re-appeared today, and with it the
>>>>>> Microsoft notice titled Data Execution Prevention. It appears that
>>>>>> Google's effort to install this quick search program makes Microsoft
>>>>>> think it's malware; and I have no internet connection until I click
>>>>>> out of the notice.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Today, after clicking out of the notice, I went to Add/Remove
>>>>>> Programs and discovered that I had both the Google Toolbar and Google
>>>>>> Quick Search (or Launch--can't remember)--the latter installed today.
>>>>>> I think another program had installed the toolbar ages ago and I had
>>>>>> simply disabled it. I uninstalled the toolbar--and when I went to
>>>>>> uninstall the quick search program, I was told it was already
>>>>>> uninstalled. Eventually, it disappeared from Add/Remove Programs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I hope this is the end of the problem. I am becoming very upset with
>>>>>> Google. I didn't ask for the Quick Search program, and I didn't
>>>>>> install any programs recently on that computer.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> It sounds like you might have selected some manner of new application,
>>>>> and when that app was installing, it gave you options to ACCEPT or
>>>>> DECLINE various things. They construct these selections to _look_ like
>>>>> the Software License Agreement elections where you agree or disagree,
>>>>> and if disagree then the installation halts. ACCEPT or DECLINE is a
>>>>> different convention than AGREE or DISAGREE, and you have to look to
>>>>> see what you are ACCEPTing, and almost always have to DECLINE the
>>>>> offer. You can be faced with ACCEPT or DECLINE when you update your
>>>>> iTunes, for example. So, you might not have actually installed some
>>>>> manner of new application, you might have merely updated one that you
>>>>> already had. You could have done this an hour ago, or several days
>>>>> ago, and now you are getting a headache from the past action.
>>>>>
>>>>> My guess is that you clicked ACCEPT for an Add-on that is now beating
>>>>> you up. You need to disable the add-on, and you may need to visit Add
>>>>> or Remove Programs in the Control Panel to delete it altogether. When
>>>>> in Add or Remove Programs, look specifically for Google entries, and
>>>>> delete as many of them as you want.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> Thank you, Jeff! As I think back, I believe the Google Toolbar came
>>>> pre-installed on my netbook and I never did anything other than disable
>>>> it. The Quick Search add-on is something I most definitely did not
>>>> install. In any case, it looks like now that I have deleted the Google
>>>> Toolbar from my computer, it has taken Quick Search with it. Today the
>>>> computer started properly and showed no Google icon in the taskbar.
>>>>
>>>> For now, I'm also giving up on Google as a search engine, at least
>>>> directly, by using Scroogle, which was suggested by Motor T.
>>>>
>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>
>>>
>>> IF IT IS THERE YOU INSTALLED IT, you may not have INTENDED to install
>>> it, but it did not install all by itself.
>>>
>>> There are any number ot things that you can do where you are asked if
>>> this or that should happen, and they rely on you clicking OK or Accept
>>> without actually reading the box that the button is in. You need to be
>>> very carefull with this BECAUSE they sometimes ask if you want a free
>>> scan of your machine, and it you accept the offer, you actually load a
>>> program that will say, "We found 389 problems with your machine, do you
>>> want them fixed?" Of course you want them fixed, but they want $69.95 to
>>> fix them and if you don't give them the money, they pop up every three
>>> minutes to remind you that there are 389 problems, but the most
>>> significant problem is the program that insists there are 389 problems,
>>> and for $69.95 they will go away. Send me $49.95, and I will tell you
>>> how to never spend $69.95 to fix stuff that was not broken before they
>>> asked for $69.95. Crap! I just gave away $49.95 in goods and services.
>>>
>>> Personally, I find that Yahoo Search finds everything I ask it to find.
>>> I simply start entering the search string, and after a few characters,
>>> Yahoo has a suggestion or two or thousand.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Google has a habit of changing things on its own. I definitely did not
>> install Google Search in my taskbar. It likely appeared through some
>> update in the Google Toolbar that I did not ask for. See the post by Don
>> Varnau in this thread. He too got the Google Search icon a few days ago
>> without doing anything to acquire it. It appeared right after Google
>> changed its search page dramatically.
>>
>> The netbook on which the Google Search icon appeared is used right now
>> only for listening to internet radio. Nothing was installed on it for at
>> least a month, not even updates of current programs. I don't load
>> programs in general unless I know a lot about them, and I always do
>> custom installs so I can avoid add-ons that I don't want.
>>
>> I'm not fond of Yahoo Search. It is on my ISP's (Frontier's) homepage,
>> and I've tried it. It's not as intuitive as Google for searching. The
>> nice thing about Scroogle is that it uses Google but without all the
>> garbage and the tracking of Google.
>>
>> Jo-Anne
>
> Jo-Anne,
>
> Do you have any other Google products installed such as Google Earth or
> Google Sketch-up?
>
> Google installs an automatic updater that operates independently, and it's
> usually hidden. It will still install updates to software you may have
> completely removed before and it will do so without asking for any
> permissions, option selections, or even notification.
>
> Google is, for the most part, malware itself.
>
> --
> -There are some who call me...
> Jim
>
>
> It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road,
> and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be
> swept off to.
> -Samwise Gamgee quoting Bilbo Baggins, edited
>
>

Thank you, Jim! What I currently have on that computer is Google Reader--no
Google Earth or anything else. Once I removed the Google Toolbar (which had
been disabled but not removed before), the Google Quick Launch icon
disappeared and hasn't returned. So it appears to have been associated with
the Toolbar.

I'm looking into finding a new aggregator, so I can get rid of Google Reader
too. Someone recommended Feedreader, and I'll give that a try. I'm getting
really fed up with Google. Even the search engine, which I've always loved,
has become a pain to use.

Jo-Anne