What's this please

[Dave Davison]

I predominently use Firefox as my browser but recently I used I.E. however an annoying download option keeps appearing on screen which refuses to stay deleted when I click the Cancel tab but keeps on appearing on screen till I close I.E. Above a screenshot of the said persistent pop up is the complete string of the URL. What does it represent and how do I stop it from appearing please. Regards Dave.

[HansV]

This appears to be associated with the Conduit Engine, which is malware as far as I can tell.

Try a utility such as Revo Uninstaller Freeware to remove Conduit Engine, or Conduit Toolbar, or whatever it calls itself. And run a scan with every anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware program that you have.

[Dave Davison]

A thousand thanks Hans, seriously, you [not to forget the other experts on this forum also] are so very much appreciated. I opened Revo and - as the screen shot shows - there lurking was the culprit you mentioned so I duly deleted it and ran MalwareBytes and got the all clear so THANKS so much. Occasionally when I'm surfing, MalwareBytes pops up to say it has blocked some malware so I'm puzzled as to how this one got past it, any ideas? Dave.

[HansV]

From what I read, this is a very devious one, sometimes it installs itself even if you click "No".

[Dave Davison]

Again, thanks Hans for your prompt response to my post. As I said, I used Revo to dig out the offender then ran Malwarebytes which gave me a clean bill of health. Just now I accessed the net using I.E. which precipitated the pop up and got no repeat of the error so all's well thanks to your advice. Pardon me if I sound patronising but I really do appreciate the way the MVP's on this lounge haul me out of the mire when things go wrong. Sincere thanks Dave.

[HansV]

You're welcome! Glad to have been able to help.

[johjue]

Hi Dave,

For what it's worth, Conduit Engine probably came along for the ride when you downloaded and installed which ever program included the Ask Toolbar that is seen in your screen shot above. Both of those snuck past my radar a while back when I downloaded a very useful app. I'm very careful about such things, but these were exceptionally deceptive. I'd get rid of the Ask Toolbar also, unless you really need it for something, such as an app that you like whose controllers appear in the Ask Toolbar. If that is the case let me know; I have a work around that may allow you to keep the useful functionality of the app without needing the toolbar.

John

[HansV]

The icon for the Ask toolbar in Dave's screenshot is that of Foxit Reader. When you install Foxit Reader, it offers to install the Ask toolbar too, and this is linked to some additional features of Foxit Reader...